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Exemplar Work

Sketchbook: Key Decisions
 In the previous lesson you should have produced your first pages which should be a detailed mind maps in and mood-boards which you should have identified a range of potential problems to solve or products to to manufacture. We now must now narrow down these options to formulate a research plan and a definitive design brief.

Its important to start to streamline your task so that you can focus your research. In other words you are going to make some important decisions at a very early stage in order to narrow down what you are going to do, who you are going to aim it at, what theme you are going to base your project around etc. This will allow you to produce focused and relevant research, not lots of pages of research on everything saving you time producing pages and pages of useless research.

TASK ONE

Step 2 - Narrow Down the Task

  • In the previous Mind Map you explored as many possible options to key decisions and key factors that will influence your design project.
  • Now you have to decide what are the most important factors or decisions that you have to make with regards to the design task?
  • Set a Mind Map that explores 2 options for those most important factors or decisions that you have to make with regards to the design task?
  • Look at your previous Mind Map to help you decide.
  • You can produce mind-maps for-
  • Possible products
  • Possible themes
  • Possible Location
  • Possible functions
  • Possible Consumer
  • Possible Sustainable features

An example of how to layout the key decisions task page is shown above. Remember you can use your own headings relevant to your own project. This shows one of the possible ways of how you can layout your sheet if you need help and guidance.


How you lay this page out is again up to you, there are several ways. In the mind map again extend the branches but not too many now just two or three in each category. You can produce your mind map on more than one page if you prefer more space. Just hover the example below.


Now you need to make those Key Decisions and “narrow down” the option you have given yourself in the previous mind map. Pick out the bad options and select the top 2 or 3.


For example:

Key Decisions

Key Decision

...........

Possible

….........

...........

Key Decision

...........

Possible

….........

...........

You have now narrowed down the design contexts to a possible four problems / projects, four consumers, four themes and four possible functions. Its important to now make some final key decisions. Evaluate what problem you will solve or product you will make and why? Which consumer this product will be aimed at and why? What theme it will be based around and why? Also evaluate if it will be based on form or if it will have a possible second function.

TASK TWO