Develop your Designing
Skills in D&T
Coming up with your first ideas
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Develop your Designing
Coming up with your first ideas
Coming up with your first ideas
Before even thinking about putting pencil to paper and sketching, it is essential to understand the design problem you've been given first.
Step 1 - Understand & empathise the design problem by defining the design brief and carrying out research.
Step 2 - Get some inspiration. Look at social bookmarking sites, read magazines, shopping sites, review sites, watch videos and more. Do some analysis of existing products.
Step 3 - Prepare an initial product design specification. This is a list of 'must-haves', 'could-haves', and 'should-haves' which will guide you to ensure you meet the requirements of the brief.
Step 4 -Get sketching and 'ideate'. This is where you get to set your imagination free. Be innovative, don't be afraid to be a bit crazy. Anything goes. This page has some sketching video tips.
If you'd like some help with the steps listed above, click on the chalkboard links.
If you're ready to get sketching, read on for some help and templates.
Help me write a design brief using a template.
Help! Guide me how to research.
Help me find some ideas for design inspiration.
Help me carry out a product analysis.
Help! Guide me through a product specification?
Help! Guide me through a product specification?
Help! Guide me with my sketching skills?
Help! Guide me with my sketching skills?
1. Start with your brief and specification and a little imagination.
1. Start with your brief and specification and a little imagination.
At this stage of the design process, anything goes and all ideas are 'in' (possible).
It is important to write down your design brief and initial specification next to your ideas so that you have it in-mind when you are sketching.
Click the link to make a copy of the A4 template in your own Google Drive for editing.
Or click this link for an A3 version you can copy.
2. When you're feeling a bit more confident...
2. When you're feeling a bit more confident...
If you feel ready, step away from the constraints of a rigid design framework and let your ideas 'go wild' on a blank page. Remember to add notes to your design sketches though to express your design thinking. This is called annotation.
Annotation is essential if you are going to demonstrate to others how your design meets the brief and specification. It is also useful for recording how your design is evolving through iteration.
Product Design Sketching (annotation, what, how and why).mp4'Open' Design Templates
'Open' Design Templates
Initial ideas
Initial ideas
Help me organise my first designs
Evaluating ideas
Evaluating ideas
Help me establish if they are any 'good'.
Developing ideas
Developing ideas
Help me improve my ideas to make them better.
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