Which one would you buy?

Assignment 3 - Deadline 17/10/08

Your next Brief is to develop a new product identity for a chosen product. Your Teacher will inform you of which product this will be. The aim of the assignment is to help you gain a greater understanding of the power of packaging and advertising, whilst developing your ability to produce high quality graphic products.

You must:
Produce an A3 Advertising poster for your product. This must include the product name and a slogan. It must be printed and mounted on board. Other than that you have complete freedom.

Produce a piece of packaging for your product. This should include all the information you would expect to find on any actual product. It must also carry an appropriate price. You have complete licence to use any materials you can get your hands on for this.

Remember that you need to consider who your target market is, in order to pitch your product appropriately, i.e. is it a Value product or are you pitching high end customers, does it have a niche market or is it for the Masses?
Your work will be both assessed by your teacher and judged by a panel of teachers from across the Academy who will simply be asked "Which product would you buy?".

To make it interesting your teacher will be giving you some relatively bland products to market, just to keep it interesting!!

What will You do with Yours?

Assignment 2 - Deadline 9 am 03/11/08

Your next Brief is to develop an excisting product, with the aim of adding value! You will be given an Ikea Coffee table that you must develop, by any means you choose. You can cut it, paint it, add things too it or remove parts from it the only criteria you have too meet is that it must be worth more at the end than before you started. Remeber that Art and indeed design is often about taste and just because you like it, doesnot mean that others will. Good luck!!

Instructions

STEP 1 :ORDER YOUR LACK SIDE TABLE. Available from Mr Jenkins, Mr Simmons & Mrs Knight. They retail in IKEA for £7.99.

STEP 2 : ADD VALUE. Let your creativity run wild and modify the table using any materials and in any way you choose. Your imagination is your only limit!

STEP 3 : PRICE IT. How much do you think your creation is worth, now that you have devloped it? This must not exceed £30 (unless more than one person wishes to buy it, then the sky is the limit!).

STEP 4 : SUBMIT it. Email us a picture, and description of how and why you did what you did?

STEP 5 : EXHIBIT TABLE Bring the table to the Conference Room before 9am on the 03/11/08.

STEP 6 : SELL IT. See if your table sells to Staff students or parents during the day. All profits will be donated to the Gambia.


Go to IKEA to choose your colour.

Check out some examples @ The Bristol Design Festival & Here

"I should never have bought!"

Assignment 1 - Deadline 5th Sept 2008

Welcome to the course Guys, your first assignment is to write a 250 Word Article titled "I should never have bought". Your article can be about any product you or your family have bought and immediately, perhaps passionately wished you hadn't! When writing your article remember the whole basis for this activity was to discuss Form vs Function. Where do you stand?

Below is an example article from the Times which illustrates perfectly what you should be trying to achieve. You will also find a series of links at the bottom of the page which you may also find useful.
You should submit your article, by posting it on your own Blog! where it will be commented on by both your classmates and your teacher.

I should never have bought...
Juicy Salif citrus squeezer

A few months ago I bought a Juicy Salif citrus squeezer, designed by Philippe Starck. I bought it for my wife Julie (but really it’s because I like fresh orange juice in the mornings).
The advertising calls it “a centrepiece for any kitchen” and it does look great. Its pod-shaped juicing head stands on three spindly legs like an alien on a tripod, so you can put a glass between the feet to catch the trickling juice.
It’s a beautiful idea, the trouble is it doesn’t work. Every time I use it we end up with orange juice everywhere. The notion that the juice will run serenely down the sides and into the glass just doesn’t happen in practice. Maybe because we’re too violent with it, and it may not help that our children, Lotus, 4, and Jagger, 3, usually also want to have a go. Whatever happens, most of the juice misses the glass.
I love some of Philippe Starck’s furniture designs, but as this juicer is not functional, we now keep it purely as a piece of art.

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You might also find this article useful - Conran V Starck

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More i should never have bought articles.
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http://www.philippe-starck.com/

A-Level Course Info

Course Introduction

The product design Specification has been designed to encourage you to take a broad view of Design Technology, to develop your capacity to design and make products and to appreciate the complex relationship between design, materials, manufacture and marketing.

3D Product Design is intended to reflect the wide-ranging activities of professional designers and covers a wide range of materials. The written papers only test the core content of the specification, but other materials such as ceramics textiles electronics and mechanisms can be used to produce exciting coursework outcomes.

The Product Design course contains a section on Communication Methods. Graphics are an integral part of any design Technology work. It is vitally important that you can communicate your thinking clearly and represent your ideas graphically, this can be in the form of sketches, CAD images, sketch models etc. This section of the course can provide opportunities for more graphically focused students to expand their coursework in this direction, but it must be noted that all project work requires a three dimensional outcome.

Course Aims

Design Technology offers you an opportunity to gain personal satisfaction and a positive experience from working with a variety of materials. The practical problem solving processes in this course will encourage independent learning, creativity and innovation.
You are encouraged to;
a. Develop and maintain your own innovation, creativity and design & technology capability,to regognise constraints and to produce high quality products;
b. Develop an understanding of the influences of the processes and products of design & technological activity from a historical perspective and in current practice;
c. Apply understanding and skills of design production processes to a range of technological activities and develop an understanding of industrial practices;
d. Use ICT to enhance your design & technological capability;
e. Develop critical evaluation skills in technical, aesthetic, ethical, economic, environmental social and cultural contexts;
f. Develop as discerning consumers able too make informed choices.