Unit 9 - Working to 3D Design Briefs

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Introduction
This unit will help you to explore, experiment with, and understand how to respond to 3D design briefs. 3D design briefs are about designing domestic products such as ceramics, furniture, lighting, consumer and electrical goods, or industrial products, interiors, environments, retail displays or exhibitions.

3D design includes:

• designing products to enhance their consumer/market appeal through modifying their appearance, performance, reliability, quality and cost effectiveness
• manipulating space, visual and structural elements for domestic, public and contract purposes.

With advances in technology, it's now possible to communicate 3D structures through 2D drafting media, using CAD systems. So, for example, if you wanted to design the interior of a room, you could draft out your plans and create a model on a computer.

Developing ideas and final outcomes to meet 3D design briefs
Before you start to develop a design, you need to think about the following questions:

• What is your target market?
• What are the needs and preferences of the target market?
• What functional and technical factors do you need to take into account (e.g. size, scale, performance, ease of use, cost, method and scale of production)?
• What can you learn from studying similar commercial projects?

Try this

• Choose a product – it could be a piece of furniture, a lighting fixture, a shop or house interior – and consider its purpose. Who was it designed for – what was its target market? How has the target market influenced the design?
• Working with another student, develop briefs for each other based on your interests. Start by identifying a target market then develop a brief for a product that meets the needs of that market.

Using 3D materials
You'll also need to choose materials, techniques and processes that are fit for your purpose and make your product look good. You'll need to:

• consider alternative options
• explore properties, characteristics, effects, uses, limitations and creative potential
• discuss why some materials and techniques are more suitable than others.

You can use a variety of materials to meet your brief including:

• non-resistant materials, e.g. plaster, card, paper, lightweight wood, string, soft wire, plastic sheet, glues and adhesives, and
• resistant materials, e.g. metals, wood, wood-based products and rigid plastics.

Health and safety is a crucial part of workshop practice and involves eliminating risk to yourself and to others, thinking and working safely within a studio environment and following the guidelines for handling substances that could be hazardous to your health.

Try this

• Make a list of the materials that you will use in your product.
• Draw up a list of basic health and safety rules for using these products. Pay particular attention to using products such as hazardous substances (e.g. adhesives, varnishes, etc.) that could be dangerous to your health.

Using 3D construction techniques and processes
You will learn how to plan construction processes and use a range of techniques including:

• cutting and carving
• forming and moulding
• joining and assembling, and
• finishing.

Try this

• Make a list of the processes and techniques that you'll use to complete your product. If there are any techniques that you will need that you're not already familiar with, how will you learn these?
• Experiment with CAD to develop your design and create working plans.

You may find some of the following books useful.
Feill, C and P — Designing the 21st Century (Taschen, 2001)
Feill, C and P — Industrial Design A–Z (Taschen, 2000)
Herbert, T and Huggins, K — The Decorative Tile (Phaidon, 2000)
Massey, A — Interior Design of the 21st Century (Thames & Hudson, 2001)
McCreight, T — Colour on Metal (Guild Publishing, 2001)
Mills, J — Encyclopedia of Sculptural Techniques (B T Batsford, 2001)
Powers, A — Nature in Design (Conran Octopus, 2002)
Terraroli, V — Skira Dictionary of Modern Decorative Arts (University of Turin, 2001)
Thackery, B — Paper Making — Decorating & Designing (Conran Octopus, 2001)
Willacy, D M — Craft & Design in Wood (Nelson Thornes, 1987)

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