design and market influences

Design and market inflences

Harry Beck (AQA)

• electrical draughtsman who was aware of different colours on resistors
• desgned a colour coded system for the underground stations in the 1930's
• clear and comprehensible chart that would become an essential guide to london and a template for transport maps the world over
• known as a schematic map
• represents the elements of a system using grpahic symbols
• for travellers to find their way from one station to another
• represented in a simplistic form to avoid confusion
• survives to the present day 
• didn't receive official recognition until the 1990's

The Alessi Company (AQA)

• founded in 1921 by Alberto Alessi's grandfather
• produced general homeware items
• Alberto took over in 1970
• commissioned leading artists and architects
• using designers from different fields in this way resulted in fresh and innovative designs many of which are now regarded as modern classics

Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert (AQA)

• designed a signage system of carefully coordinated lettering, colours, shapes and symbols for Britain's new motorways in the late 1950's and all other roads in the mid 1960's
• signs were clear and functional as they could be understood quickly and accurately from a fast moving car
• designs are a role model for modern road signage in other countries
• still in use today

Wally Olins (AQA)

• co-founder of Wolff Olins until 1997
• one of the biggest practitioners of corporate identity and branding
• believed the product reflected the positive qualities of the whole company

Robert Sabuda (AQA)

• initially worked as a package designer
• specialises in pop-up mechanisms in books

Ergonomics and anthropometrics

• application of scientific information to the design of objects, systems and the environment, for human use
• important part of research
• any new product must be suited to the user and therefore comfortable to use
• anthropometric data is supplied by the British Standards institution based on the sizes of people
• helps designers to design products for their target market

Design factors

• smell
• strength/flexibility
• shape/form
• quality
• light
• environmental/sustainable issues
• temperature
• finish
• size
• noise
• weight
• rigidity

Graphics

• legibility is an important factor when designing
• important that lettering is quick and easy to read in order to sell the product
• important to choose a font that has a style and colour that is easy to read
• contrast means that one colour can stand out from another and is an important ergonomic factor
• if the contrast is wrong, writing can be hard to read
• a significant majority of the population are red/green colour blind, so this shouldbe taken into account when designing a product

Product analysis

Product analysis

• about looking at a product, dissassembling it and working out how it was made
• by looking carefully at a product you are not only evaluating it but learning from it
• also helps to establish if there's a 'gap in the market' so you can design something to suit a particular problem
• you need to consider a list of categories when analysing a product

1. Function

• What is the need for this product?
• use diagrams to demonstrate how it's…