Developing a design for a wooden jewellery box

Iterative design development

This design exercise will develop your iterative designing capability.

Iterative design development is the process of analysing, evaluating and modifying designs, then repeating the process until you develop your best design.

You will start with a hazy idea for a jewellery box then develop the idea into a clear and detailed design.

An idea for a wooden jewellery box is illustrated below.

There are lots of things about the design that are still uncertain. The design development process will involve developing the hazy idea of a jewellery box into a clear and detailed design.

You must work out:

how the four sides of the box will be fixed together
how the top and bottom of the box will be fixed to the sides
how the box will open
how the box will stay shut
the thickness of the sides of the box
the type of wood that should be used to make the sides of the box
the thickness of the top and bottom of the box
the type of wood that should be used to make the top and bottom of the box
the finish that should be applied to parts of the box
the details of the inside of the box, if it is not to be an empty wooden box
the features that will make it safe to use
the features that will ensure that it will be robust enough for constant use.

These are just some of the details that need to be considered and included in your design work.

Click on the screenshot above to view
the "jewellery box" animation by Laszlo Lipot

What you must do

Draw the outline of the jewellery box as shown in the illustration above.
Develop the design so that all problems are solved and you have a design that could be made. Your design must have sufficient detail and information on it for someone to be able to make the jewellery box without needing extra information from you.

You may use notes and sketches to record your ideas as they develop but your final design must be drawn to scale using orthographic projection.

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Design development directory

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