15 research outputs found

    Reflecting on professional practice: Capturing an industrial designer's expertise to support the development of the sketching capabilities of novices

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    This paper reviews the importance of sketching to designers and clarifies the key techniques used at different stages of designing. The analysis of the author’s sketching expertise is described and a survey of undergraduate perceptions of sketching was carried out using the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) and a questionnaire. A revised strategy for the teaching and learning of sketching to first year industrial design and technology undergraduates is outlined and early observations of its implementation are reported

    Using the continuum of design modelling techniques to aid the development of cad modelling skills in first year industrial design students

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    Loughborough Design School (LDS) used the Design Modelling Techniques to aid the development of CAD modelling skills in first year Industrial Design (DP1) students. All 130 students were asked to create an external product form around a given set of internal components. They were required to both sketch the form and translate it into a foam model. They were also given the option of using 3D CAD to complement their manual techniques. Iteration between the different media was encouraged. The expected outcome was that students would develop a competence in 3D shape analysis and the transformation into 2D profiles. It was found that the vast majorities of the students had grasped the concept of key cross-sections and were able to identify these on images of existing products. Virtually all of the students became very competent in iterating between 2D sketches and a 3D foam model, where they would derive the key sections from their model, re-sketch the shape they wanted and modify the foam accordingly

    Mash to the future - 2D image manipulation as a driver for ideation

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    Industrial Designers are renowned for their ability to work effectively with diverse and disparate individuals, disciplines and organisations during the creative process (Hurn, 2006). This is part of the makeup of the Industrial Designer that led to Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO coining the term ‘T-shape’ designer. The symbolic shape of the ‘T’ refers to the depth and breadth of the designers abilities; with the vertical stroke of the ‘T’ being the depth of skill that allows them to contribute to the creative process, and the horizontal stroke being the disposition for collaboration across disciplines (Hansen, 2010)

    Using novel 2D image manipulation methods to aid initial concept generation with Postgraduate Industrial Design Students

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    The aim of this paper is to provide educators and Industrial Design professionals with an insight into the development of innovative design ideation images manipulation techniques and, highlight how these techniques could be used to not only improve student ideation skills, but also as design enablers for a broader range of professionals working both inside and outside the creative industries. The review of literature highlights the changing role of the Industrial Designer through influencing factors such as increased involvement in upstream design activities and the ‘maker movement’. The paper documents research conducted with postgraduate Industrial Design students in a specific year group within a Higher Education Institution (HEI). The study is a pilot project with a small cohort of 29 Industrial Design Postgraduate students which will form part of the ongoing pedagogic development of the skills required for the ever evolving discipline of Industrial Design. The study covers one academic semester, where postgraduate Industrial Design students were asked to use novel ideation methods to produce a range of aesthetic design directions for a communication device. The results of the research showed significant improvements in ideation workflow, the suitability and quality of the student’s form generation, as well as the perceived quality of the final design outcomes

    The value of design in UK FMCG packaging development: An industry case study exploring practitioner design practice rationale & decision-making

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    Recognising the value design offers has been of great importance for the effective development and launch of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). Packaging design is acknowledged as a significant success factor in New Product Development (NPD) for the FMCG industry to help provide clear product differentiation and competitive advantage in saturated and complex markets. The search for approaches to maintain or improve market share has driven the field of consumer research over the last few decades. The potential to influence consumer perception of a product through visual design is well documented in the literature. Packaging design relies on effective management of symbolic, semantic, aesthetic and visual information elements. Stakeholders have been increasingly demanding that design practitioners provide a clear rationale and accountability for their design proposals in this risk-averse industry. However, limited research has been produced to address how packaging design and development is managed; and, how design practitioners rationalise and validate their design decision-making. The authors’ look to address this through the study of design practitioners in ‘real-world’ FMCG design practice. A case study is presented with a UK company involved in the design and manufacture of food and beverage packaging for suppliers, retailers and brands in the UK FMCG market. The research aims to identify preliminary insights and a narrative into the factors affecting practitioner rationale, decision-making and explore future research. The study triangulates evidence from interviews, participant observation, direct observation and document analysis to identify influences through a convergence of findings. Nine preliminary influences are recognised that appear to affect practitioner rationale and decision-making.<br

    Communicating the value of design: Design considerations to assist practitioner rationale in FMCG packaging development

