Modelling

You will also need to develop, through Styrofoam / Green or Grey Foam modelling, other areas of your design idea such as button configurations (ergonomics), handle requirements i.e. shape of the handle, displays, electronics etc. You should also develop this information, through digital photographs of your modelling and CAD printouts, with 2D and 3D drawings and subsequent annotation.

You must also consider / develop how, on any of your designs, any moving part work i.e. folding / attaching / sliding / slotting / joining / rotating etc. This should also be modelled through 2D and 3D drawings, CAD and CAM, and a suitable accompanying model (MDF / plywood or other compliant material), which you will then digitally photograph and include on your development sheets, with relevant annotation and further development.

Your models should be finished to a high standard but need not be sprayed, just sealed and smoothed. 

Finer details that you must not forget are areas such as battery compartments (if relevant), electrical supply, recharging unit (if relevant), knobs, dials, switches, holes, layout of buttons, sizes of components, additional materials for grip, texture, finish, product name and styling, SMART materials – ThermoChromic film, polymorph, split lines (how the parts will join together) etc.

You should include images / photographs / sketches etc., of reference / source / inspirational materials – things that you have seen that inspire you / affect your design – ideas that you want to develop. This is very important. Your Inspiration board does this to an extent, but you need more! This is what designers do!!

You must also consider throughout all of your development work the finer details and the underlying premise ‘that you are trying to make a better product’.