Design Development

An idea for a sign is illustrated above. The idea is that we would start with a piece of resistant material, e.g. wood, metal or plastic and remove material from it to form letters and other shapes.
The design shown above is still only a "hazy impression" of what could be, because there are lots of things about the design that are still uncertain, e.g.

  • the type of material that we would start with
  • the shape that we would remove from the original piece
  • the way that we would remove the waste material from the original piece
  • whether the material removed would be consistent in depth
  • whether chamfers, rebates or grooves should be used in the design
  • the quality of the finish of the background, i.e. smooth or textured
  • the quality of the finish of the foreground, i.e. smooth or textured
  • whether the sign will be fixed to a wall, hang from the ceiling, stand on the floor or on a piece of furniture, etc
  • 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 some of the details that need to be considered and made clear in your design work. There will be others.

What you have to do

  • Use notes and sketches to illustrate ideas for a sign that is composed of an original piece that has had material removed from it.
  • 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 sign 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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This design development exercise is part of our KS3 Design and Technology software.

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