Product Design

1
Product Design

• Design Assignment

2
Introduction

• Your design assignment submitted to the SQA.
• It will be a max of 8 sides A3 paper

3
Contents of Design Assignment

• Design situation.
• Basic research information, such as lifestyle
  board, some ergonomic/ anthropometric data,
  various important sizes and dimensions.
• A choice of design briefs complete with
  specification

4
Design Situation

• This is the beginning of your assignment. It is
  used to set the scene, giving assignment a sense
  of realism.
• Action required
• Read through and then reread, ID all words and
  phrases that could influence the design.
• Next formalise your thoughts, note down why these
  words are important and how they might affect
  your design. This will help your design being to
  general as well as creating more areas of
  development, reasoning and justifications.
• Hints although you only have a limited time to
  do this work in the class this type of activity
  can be done at home, preparation for presenting
  and developing your initial ideas.
• Think, plan, research at home, use class time to
  present your ideas

5
Design Situation

• Other hints and tips
• Look at the pictures this will help generate some
  ideas about aesthetics and help guide the
  direction of the aesthetics.
• Look at the picture and a basic idea of a theme
  should be clear.
• Think, plan, research at home, use class time to
  present your ideas

6
Research

• A large part of assignment depends on how you
  incorporate the research information into your
  assignment.
• You will be supplied with visual information,
  mood/ lifestyle board, expected to steer the
  aesthetic direction. Decisions about aesthetics
  should be justified by reference to these boards
  and/ or design situation.
• Ergonomic and anthropometric data tables are
  given to help in research, use these as reference
  when deciding position, size and scale of your
  design.
• Other research information will relate to more
  specific set tasks i.e. manufacture, the
  environment, additional sizes, limiting factors
  etc.

7
Research

• Hints and tips
• Analyse the mood/lifestyle board, ID any
  prominent styles, fashion, materials and colours.
• It could be helpful to list words that come to
  mind when looking at visual images and can be
  used to influence ideas and trigger development
  decisions.
• Note down/ highlight anthropometric data that is
  important and how it will effect your design.
• Try to ID other information that could impact on
  your design in terms of function, aesthetics and
  manufacture.
• If a logo is given this could be used to create a
  corporate ID.

8
Choosing a Design Task

• Read the four tasks carefully, what appears to be
  the easiest does not always offer scope for
  investigation and development, necessary to
  complete the assignment successfully.
• Good design briefs offer scope to investigate,
  explore and develop ideas and solutions through
  consideration of function, aesthetics environment
  and manufacture. All will be influenced by the
  design situation, research material and
  specifications supplied.
• Dont pick a task because the solution quickly
  comes to mind. REMEMBER you are being assessed on
  your application of the design process. Come up
  with a solution to quickly removes the need to
  investigate, and makes you reluctant to come up
  with ideas.

9
Choosing a Design Task

• Hints and tips
• Make an informed choice chose a task that has
  balance of factors which you feel will give best
  potential for further development.
• Read each task and note down
• Functions and features suggested by research
  material and specification.
• Important or desirable aesthetic considerations
  suggested by research material.
• How environment will affect function, aesthetics
  and manufacture of product.
• Any constraints created by specification.

10
Choosing a Design Task

• More hints and tips
• Choose a task that you feel has
• Functional features that are going to be effected
  by the environment, user group and target market,
  this will require further investigation into
  areas such as ergonomics, durability and
  maintenance.
• Aesthetic direction that may influence products
  shape, size, choice of material, etc, which will
  in turn create the need for more research and
  investigation.
• Environmental considerations that will impact
  both the designs function and aesthetics
• Manufacturing issues that could affect research
  and specification supplied.

11
What are you Expected to Produce

• Once you have chosen your task, before starting
  your assignment , it is worthwhile outlining what
  you are being asked to produce, why you are being
  asked to produce it and how it will be assessed.
• Remember this is not an assessment of talent,
  this is an assessment of your understanding,
  implementation and skills of relating information
  on your design.
• The design assessment is split into 3 sections
• Section 1 Initial ideas.
• Section 2 Development towards a design solution.
• Section 3
• Use appropriate communication techniques to
  convey information regarding the idea generation
  and development.
• Clearly justify the reasons for decisions taken
  throughout the folio.
• Effectively communicate the proposed solution

12
What you are Expected to Produce(Marks)

• Your folio will be marked holistically, meaning
  you gain marks from initial ideas through to
  final solution. Changes showing consideration
  will be awarded a mark for development. If
  through development a new idea is shown sending
  work in a different direction this will be
  awarded marks in the initial ideas section. All
  graphic or written communication are awarded
  marks throughout the assignment as are reasons
  and justifications.
• Although marks are awarded in sections your
  design should flow and develop naturally
  throughout the folio.

13
Section 1 Generating Initial Ideas

• Useful Skills Research, analysis, evaluation,
  lateral thinking, quick freehand sketching, 3D
  drawings
• Useful knowledge Important design factors, Mood
  boards, technology transfer, materials.
• You are being assessed on ability to generate
  ideas relating to design task. Simply generating
  a number generic ideas may not gain high marks.

14
Section 1 Generating Initial Ideas

• Getting started
• Keep your ideas simple to begin with. Consider
  all areas in your initial idea generation. Your
  analysis should create lists of important
  factors/ features, use this information to
  generate your ideas. Annotate your ideas to draw
  attention to how you have researched your ideas
  showing how they are relevant to the design task.
• Collecting visual information to help generate
  different ideas which encourages creativity