Beefing up Student's Work - Tackling Common Mistakes

Below are samples of my students works at the development stage. 'Beefing' up is done on my iPad Pro after a photo is taken off the relevant pages. Some 'beefing' up is prepared before the lesson, some done live in class. Student's original A3 works on paper are untouched.

Summary of examples:

Student's work (1):

Lots of a variety of sketches but not catogorised with suitable sub-titles. Making understanding difficult. Beefing up on development sketches focusing on selected features from a solution.

 

Student's work (2):

Student sketched parts with changes from one to the other without referencing to the solution. Making page look like a catalogue of parts. Beefing up includes sketching in pens/pencils on the improved features.

 

Student's work (3):

Student had difficulty sketching in pens/pencils inclined at an angle on an isometric block. Beefing up includes suggestions to overcome (temporarily) lacking in skills to sketch using a 2-dimesional approach.

 

Student's work (4):

Student sketched in 2D and thinks the process of development is complete. However sketches in 2D fail to show how a product/object is like in real world 3D form. Beefing up includes two ways to represent a 2D shape three dimensions - a flat organic shape or a spherical organic shape. (using contour lines to represent surface curvature).

 

Student's work (5):

Student's work shows a variety of modifications to the size of a part of the solution. However all of the sketches did not show what it is suppose to hold. Beefing up includes showing items that is being held and what other additional supplementary sketches can pop up after including items.

 

Student's work (6):

This example is one of the most common mistake students make. Almost every student make the mistake of drawing the items to be held / stored on the holder too tiny. It can be very comical when the product is drawn in real size while keeping the proportions of the size of the pen/pencils held in there. Beefing up includes sketches of pens/pencils appropriately sized for the proposed holder.

Student's work (1)

Student submitted this page of development (on shapes).

At a glance one could not quickly tell the differences for each of the variations made in the page.

A suggestion to categorise specific focus for modifications.

Tips: Highlight intent with quick notes to inform reader (marker) what is being done.

I extracted a section of the student's work for a live demonstration on how presentation of sketches could be made more obvious. Focusing on variations for the 'legs' of the product I exaggerating the sizes to show 'changes' and how those changes affects the looks of the original solution. 

Important: At the end of the exercise a decision must be made to select the best combination.

Another demonstration showing various options for the body.

And how changes can affect the other parts of the solution.

Student's work (2)

When I saw this I thought I saw a catalogue of hardware parts.

Picking parts of a product and drawing variations out of them in silo does not help in design development. There is not way to visually assess how the overall product will look like when fitted with each of those variations.

Suggestion to draw parts with the body remaining constant. i.e. no change in shape or size. Only varying size of 'wing' and how it can subsequently affect the way it hold pens/pencils.

Student's work (3)

Student came to me with difficulty sketching in pens/pencils at an angle on a 3D block.

My suggestions: Student can sketch them in later (or after teacher's intervention). However at that 'stuck' moment, one way to get out is to draw the same solution on its 'Side View'. It is clear that once it is sketched on its side view, drawing pens / pencils at an angle becomes more manageable. With some help and more demonstration the student should be able to draw pens/pencils into the 3D block.

Student's work (4)

This example shows how a sketch can be taken further. Many students end up with a 2D sketch and expect that it is sufficient for development. The problem with a 2D sketch is that it does not show if this solution is a flat (block) or a spherical organic form.

A solution must eventually be presented with its third dimension be it using the isometric, perspective, or oblique method or in orthographic forms. Unless product is a printed image on paper.

Here I demonstrated very quickly how this 2D whale shape can either be a flat Isometric or a spherical organic form. 

Tips: Drawing contour lines on a spherical organic form is critical in showing curvature.

 

Student's work (5)

 

This student followed the instruction to draw variations of the parts (in this example the wings). However he has forgotten to include what the wings are for? That is to hold pens/pencils. But they are no where to be found. Therefore making proposed sketches meaningless.

 

Bottom right shows teacher's intervention to show how pens/pencils could be added and how the shapes and sizes of the wings  may affect the total number of pens/pencils and/or the way they are being slotted in.

Student's work (6)

Every time when I see students draw like this, I like to show them how HUGE their proposed design is relative to the objects they are holding. Usually my students will go 'WOW! I didn't know I drew them so BIG?"

