Work of others

• Designers


  • Harry Beck
  • Coco Chanel
  • Sir Alec Issigonis
  • Alexander McQueen
  • Marcel Breuer
  • Norman Foster
  • William Morris
  • Dame Mary Quant
  • Louis Comfort Tiffany
  • Gerrit Rietveld
  • Aldo Rossi
  • Philippe Starck
  • Raymond Templier
  • Charles Rennie Mackintosh
  • Ettore Sottsass
  • Dame Vivienne Westwood
• Harry Beck


  • Revolutionised how people navigate their way around cities when he redesigned the London Underground map
  • The linear and easy-to-read maps are still seen today in city transport systems worldwide
• Marcel Breuer


  • Architect and furniture designer who attended Germany's Bauhaus school of design
  • Best known for his work with tubular steel furniture, such as the Wassily chair, as well as his bold style of architecture
• Coco Chanel


  • Introduced casual but highly fashionable clothes for women through her brand, Chanel
  • The most famous of her creations include the Chanel suit, the little black dress and Chanel No. 5 perfume
  • The brand continues to be popular today
• Norman Foster


  • Known for his striking steel and glass architecture and design
  • His most well-known creations include Wembley Stadium, 30 St Mary Axe (the 'Gherkin') and City Hall in London
• Sir Alec Issigonis


  • Car designer who was famous for introducing the British Motor Corporation's iconic Mini in 1959
  • Also designed the Morris Minor and Austin 1100
  • The Mini is still produced today by BMW
• William Morris


  • Textile designer and leader in the Arts and Crafts Movement
  • Created works in defiance of the Victorian era's fixation on industrialisation
  • Many of his designs were based on nature, with flowing floral patterns
• Alexander McQueen


  • Revolutionary fashion designer who was renowned for his shocking and daring collections
  • After working as Givenchy's head designer, McQueen left to focus on bold and theatrical designs for his own label
• Dame Mary Quant


  • Combined bold colours with the Italian mod style of the era
  • Renowned for popularising the mini skirt and was the first designer to use PVC to create 'wet look' clothing
• Louis Comfort Tiffany


  • Art Nouveau artist and designer who worked with ceramics, jewellery, enamel and metal
  • Best known for his stained glass, particularly his intricate lamps, which are still sold today
• Raymond Templier


  • Designed jewellery that was influenced by the Art Deco movement and his keen interest in Cubism
• Gerrit Rietveld


  • Dutch architect and furniture designer known for his involvement in the De Stijl movement
  • His Red and Blue Chair is an example of his simple, geometric style
• Charles Rennie Mackintosh


  • Architect, designer and artist with a striking Art Nouveau style and use of light and shade
  • His work can still be seen in various buildings in Glasgow, including The Lighthouse and the Glasgow School of Art
• Aldo Rossi


  • Italian architect and theorist whose buildings often featured prisms, cones and cylinders
  • Also made products for Alessi and wrote about architectural theory in his book The Architecture of the City
• Ettore Sottsass


  • Architect and designer who founded the Memphis movement, which produced post-modern products with functional designs, bright colours and unconventional shapes
  • Also worked as a designer for Olivetti and Alessi
• Philippe Starck


  • Prolific designer and architect who started out making inflatable furniture
  • His works now include nightclub interiors, kitchenware and vehicles
  • Produced designs for large companies such as Alessi, Puma and Microsoft, including the latter's optical mouse
• Dame Vivienne Westwood


  • Revolutionised the fashion industry in the 1970s with her unconventional punk clothing
  • Began by selling her clothing in Malcolm McLaren's London shop and continues to use traditional British materials to create unconventional modern clothing
• Companies


  • Alessi
  • Braun
  • Dyson
  • Gap
  • Primark
  • Under Armour
  • Zara
  • Apple
• Alessi


  • Founded by Giovanni Alessi in 1921 as a metal workshop before diversifying into homeware products
  • During the 1970s, Giovanni's eldest son Alberto took over the company and began employing leading designers to produce bright, innovative and fun products
• Braun


  • Founded in Germany in 1921 by mechanical engineer Max Braun
  • Originally produced small radios before branching out into electric shavers and household appliances
  • Braun's products are renowned for their simple designs and usability
• Dyson


  • Unhappy with traditional vacuums, Sir James Dyson created a bagless cleaner that used 'cyclone technology' to pick up dust without losing suction
  • With money from the sale of his early vacuums, Dyson founded his company, which now makes a range of innovative products
• Gap


  • Founded in 1969 by Doris and Donald Fisher after Doris became frustrated that she could not find a pair of jeans that fit her
  • The first Gap store originally sold only jeans and records with the aim of attracting young customers
  • Today, Gap has five brands selling clothing online and in over 3,000 retail stores
• Primark


  • The first Primark store was opened by Arthur Ryan in Dublin in 1969 under the name of Penneys
  • Primark contributes to the current 'fast-fashion' trend, offering a range of fashionable clothing at below-average prices
  • Other products include homeware, footwear and beauty products
  • The store now operates across Europe and in the USA
• Under Armour


  • Founded by Kevin Plank in 1996
  • Plank began the company after getting fed up with his clothes becoming wet with sweat during American Football games
  • His first product was a shirt made of a lightweight material that wicked away sweat
  • The company now produces a wide range of high-quality sports apparel
• Zara


  • The first Zara store was opened in 1975 by Amancio Ortega
  • Zara's business model is based on high-quality but affordable fashion that is constantly updated to keep customers returning
  • Zara delivers new products to stores twice weekly and produces around 12,000 designs each year
  • Zara now has over 2,200 stores internationally
• Apple


  • Founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976
  • The design of products such as the iPod and Apple Watch can be attributed to chief design officer Sir Jonathan Ive
  • Apple combines distinctive sleek design with an intuitive and easy-to-use operating system
• Collaboration


  • The act of working with others to produce something
  • In design, it can be an invaluable way to break out of a design rut and to explore concepts that otherwise would not have been considered when working alone
• User-centred design


  • A design strategy that puts the user at the heart of the design process
  • It focuses on users' wants and needs at every stage of design
• Systems approach


  • Analysing how the different subsystems or processes in a system interact with each other to achieve the system goal
  • Rather than looking at how individual parts function, this approach involves analysing how the whole system works
• Iterative design


  1. The repeated process of prototyping a design, testing it, collecting feedback, evaluating the design and making improvements based on the results

  2. The process is repeated in a cyclical manner until the final design is ready to be produced
• Design fixation


  • Getting stuck on a particular design idea
  • It prevents designers from exploring ideas that may be very different but much better than the original
• Developing design ideas

  1. Sketching

  2. Modelling

  3. Testing and evaluating
• Sketching


  • A great way of getting initial design ideas down on paper quickly
  • Rough freehand sketches are excellent for the initial brainstorming process
  • More detailed sketches can be made for advanced designs and to specify particular details, such as product dimensions and materials
• Modelling

  • Card models
  • Toiles
  • Breadboard
• • Computer-aided design (CAD) can also be used for modelling
  • The model is digitally created in detail and viewed from any angle
  • CAD allows for extensive and accurate testing under various specific conditions, such as air pressure or temperature
• • Sketches and models must be tested to check how closely the design meets the design specification
  • Testing allows the designer to see which aspects of the design need to be improved
• Models


  • Low-cost materials similar to final design
  • Ideally made to test basic design concept
• Model types


  • Card models
  • Toiles
  • Breadboard
• Card models


  Quick and low-cost way to see how the shape and proportions of a product will look
• Toiles


  Working models of textile designs, often made from materials like calico that can be easily drawn on to mark up changes