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UNIT QUESTION: Can wood be fun?
INVESTIGATION
Below is a letter that you as a designer would possibly receive giving you a design problem to solve, read the letter carefully and note down all the important parts that the customer, Mr Duck, wants for his product. A good idea is to highlight each important word in the letter, for example
........... a wooden toy for children aged 3-6 years.
This lets you concentrate on explaining the problem and by explaining it you have created a Design Brief.
The Wood From the Trees Limited
The Chief Designer
Design Initiatives Lda
Rua Maria Brown
Portugal
Dear Designer
I am writing to enquire if you would be interested in producing a wooden toy for children aged 3-6 years for sale in our shops. It is essential that the toy is made entirely from renewable timbers, in keeping with our policy of maintaining the balance of nature. for today and future generations to enjoy.
To save on production costs it would be good if the toy was made up from standardised pieces.We are particularly interested in the idea of pull-along wooden toys with moving parts, based on a pet animal that should be educational in some way.
Our customers are looking for safe, quality products with a traditional appeal which also reflects our concern with ‘green issues’.
Would you please submit a working prototype, appropriate production drawings and a short report which shows how it will meet our requirements for safety, quality and a ‘green’ product.
Yours sincerely
Donald Duck
Managing Director
Criterion A: Investigation
You should begin by answering the following questions:
1. Who is my customer?
2. Why does he want a Toy Design?
3. What especially important points does he want in the design?
4. Who is the toy meant for?
5. What material does my customer want me to use?
6. What should the toy do and look like?
7. What are the limits on this Project? ( Deadline, Workshop Tools, Materials,Skills)
These answers will give you a design brief that is based on the letter and it should EXPLAIN:
What are you going to create?
Who wants you to create this design?
When does it need to be finished?
Where are you going to create it?
How will you create it?
(The above should be completed by the end of Lesson 1.)
You can now begin to RESEARCH your project, some topics for research could be: (there may be more)
1. What is a pull-along toy?
2. What are the different types of wood I can use and what is the best wood for the toy?
3. How will the toy I make be suitable for 3-6 year-old children?
4. Where can I buy similar toys and how much do they cost?
5. How do I create a toy?
6. What would be a possible solution using the DT workshop in St Dominic´s?
7. What level of skills do I need to have?
8. How can I learn these skills?
ACKNOWLEDGE all research that is taken from sources such as the internet, books, people you interview.
(The above should be completed by the end of Lesson 3.)
DISCUSS your research. (do you agree with other people’s views) make your own comments on each piece of research you include in the project.
(The above should be completed by the end of Lesson 4.)
Decide on one Area of Interaction relevant to this project (see AOIs) and EXPLAIN why it is linked to this project.
1· Write a DESIGN SPECIFICATION by creating a list of the following and justify why each point is valid:
2. What is ESSENTIAL for my project?
3. What is DESIRABLE for my project?
(The above should be completed by the end of Lesson 5.)
Design a TEST to be used to discover if your Wooden Toy fits the Specification this can be a set of QUESTIONS used to find out if your Toy will meet all the essentials and desirables. (see the example below)
Also say how you will use with the results of your test.
(The above should be completed by the end of Lesson 6.)
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