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Developing Design Ideas

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ModellingIt is often difficult to imagine what a design idea

will look like or how it will work. Modelling your

design ideas gives you something to look at, think

about and test.

Modelling will help you:

▲ clarify and develop your design ideas;

▲ evaluate them;

▲ share them with others.

Modelling appearanceThere are many modelling techniques, some of

which you will have used at Key Stage 3. Here are

some examples of the way modelling techniques

have been used to develop the designs for a

fantasy board game.

1 Talk through

Talking about what you want to do

with other people will help you

clarify your design ideas

2 Thumbnail

sketches

This is a quick way of getting

your ideas into a visual form.

You can also make notes to explain

things which you cannot draw

3 Using a grid

This is a useful way

to get the overall

layout of the game

and the relative sizes of

the figures

4 Annotated sketches will provide

details of the design of the figures

5 Using cut outs

Paper silhouettes can be used

to explore the shapes of figures

7 A foam model can

be shaped and

finished to provide

you with a model

which looks just like

the finished product

Modelling appearance is a useful

process for assessing design ideas for

development into real products

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Developing Design Ideas

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Modelling product performanceModelling not only describes the way a

product will look, it can also describe

the way it will fit together and how it will

work. You can use a range of modelling

techniques to develop design ideas

about product performance. Talking

about the design, thumbnail sketches

and detailed drawings will help you to

model how a product might work.

But you will need to use a more

sophisticated approach for products that

involve some form of movement or

control.

Whenever you design products that

people will use you will need to think

about sizes and shapes

(anthropometrics) and movements

(ergonomics). Tables of data are

available and you can use this

information to make your product easier

to use. The hand-held remote control

overleaf was informed by

anthropometric and ergonomic

information.

You can assess some of the effects of a product on a

place where it will be used by modelling both the product

and the place. For example, scale models of the wall and

floor decor placed in a scale model of a hotel reception

provide an opportunity to assess its appropriateness and

performance in that environment. You can find out if it

looks right, if it takes up too much space, and if it fits in

with any other decor and surroundings.

Ergonomic

and anthropometric

data are important

here

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Developing Design Ideas

Modelling with computersModelling appearance and form

If you use computers properly they can help you model your design ideas so that you can explore

many more possibilities than if you were working just with pencil and paper. There are several

ways to start using computers as these designs for a computer games club show.

I like to draw it on paper

first, then I scan it into the

computer and manipulate the

image

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I like to draw it

straight onto the

screen and manipulate

the image as I go

I like to start with an

existing image I’ve grabbed

from a library and then I

manipulate it

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Developing Design Ideas

Modelling function

You can use a computer to model the way a product might work. You can make changes to the

design ‘on screen’ and see how this affects the performance.

The design for the interior of a clothes shop involves a wide range of products, lighting and

decoration. Modelling the interior on computer will help you get the details of each part right so that

they work well together.

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Developing Design Ideas

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