大象传媒

An illustration of a girl sitting at an easel smililng having sketched out the design of a robot.

What is a design?

A design is a plan that helps people to make a product.

Designers always try to make their products the best they can be by learning, creating, testing and evaluating.

Evaluating means to look back and decide what is good or bad about a product.

An illustration of a girl sitting at an easel smililng having sketched out the design of a robot.
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Video: Design briefs

Aaron explains what a design brief is and why creating one can help you plan your design.

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How to start designing

Designers often start designing with the help of a design brief.

An illustrated boy in overalls and safety goggles has his mouth open in an o-shape, eyebrow raised and a pencil tucked behind his ear.

Sometimes this is given to them and sometimes designers make their own.

A design brief lists:

  • what the product is.
  • who the product is for.
  • how the product will be used.

Different briefs have different amounts of detail in them. Some briefs contain other information to help designers develop and make their products.

An illustrated boy in overalls and safety goggles has his mouth open in an o-shape, eyebrow raised and a pencil tucked behind his ear.
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Examples of a design brief

Sometimes a brief asks a designer to solve a particular problem. Sometimes a brief can be more open and creative.

Here are some examples of different products. Can you think what their design briefs might have been?

Image gallerySkip image gallerySlide 1 of 2, Colourful plant pots made from old tyres, Plant holders The design brief for these plant holders might have been 鈥榗reate a good-looking structure for a gardener to put plants in and make it using recycled materials'.
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A robot raises one eyebrow and holds their hands out in a thoughtful pose

The design process

Designers use different ways to make sure their products are useful and well made.

First, designers research the design brief. They find out what the users might want and ways to solve any problems.

They then start to develop their creative ideas. They add more details, such as the product's size, cost and what it could be made from.

It is helpful to think of lots of different ideas, before choosing the best one.

Making drawings or models, lets designers understand how a product will work.

A robot raises one eyebrow and holds their hands out in a thoughtful pose
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Activity

Follow along to help the three Billy Goats Gruff make a design brief.

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Key words

EvaluateTo look at something and decide what is good or bad about it.
Design briefA document or plan that contains a short description of what to design, why and for whom.
ProductSomething that is made to be bought or sold. Food, furniture and clothes are all examples of products.
ResearchTo find out about something.
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Quiz

See if you can match the design brief to the finished product.

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More on Design

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