Design & Technology made teachable — practical strategies, visual thinking, and digital fabrication for today’s D&T classrooms. Built on two decades of experience across mainstream, ASD, and international schools.
This is the the simplest of all 3D forms. The oblique drawing. If you can draw a shape, you can draw oblique. Simply adding a third dimension at 45 degrees to the horizontal.
In this video I’ll show you how you can learn about the concept of an Oblique Drawing and how to practice with a variety of oblique blocks. Then we move on to drawing oblique shapes and forms.
For the last bit, we always need some fun. I’ll show you how you create 3D Oblique building block structures.
The examination is everybody’s anxiety. However it can also be stress-free. You CANNOT wait for weeks or days to the examination day and then start thinking how you should study or revise. You want stress-free?You just need to know what it is, how it works and you find a way to make the best of your time and effort, and find a strategy to make it work to your advantage.
In this video I defined what “Examination” is and it’s main intention. This concept is important for you to understand the topics that follows.
Then I shared my personal experiences on how I overcame and managed to score close to a 100% for a subject I knew almost nothing about in my graduation year. Just few weeks before the major examination. I am not encouraging anybody to leave everything to the last of the minutes. But I am sharing with you that if you knew such strategies exists, you will do so much better.
Finally I went into great length describing what to me is the ‘Ultimate Revision Strategy” for examination. Making the best use of the principles of memory retention and time. And how you will surely know you are ready for the examination. Because too often than not we hear people say, “I already studied. I read and I understood everything. But I still failed.” Something very important is missing. And I’ll reveal to you what that is.
Watch the video till the end. You’ll learn a thing or two.
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Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.
In this video I bring you through the steps of warm ups for sketching.
As usual I drop some nuggets of tips and tricks to help you make better progresses. You will learn about warm ups with lines, circles, ovals and curves. And how you can create intermediate variations along the way and on your own. For example varying spaces and line weights, and sizes, etc.
Feel free to pause after each warm up section so you can continue with more practices on your own, or simply just taking a break to digest the contents. Or if you are quick enough, follow me through the entire video without stopping.
At the end of the warm up practices, I’ll attempt to identify a meaningful profile from the ‘mess’ and turn it into something comprehensible and familiar. If you are adventurous enough, follow me through to creating a 3D form out of that.
Watch and learn with me about sketching “Warm Ups”
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Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.
MODeling = MODEL + model. How to pose? How do you get the best and most effective photo of your model for coursework? Who should be the photographer (aka the DIRECTOR) and who should be the model(s)?
While it may seem like common sense that the person taking the photographs should be the director and owner of the project. The opposite is actually true. All the time. It is not rare to see students playing the role of the MODEL, modeling their own solution, while their friends take the photographs for them.
More often than not you get very lousy quality photos that does not show well the intention of the activity. The person taking the photo (if not the creator of the solution) will not know the best angle or perspective the photo should be. And will not be able to advice the ‘MODEL’ as so. And will never be able to.
In the video I’ll explain who the MODEL(S) should be and why it should not be the owner of the solution / model. And will attempt to explain to you the best possible types of scenario you should strive for. One that best describes the intention of the action of the model, by the user, in the right context.
Hope you liked the video and learned a thing or two.
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Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.
How do I know how to determine when I should start my revision? Should I rely on my teacher’s template or wait for my friends? Am I revising or studying? Should I do it fast or slow? What attitudes should I have? If I don’t understand something or cannot solves problem what do I do?
By the time you hear about examination planning from your teacher, it is usually too late.
But what does it mean? How early is early? How do I know if I have allocated enough time?
All these and more in the video where I elaborate on the topic on ‘how do I know when to start studying or revising’ and many more important tips to help you become more effective.
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Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.
Drawing 2D Geometric & Organic Shapes; They are just about as fundamental as drawings can get.
What’s the difference between the two? And how do we make the best out of practices?
In the video I’ll explain to you how you can draw various 2D shapes. With lots of just-in-time tips to help you supercharge your progress. I’ll also be explain why I chose to do certain things or draw in a certain way.
Feel free to “Paused” in between shapes to practice on your own, or create your own variations. You will also find tips on how to create a variety of shapes on your own.
We end with the finale by interpreting the ‘mess’ from the practices and create cool & fun shapes.
Watch and learn with me about sketching “2D Geometric & Organic Shapes”
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Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.
This video is perhaps one of the most important ones I’ve created, that is closely related to coursework. It addresses attitudes and motivation towards the coursework and generally about why and how you chose to behave, and do the things you are doing right now.
There is nothing more important than leaving a legacy when you know that potentially one day your voice will never be heard again.
Before anything else can be meaningfully proposed and executed, the types of Responsibilities you chose to function on, and they definitions of Quality, needs to be understood.
In this videoI talked about
“Four-Levels of Responsibilities’ and
defined what “Quality Work” means, and described how “Quality Work” looks like.
Thetwo major principleswhich I discovered, influenced the way I think and work & teach, and modeled since I first became an educator more than 2 decades ago.
All opinions are mine and mine own. You don’t have to believe or follow them. But take time to listen, think, and make your own conclusions how you wish to live your life.
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Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.
It can be very exciting in a design process when ideas keep pouring in. But it can be frustrating if you cannot keep up with sketching those ideas on paper.
Just because you might not have acquired the competencies, confidences and the speed yet, what can you do to make sure you do not forget or miss out on those ideas, when it is time to sketch them on paper?
If you can identify with the above, this video is for you. In the video I described two ways you can manage this problem,
1) Jotting ideas on paper before drawing them.
2) Using references when you draw.
Watch the video on how the above points are elaborated with examples.
If you like this video and the contents I shared, LIKE, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE. And do let me know what else you like to watch and learn. And I’ll make them for you.
Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.
Stress-Free coursework? Yes it is totally possible. But you say the coursework is often stressful and time-consuming for many students, it is time this must change.
In this video I’m going to show you that a stressful coursework need not be so, and how you can achieve a relatively Stress-Free coursework for yourself.
I will not guarantee a 100% stress-free coursework because there got to be some degree of tension and challenges.
By being stress-free, essentially that meant not needing the unnecessary ‘stress’ like a regular student who does not know what is going on in coursework.
All you need is to understand a few things on how the coursework works. And the objectives of each and every design process steps. Make sure you get your objectives clear and complete, before you move on to the next step or design phase. If you do that I can almost guarantee you a Stress-Free journey.
Learn how you can be Stress-Free in the video above
And if you like the video and the contents I produce for you, let me know in the comments below what else you like to watch and learn. And I’ll make them for you.
Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.
Here you will find videos and tutorials which you can watch, learn and practice together with me. I will be populating more videos whenever new ones are ready over the next few days or weeks. Make sure you come back to check out new updates.
In the following series of videos of “Sketching & Drawing Practice with Mr Daniel” you will be guided through Warm ups, Basic 2D and 3D Geometric and Organic shapes and forms practices, and finally One & Two Point-Perspective practices.
And before we even begin, let me share with you some essential “Drawing Basics” that is absolutely necessary for you to understand before you dive right into the rest of the tutorials and practices.
You don’t have do everything. You may choose one or two areas you wish to learn or develop on. In every video I will be providing you tips and guides on how you can draw more effectively and efficiently.
But at the end of the day, how well and confidence you will draw, depends on how often you practice.
How do I start? How do I end? Should I know the purpose and objective of creating a
I’ll share with you why you should, and much more in this video.
In this video I describe what is the quickest, most effective way to construct a mindmap beginning from a design theme, that will end up with some good genuine practical Design Opportunities.
Let me know in the comments what else you like to learn and watch.
