Design Communication

• Who are you communicating with?

  Another designer

  Your Client

  Outside businesses
• What are you communicating

  Is it a specific design

  Is it a specific material

  Are you trying to get information/data across

  Is it to advertise your product or service?
• BS 8888 and Orthographic Projection

  • There is a set of rules and guidance that all engineers follow so they can understand what is going on
  • Poor communication is why most things go wrong/fail.
  • SCALES: Recognised scales: eg. 50:1, 2:1, 1:1
  • Must show measurements, different line thicknesses may be used to provide greater clarity for certain elements.
  • Must be consistent and thanks to the BS 8888, they have to include a title block, information must not be duplicated, scaling must reflect the level of detail, the third angle projection symbol.
• Sketching

  Free hand sketching

  • Good for quick ideas

  Isometric Drawing

  • Drawn at a 30 degree angle, the most commonly used style of drawing a designer would use to sketch out designs as it shows different angles/details.

  Oblique Drawing

  • Similar to isometric, but the view is face on. Still shows 3 sides but at a different angle, less likely to be used in industry.

  Perspective drawings

  • 1 or 2 point perspective. All lines must go back to the vanishing point, gives great depth to a drawing.
• Mixed media and rendering

  Eg. Marker rendering or texture rendering

  Adds finer detail to show materials and shadows
• Design Reports

  Section 1:

  Start with an 'executive summary' which summarises the whole design.

  Section 2:

  Introduction: Explains the design problems, brief, client etc.

  Section 3:

  Known as the conclusion, explains the chosen designs, any complications and how they were overcome.
• Graphs, Tables and Charts

  Bar Charts:

  Simple to understand

  Histograms:

  Usually shown in ranges and distribution of data, so it is popular for things like anthropometric data

  Data Tables:

  Very useful for things like anthropometric data, cutting lists etc.

  Pictographs:

  Easy to understand, quick to read, not exactly accurate

  Line Graphs:

  Shows data changes over time eg. sales of a product, how popular something is etc.
• CAD Modelling

  eg. Fusion 360, Rhino, Sketchup

  They help to communicate a clear idea to a client as it shows detailed parts, colours, scale and shading. Really useful way of visualising an idea in a 3D way
• Modelling

  eg. Card Modelling, 3D Printing, Modelling foam
• How to annotate your designs

  Positives, Negatives, Materials, Environmental Impact, Manufacture, Target Market.