Freehand Sketching for Beginners: Tips for Design and Technology Students
Use a crating drawing technique
Amiria Gale
What is the Difference Between Style, Fashion, Trends, and a Fad?
Designers must understand the impact of fashion, trends, and fads upon designed products. This article introduces students to these terms and discusses the impact of fashion and style upon product design. Fashion Fad Trend Style Fashions can fade – style is eternal. Style can refer to a formal art & design style, or an individual’s … Read more
Cultural & Social Factors Affecting Consumer Behaviour & Product Design
A product can impact society in numerous ways. This influence can be positive or negative and these impacts may differ across individuals, groups, and cultures. Social considerations in product design include factors such as accessibility for different age groups and abilities, cultural sensitivities around symbols and colors, language and communication preferences, religious observances and restrictions, … Read more
Scale of Production in Product Design: a guide for students
To become an effective designer, you must understand how the scale of production in product design (individual, small batch, and mass production) impacts the manufacturing process. Understanding these systems of production, as well becoming familiar with terms such continuous production and just-in-time manufacturing, helps you make better design decisions and anticipate manufacturing challenges. Individual production … Read more
Electronic Components: Input & Output Devices, Amplification & Feedback in Systems (Examples and Definitions)
High school Design & Technology students are often asked to identify and name different features of control systems, such as input devices, processing elements, output devices, feedback, and amplification. This article summarises this content and helps students prepare for examination questions on this topic. Products that use electricity or other forms of energy to carry … Read more
Built-in Obsolescence: advantages and disadvantages
Built-in obsolescence means when manufacturers plan for a product to become obsolete/unusable by a certain time. PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE: Deliberately designing the life cycle of a product to be short, forcing the user to update their products quickly. 0445 Design & Technology Syllabus, 2028-2030, Cambridge International Examinations Ways of creating obsolescence Examples of planned obsolescence in … Read more
Health and Safety in a School Workshop: Understanding Risk Assessment and Safe Working Practices
Many high school Design and Technology students complete practical projects in a school workshop. In this environment, students need to be aware of health and safety protocols and risk assessment procedures used within a school workshop. This includes understanding how to correctly use of hand and machine tools, identify hazards, and take relevant precautions as … Read more
How to Draw Orthographic Projection for Beginners: a step by step guide
Orthographic drawing is a planar drawing method that shows shows 2D ‘views’ of the object from different angles. It is a technical drawing method that is usually drawn to scale and may include dimensions. Common views are: These views are separated by ‘reference plane’ lines. Reference lines should be drawn as long dash, two short … Read more
Using a Gantt Chart in Production Planning and Control
GANTT CHART: A chart that shows a project schedule, showing the start dates and durations of different tasks in the project 0445 Design & Technology Syllabus, 2028-2030, Cambridge International Examinations Gantt charts are useful in design & technology for:
production planning in Design and Technology: key stages in the production process
[organise and plan in detail the production of the selected solution – IG] [produce a scale drawing to enable a visual model to be made – IG] [produce high-quality working drawings which include full details for manufacture specify fittings and finishes, and provide a material list – IG] produce a production plan which includes the … Read more