“Whom are you hiding from?” is the question Guy Cramer, a camouflage designer, says you have to ask yourself. Research the optical capabilities of whatever it is you’re trying to elude. A duck, for example, can see ultraviolet light. Ungulates see in two colors, yellow and blue, so avoid those hues if you’re hoping to go unnoticed by a deer. Cramer worked with an ophthalmic researcher to design his hunting patterns. Because many animals are sensitive to ultraviolet light, avoid washing your camo in laundry detergent that contains UV brighteners, which will give you a sort of glow in their eyes.

If you’re trying to conceal yourself from someone wearing night-vision goggles or a drone equipped with multispectral imaging sensors, opt for a get-up that at the very least won’t make you more visible under infrared. Many hunting patterns are printed using a type of dye that tends to disappear when seen through night-vision goggles, but if the underlying fabric is white, which it often is, “you’ll stand out like Casper the Friendly Ghost,” says Cramer, whose company, HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp., has developed more than 14,000 patterns for hunters, anglers and militaries all over the world, including the armies of Jordan, Chile and Mexico.

Your camouflage colors should match the general palate of the landscape you’re trying to blend into. No forest greens in the arid deserts of Afghanistan during the day; no whites anywhere but in the snow. At a distance, the patterns and color should break up the outline of your human form and blend it into the environment. Avoid being overconfident just because you’re adorned head to toe in a sticks-and-twigs print. “Slapping camouflage on doesn’t make you invisible,” Cramer says. If possible, wear the same pattern on everything, even your shoes (go with neutral brown shoes if you can’t get camo ones). Wear long sleeves and pants and cover any exposed skin with makeup or gloves and a mask. If you’re carrying something like a backpack or a gun, it, too, should be camouflaged. And remember that movement will give you away no matter how shrublike you look when motionless.

Maybe your aim is not to disappear at all, but to stand out. “In fashion, if you’re going to wear camouflage, don’t wear pants and a jacket — you’ll look like an idiot if you do,” Cramer says. “Pick the pants or the jacket.”