On the right of the page is how BIG the product will be like. At the bottom right is an example how big the pens/pencils' should be drawn instead. You must have a good sense of proportion between the holder and what will be held/stored in it.

 

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If my posts helped you in one way or another, I would like to hear from you.

If you have feedbacks or suggestions or differing in views I would like to hear from you too.

email: mrdanielsos@yahoo.com.sg

Knowing that you have arrived at Design Development

When you start to look at the individual parts and connections, on details and confirming best choice materials and jointing methods, on optimum sizes and drawing out dimensions accurately, at the same time refining ergonomics, shapes, forms and colors to achieve maximum beauty and usability, you know, that you have arrived at the design refinement and development stage.

Fish Note Holder - Design Refinement and Development Demonstrations

The two links are demonstrations on a 'Fish Note Holder' featuring the following topics: 

• Design Refinements and Developments 
• Working Drawing (based on ratios rather than on dimensions) 
• (Simple) Presentation Drawing 
• A Pictorial Presentation of the Making Process. 

Design Refinement and Development + Working Drawing + Presentation Drawing

Making Process (Realization)

How Does a Facilitation on Processes for Making Look Like?

I've begun afternoon consultations for my Secondary TWO students.

Below you'll see how I facilitated 2N1 Angeline Salt & Pepper Storage over a time period of 30 minutes or so. Angeline final concept (not shown), was a skinny (side-view) 'hour-glass' shaped holder made of acrylic, and wood at the top and bottom as support. However there were difficulties in working out how to develop the parts to dispense Salt or Pepper, for re-fill and to able to keep all the little parts intact all the time.

Page 1:

My first task was to help Angeline understand different possible ways to construct the 'hour-glass' concept. She already had it worked out from a series of idea generation and refinement rounds to come out with the two flat 'hour-glass' panels cut out from a single acrylic sheet and covered using a formed acrylic strips at both open-ended sides.

At Secondary TWO, I would expect she might have some technical difficulties in actually making it work. So in the example above, I started clarifying how the base of the holder may be constructed from a single piece of Jelutong wood, which in turn depends on the width of the 'hour-glass' design. And put a note for her that we need to consult the Workshop Instructors to see if 'cutting' a rectangular slot in the wood is possible.

We also discussed that the allowance left after 'cutting' from the slot to the edge of the wood cannot be too thin as that would make the stucture weak. We need to work out the width of the 'hour-glass first'.

Page 2:

Forming the curved acrylic strip shape to fit the sides of the 'hour-glass' needs to be planned carefully. Making use of Angeline's original process to construct the 'hour-glass' the process was further refined including other possible ways to construct it. Throughout page 2, the emphasis is on how formers (a male and a female) could be used to create the exact curve she needs for both sides of the 'hour-glass'.

When you see #1, #2, and so on in page 2, those were referring to the steps I drew on paper as I described how each process can be completed to create the formers needed, and at the same time aims to cut-out the 'hour-glass' shaped design - all in a single process.

It is important to make sure that the shape of the former has exactly the same curvature on both ends on the 'hour-glass' shape. That is why the wooden former and the acrylic 'hour-glass' shape is cut together. Both the former wood and acrylic can be secured together using double-sided tape.

Page 3:

Finally we come to the part to talk about Salt or Pepper dispensing and how to go about making that. The simplest soluton is to find some sort of 'plug' which can be found in some medication bottles, e.g. the PiPa Gao bottle (in Chinese 枇杷膏). That can go to the bottom part. The top part is another similar acrylic strip with tiny drilled holes for 'dispensing'.

Measuring the diameter of the 'plug' will lead you to the width of the bottom 'plug' acrylic strip. After explaining the rationales about giving allowances from the drilled hole to the edge of the acrylic, the width of the bottom 'plug' acrylic strip is quickly worked out.

The rest of the dimenions on the hour-glass body is left to Angeline to work out on her own.

Conclusion:

That was one happy successful consultation session. Angeline was able to show her understanding from the discussion and this is possible because she had already been working on the processes of making for some time. A lot of thoughts were evident through her design journal especially at the refinement phase. The details of measurements and how a single acrylic sheet could be subdivided to maximize material usage, etc is impressive for a 13 year old.

My job was to help her refine and shorten the processes by introducing alternative techniques and approaches that she might not have thought of. Sometimes radically changing the processes.

In the end, Angeline still got to make a decision on the final processes.

Those were my drawings all right... but Angeline would need to bring that home, recall our discussions and come out of her own version.