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    Product packaging design is often produced through the practical application of tacit knowledge, rule of thumb and professional connoisseurship. Stakeholders are becoming increasingly demanding that design practitioners provide clarity of reasoning and accountability for their design proposals. Therefore, a better framework for the design of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) is required. This paper proposes a comprehensive taxonomy of ‘design considerations’ to assist the development of low involvement FMCG packaging and aid in rationale communication for design solutions. 302 academic sources were reviewed, inductive content analysis performed to code topics and output validation with academic and industry experts (n=9) through a modified-Delphi card sorting method. The research provides movement towards a comprehensive framework and common dialogue between stakeholders, practitioners and managers to assist in more effectively communicating the value that design can offer to FMCGs. The constructed taxonomy provides a set of 156 ‘design considerations’ to support in objective and informed design decision-making

    An introduction to the development of a product Brand: an evidence-based template for use with first year undergraduate industrial designers

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    The manipulation of colour, form and texture within a commercial design activity is a core competency for an industrial designer. The job of the Industrial designer is to use colour, form, texture, temperature and movement to deliver a sensory experience that evokes a desired response. The core deliverables of an industrial designer are embedded within an evidence-based and user-centred approach to product design. Social functionality may often be most easily seen through the delivery of Brand. The aim of this paper is to provide education practitioners with a template to facilitate the introduction of Brand construction to undergraduate industrial design students through the visual and physical embodiment of a product. The objectives of this paper are to: provide signposting to the underpinning theories of the template; describe the template; show examples of student work that demonstrate the outcomes of template application; and, highlight where students have used the template within brand related design competitions to produce successful design outcomes

    Social camouflage: A survey of 143 students of their preference for assistive technology cutlery and the visual mechanisms being influenced

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    Camouflage has been used extensively in modern military applications for over one hundred years. However, social camouflage has been used by artists and designers for even longer within clothing, body-worn accessories and more recently automotive and product design. Most practising designers learn this tacit heuristic through trial and error or passed on through master-student experience. This paper will provide the theoretical principles behind the heuristic and validate their application through evidence from different sources. A series of photographs was compiled of seven commercially available cutlery for people with limited grip strength or mobility in their hands that included a set that embodied the principles of social camouflage. The optimum shapes for grip in these sets highlights their unconventional shape, making them often less desirable to use in public. A survey of preferences for a range of cutlery was completed with 143 students using a semantic differential (SD) scale, with ‘least medical’ and ‘most medical’ as the polar nouns. A sample of eight students, four male, four females, completed the survey again using computer screen-based eye tracking. The areas of interest and the order of movement of fixations were noted. The SD scale order placed the perception of the social camouflaged cutlery as more medical than desirable in contradiction to current sales of the product. Eye tracking highlighted that students followed the outline of the highest contrast visual elements when viewing the socially camouflaged cutlery; being drawn away from the outline of the actual shape. In all others, the outline profile was prominent

    Persona-Technology footprint: an evaluation of 144 student’s perceptions of a person using assistive technology

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    The persona-technology footprint is the visual balance between the enabling technologies associated with an individual and the person. This design heuristic enables a practitioner to quickly assess the area of visible technology compared with that of the person. The objective of a designer is to minimise the perceived technology and emphasise the personality of the individual. This study looks to provide detail about the visual balance between areas of a person covered by assistive technology and which areas of a person it is important to ensure are visible. A survey of 144 undergraduate design students involved them choosing where they considered they no longer saw ‘the person’, due to them being covered by assistive technology. This involved three different line drawings: one that had different sections of the person’s profile blacked out to represent the presence of equipment in front of the person; the second with the outer profile of the person visually broken by the overlapping blacked section; and, a line drawing of a person’s head with blacked out sections that both covered areas of the head and broke the outer profile. The points chosen by students were collated and processed statistically using ANOVA. In all three choices, students chose the point where the person was covered up to the point of their eyes being covered. This suggests we view another person’s eyes to represent them more than any other part of their body. Further studies are required to explore this outcome

    Offending users: designing-in deterrence with mobile telephones

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    This paper describes research relating to the design semantics of desirable products and the crime of theft. The methods employed range from the review of existing designs of mobile phones and associated systems and technologies, the perception of crime from a student designer's viewpoint and, importantly, the opinions of young offenders about proposed design solutions. We developed conceptual designs in consultation with the Mobile Data Association and these were reviewed by a sample of groups of young offenders and 'non-offender' consumers of similar age, to reflect the different user perspectives. The conclusions reveal differences between offenders and non-offenders in their perceptions of the deterrent effect of different design solutions. It is suggested that the research offers insight into the use of empathic strategies in the design of frequently stolen 'hot products'
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