The creative textile design process presents both challenges and opportunities when designing for a client. In addition, as practicing artists and designers in academia, we often question our understanding of and research path toward design that is for decorative rather than for functional purposes. There are few clear research models available, especially when the objective is artwork intended to communicate a specific message defined by a client. This project began when a design faculty member was commissioned to create four large banners for the Newman Center on a large university campus. The center's art committee identified themes based on the coming year's liturgical readings from the Book of Luke. The themes identified were Outcast, Women, Hospitality, and Wonder. All four banners would be introduced to the congregation during Advent. Given the scale of the commission and the short time available, two additional designers, both graduate students, were selected to collaborate on the project. As academic artists/designers, our approach was not only to create a conceptual framework for telling the theme stories, but also to ask whether insight and new knowledge could occur within the parameters of a design commission. Initial questions included: How can we use digital textile design processes and technologies to create blended abstract/photorealistic imagery to evoke a specific theme? Can the theme be both abstract and allow the audience to "see" the designers' visualizations? How can the creative approaches of the team be coordinated? Finally, much of the process would rely on a combination of tacit knowledge and use of reflective practices. How might that best be communicated to both the client and to the broader academic community?The art/design process changes when it occurs in a group and when a client specifies the creative subject matter. Previous literature has explored design methodologies and procedures that are employed when a client is present (LaBat and Sokoloski, 1999 &Lamb andKallal, 1992), but is often directed to a design brief for functional products rather than art pieces. Dahl, Chattopadhyay, and Gorn (2001) examined the role of visualization in concept design and the communication difficulties encountered when "imaginative visualization" is employed. They presented a framework for incorporating the visualization process of both designer and client in order to have an outcome satisfactory to all. For this commission, the professor met with the clients for an initial interview to discuss their concepts and visualizations, and any concerns. It was clear from the outset that they wanted the banners to be abstract interpretations and not include traditional iconography or human figures. Otherwise, little additional direction was provided. The initial stages of the creative process were: analysis of the client brief; research to identify visual concepts that might connect to the themes and how they might be translated into abstract forms; and identification of images that would embody the them...