That's quite a challenge. But I believe with Angeline's keen attitude, the Hour-Glass Salt & Pepper Holder will surely turn out just as designed.

Dollar Key Tag Project - Part 3 - Refinement (Development)

Dollar Key-Tag Refinement (Development) 

The example below is taken from my demonstration in class 1N1. 

Note 1: Here is a summary of some factors that should be considered when you refine your concept.

Before you could refine a concept, you should first select one out of the many you are drawn in the Idea Generation stage. Hopefully as you generate ideas in the earlier stage, you would have been modifying, combining, morphing and improving the concepts along the way. 

Note 2: It is good to keep your focus and refine (develop) your concept on factor at a time. You should also remember to refer to your Design Specifications where you list out the specifics what they product must do. The above example shows you a demonstration on working on weak areas, sharp edges or corners, and finding the best position for the coin. Keep on drawing fresh new ideas as you work along the first two factors. You will find your concept evolving.

Note 3: The next few focus refinement points are improving the overall shape and proportions, followed by exploring the best position for the key ring. Try different shapes and size configurations until they look right. Your first concept may look right in the beginning. But it is still good if you would have a go at exploring some minor variations. The outcome may surprise you! I changed the sizes and positions of the eyes. And it ended up one big and small eyes do look better than both equal size. That also helped me make a major decision that one of the claws would hold a coin and the other the keyring. 


Finally, nothing beats being able to simplify the concept. Find any features (e.g. shapes or method of construction) that looked complicated. Look out for the potential to simplify the project so that it still looks more desirable, easier to manage and make, and takes lesser time.  

Note 4: Always remember to go back to your Design Specifications. I have a restriction on material size. So remember to draw your latest development back into the actual working size to gauge how it might actually look like. Alternatively you may want to cut out a paper model for evaluation. Make any necessary fine-tuning after that. Both on the model and in your design journal. Notice I have also reduced the body size. It is now slimmer than before. I'll continue to develop (refine) it as long a time allows me to do so before I see you all again for the next lesson.

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The examples below are demonstrations in class 1N2. 

The steps and descriptions would be similar to the ones above.

Refinements on weak points, rounding off potential sharp edges and looking out for the best coin position.

Refinement on the overall shape and proportions and the position of the key ring. Simplifying the profile of the concept if possible but without compromising the functionality and aesthetics desirability.

Finally, the refined concept is drawn to scale within the perimeters of the actual work piece. Here further refinement may be required to ensure that everything is in place. Make sure the coin can move freely in and out of its entry point.

The Grid Method is used to transfer the scaled concept on the acrylic work piece later.

Simple Refinement (Development and Improvement) Process for Coaster Design

This section is a continuation of a lower secondary Cup Coaster Design project.

Refinement (Development and Improvement) Process for Selected Coaster Pattern Part 1 of 2

Steps:
1) Round off sharp external and internal corners
2) Widen narrow 'necks' to improve strength
3) Simplify shapes to make them more manageable for making.

Refinement (Development and Improvement) Process for Selected Coaster Pattern Part 2 of 2

Steps:
1) Refine overall shape to achieve good proportions
2) Continue to morph design to achieve desired aesthetical expectations.

Remember: The refinement (or development) process is finish, only when the designer thinks it is finished. To produce quality work, the refinement process towards a final solution must also take into consideration satisfying the user's needs and expectations, the place the product will be use, the practicality of the final shape and form, etc.

Putting Ideas Back into Perspective

Did you notice the fridge at the bottom right hand corner of this example? As I was refining my coaster idea, I thought it would be nice to have a magnet right in the middle of the coaster pattern so that I can store it on a fridge if I do not need it anymore.

It would not be enough if I were to just draw a magnet on the coaster say 'Oh see, there is where the magnet would be... " and treat that as an improvement. It would make better sense if I sketch the new idea on the side of a fridge! Since it is now placed on the fridge, I can go on to evaluate the idea of a coaster on the fridge meaningfully. And that represents clearly what the magnet on the coaster is intended for. That is putting the newly proposed idea back in perspective to enable meaningful evaluation on its functionality and practicality.

This process of 'Putting Concepts Back into Perspective' within the intermediate key stages of ideation and development is so important but often neglected by students.

Next: Grid Method - Transferring Refined Coaster Patterns onto an Acrylic Workpiece.