SUPPORTING STUDIES

The Supporting Studies element of the Product Design course is designed to introduce students to a range of skills/abilities required to design products thus supporting them in the process of designing products. This ensures a body of knowledge by the end of their studies of relevance to their future creative professional practise as product designers.

During the course the following topics are covered in Supporting Studies sessions:

Orthographic Drawings, Understanding sections and how to draw them., Dimensioning Drawings – general conventions, dos and don’ts, Creating a model from a dimensioned multi-view drawing, Paraline drawings – isometric / dimetric / oblique, Fundamentals of perspective – one-point, two-point, three-point, Freehand perspective sketching from the imagination, Exploded-view 3-point perspective drawings to explain assembly, Basic rendering fundamentals, Colour rendering, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Ergonomics and anthropometrics, What is good product design?, Chindogu, Designing for manufacture, Materials and their properties / uses / applications, Joining techniques for different materials, Finishing techniques for different materials – wood / plastics / metals, Basic electronics, Product Autopsy, Structures, Retailing objects – retail visits, Branding in design, Agents, distributors, licencees and their functions, Intellectual property, Sustainable factors / issues in product design, Ready Made, Creating Questionnaires, Cultural Probes, Structured Interview Techniques, Self Awareness, Self Discovery, Belbin, Honey and Mumford, Radio Frequency Identification, Object Oriented Programming (Arduino/LEDs), Brainstorming, Design Equations, Contemporary Afflictions (Bodystorming), 100 Markets / 100 Products, Rhinocerous 3D Interface and Basic Solids, Rhinocerous 3D  2D Objects and Precision Modelling, Rhinocerous 3D  Surface Modelling, Rhinocerous 3D  Editing 2D and 3D Objects, Lab Glassware Industry Visit / Concepts, Plastics Mouldings Industry Visit / Concepts, Flamingo Materials and Maps, Flamingo Lighting, Flamingo Rendering, Creating a Website, Gaining Publicity through Online Networks / Media, CV, Covering Letter, Getting a Work Placement, Rhinocerous 3D Advanced Modelling techniques, Blender, Google SketchUp, SolidWorks – modelling a part, SolidWorks – modelling an assembly, SolidWorks – creating a 2D part drawing, SolidWorks – component stress analysis, SolidWorks – animating related components, 3D Studio Max – interface and basics, 3D Studio Max – materials, lighting and rendering with Mental Ray, 3D Studio Max – product and spatial animations and Adobe After Effects.