Key messages for DVC achievement standard - AS91630
AS91630 (3.33): Resolve a product design through graphics practice
Key messages for teachers
Graphics practice for product design is about expressing visual literacy. It is about the design of objects and artefacts and may include: fashion, packaging, media products, consumer products, and engineered products.
Curriculum
Graphics practice refers to the creative application of drawing and design knowledge and techniques to develop conceptual outcomes that address a brief, or a technological outcome of a graphical nature.
At level 8:
- Students develop an understanding about how to integrate product design knowledge by understanding elements of design approaches, technical knowledge and visual communication techniques related to a product design context. These may include design tools such as market research, anthropometrics, ergonomics, mock-ups and models, technical knowledge (materials, joining, fitting, assembly, finish, fasteners, sustainability, and environmental considerations) and visual communication techniques (modelling, drawing, animations and rendering). Students use product design knowledge to develop, refine ideas in an iterative, logical and organised way to evolve design ideas and communicate a resolved design solution.
Indicators
Students can:
- Apply graphics practice to produce a portfolio of design work that shows the exploration, refinement, and communication of design ideas for a product design solution.
- Explore the opportunities and constraints. Analyse the context fully by exploring aesthetics, ergonomic considerations, present and potential usage, the use of appropriate materials and durability, manufacturing factors, and other considerations that are appropriate for the chosen context. Consider the wider context – legal, ethical, cultural, historical, economic, sustainability, technological factors.
- Use photographs, notes, sketches, brainstorming or any other technique to demonstrate their research findings and design thinking concerning the context.
- From an initial idea, continue to refine ideas through, for example, thumbnails, explorative sketches, thinking sketches, technical detail sketches and presentation sketches, that all work towards developing a design outcome. Improve, refine and evolve design ideas.
- Carry out research and analysis, when needed, to evolve their design ideas through product design knowledge.
- Reflect on and critique their design ideas, exploring possibilities and reviewing each idea in order to explore further. Make designer judgements to integrate product knowledge.
- Relate their designs to human dimensions/environmental factors.
- Use visual communication techniques to explore and present their design ideas such as freehand sketches, sketch models, drawings, models, photographs, digital media, display boards and installations, refined rendering techniques (design sketches, rendering, modelling techniques, digital media, instrumental drawings, and photographs), perspective views, proportion of spaces, position of doors, windows, flow of areas, orientation of layout.
- Add annotations to their visuals to further explain design thinking, crucial decision-making throughout their design development, considering both aesthetic and functional considerations, opportunities and constraints. Think about how they can improve ideas, how they can integrate knowledge they have gained from research.
- Use product design knowledge to develop and refine design ideas in an iterative, logical and organised way. This knowledge could come from research throughout the design process on others' practice, the users needs, possible construction methods, and the materials available. Use knowledge to inform design thinking, which will be visually communicated/annotated throughout.
- Show through visuals how they have integrated the exterior form, style, inside mechanisms, jointing, fastenings, materials and intended use.
- Show how their designs have evolved into an effective resolved design solution, justifying them against the identified opportunities and constraints.
Teacher guidance
To support students to develop the skills and knowledge at level 8, teachers could:
- Provide a student brief with a design context that will engage students’ interests. The design context can be personal to the student, a need of a family member or friend in the context of: furniture, hand held devices, kitchen product, user-friendly products and so on.
- Provide exemplars of existing product designs, discuss the visual communication techniques, the materials used, new materials, the ergonomic considerations, sustainable issues, aesthetics, manufacture and so on.
- Allow students to disassemble a product to investigate the exterior form and workings (black box). Get students to investigate joints, fastenings in other products to develop their product knowledge.
- Allow students to work with a client and develop their own product design brief. (This would allow students to have evidence for 3.1: Undertake brief development to address an issue within a determined context.)
- Allow this AS to build upon the evidence required for 3.30: Initiate design ideas through exploration, by selecting the most promising design ideas or combination of ideas.
- Consider and discuss with students how they will show evidence/document their exploration/divergent thinking and refinement process (convergent thinking).
- Teach and allow students the time to develop visual communication techniques, for example, freehand sketching techniques, exploded views, sequential/cutaway views, detail drawings, model making, taking photographs, using digital media, use of display boards and installations to develop students ability and confidence in using them in their own work.
- Teach students how to justify their design thinking, especially the crucial decision-making, through visual communication techniques and annotating. Provide students with sentence starters/appropriate vocabulary to do this.
- Work with students individually to discuss how they are going to refine their design ideas.
- Allow opportunities for students to critique their own and each other’s work by developing a culture of trust in seeking and listening to advice from others.
Key messages from the standard
Explanatory note 3
Product design is the design of objects and artefacts and may include: fashion, packaging, media products, consumer products and engineered products.
Explanatory note 4
Product design knowledge includes elements of design approaches, technical knowledge and visual communication techniques relevant to the specific product design context. These may include:
- design tools used for the development of product design ideas (e.g. market research, anthropometrics, ergonomes, mockups, and models)
- technical knowledge of materials, joining, fitting, assembly, finish, fasteners, sustainability, and environmental considerations
- product design visual communication techniques and approaches (e.g. product design drawings and rendering, prototypes, models, and animation).
Explanatory note 5
- Design contexts may include: furniture, utensils, jewellery, garments, textile items, containers, sporting/leisure equipment, appliances, transportation, fittings, and electronic devices.
Explanatory note 6
Graphics practice involves expressing a visual literacy through the developing of design ideas by applying design and visual communication techniques and knowledge, leading to the communication of an outcome in response to a brief.
Key messages from the clarifications document
Conditions of assessment related to this achievement standard can be found at:
Assessment resource TKI
Students will require:
- access to product design books and access to appropriate websites
- access to computer with CAD and design software (Solidworks, Archicad, Vectorworks, Adobe Photoshop etc.) - animations can be used as supporting evidence.
- design context that refers to the environment in which the product design is to be situated. An exploration of the design context includes consideration of the milieu and the environment’s link to various factors, including but not limited to legal, ethical, cultural, historical, economic, and technological factors.
- the refinement process by which we evolve design ideas to improve the aesthetic and/or functional qualities of the product design. This is informed by such things as research, analysis, making design judgements, reflection, and critique.
- design tools used for the development of product design ideas (such as market research, anthropometrics, ergonomics, mock-ups and models)
- technical knowledge of materials, joining, fitting, assembly, finish, fasteners, sustainability, and environmental considerations
- product design visual communication techniques and approaches (such as drawing and rendering, and the use of prototypes, models and animation).
Curriculum links
Resources
Books
Last updated August 13, 2019
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