Digital Development

Procreate. Digital illustration app

Customise your drawing tools

Control your colour palette and layers

Choose from a range of drawing tools

Digital Development with Procreate. Masking, Tracing and Duplicating

Development is the process of trying to improve your initial idea to make sure you have considered all design options and details before you commence manufacture.

Development ensures a thorough design process has been followed and gives a client options within the same design style.

An preferred initial idea has been chosen

Choose an idea from your initial design page and take a clear 'presentation-style-photo' (example shown above). This image can be cropped and then imported to Procreate for further development.

Digital development allows for easy alterations

Notice the original 'presentation-style-photo' also appears on the digital design page as well. The original image acts a reference point and can be traced over the top so you have a starting point.

Step 1 - Tracing and duplicating developed versions of your original idea. Be sure to use separate layers for each version.

Step 2 - Using the masking tool to select shapes, parts or areas to add colour/paint effects to your designs.

Step 3 - Choose a suitable brush tool that will create a similar effect as what you would like to have as an end result to your design.

What to include and useful shortcut tips for your digital design

Duplicating layers can help with repeated parts or shapes that remain the same - such as the base. Redrawing the base over and over again is just a waste of time if there are no design changes.
Duplicating a layer and only editing the colour layer is a fast way to see how your design might look with a different colour scheme or paint effect without having to redrawn the whole design.
Use the space wisely on your design page so that you are not left with empty space. Add additional designs, notes and a title to fill your digital design page.
Use the freehand masking tool to select specific parts of a layer to move independently. This is explained below under Freehand Masking

Text will help explain you ideas and why you might be designing towards a certain style or theme.
Use the masking tool to select shapes within your design to help create colour effects so that your work looks more realistic.
Stay focused on one idea but develop certain features or shapes to create variation.
Using layers to trace over existing designs can help you avoid redrawing the same thing.
Use traced layers to speed up you design work. Trace over parts of the design that you want to keep the same or simply duplicate layers and edit over the top of the original.

Chose your favourite design

Take a clear 'presentation-style-photo of your chosen design and import the cropped image to Procreate.

This image should appear on your Procreate design page at least once.

Use Procreate to digitally develop your favourite design

This Procreate design page includes the original design as a photo (from the initial ideas page) and also includes 8 additional developed designs.

The first 3 top designs are image traces of the original photo focus on alternative colour schemes.

The lower 5 designs move into design development where alterations are made to details, shapes, complexity and colour options.

Freehand Masking - What if you want to move just one part of a layer?

Select your later
Select the masking tool on the top menu
Chose the freehand function
Draw around the part you want to move

Then select the transform tool (arrow tool)
Use the uniform function to avoid distorting
You can now move the box
Deselect the transform tool to finish

All and parts can be moved independently
Make use of the entire page
Move text and designs to fill the page

The examples included on this page demonstrate the digital development of lamps by Year 8 pupils and show the standards expected.

These are just some examples of how you could present your own digital development but you can present your work in any way you would like through Procreate.

When you present your work, you should select one of your Initial Design Ideas, and develop the shape(s) further (base & lampshade).

You should annotate (describe, explain & evaluate) your development work to show the modifications. In your annotations, explain why you have made changes and what you think of them.

Things that you should develop:

Base shape
Button position
Cavity shape and position
Potentiometer design
Lampshade shape and size
Lampshade patterns
Lampshade materials and method of manufacture

Task

Choose one initial idea to develop. Make sure you reference your client interview to make the decision.

Include a presentation-style-photo and explain why you chose that idea.

Sketch/trace out your digital development designs. This should be your drawings showing your exploration of shape and the "working out' phase where you investigate every aspect of how your lamp will look and be manufactured.

Present your digital development on Procreate and be sure to use a range of layers, duplicated layers and the masking tool.

Present your completed development on your site and explain your development process. You will use many characteristics of the learner profile during development.

On your website, evaluate how you have displayed each characteristic.