Design features to analyse or think about:

Bags

Seasons?Winter or summer

Fabric?Nylon/Denim

Style?How is it going to look?

Function?What is it’s intended use?

What age group it’s aimed at?Teenagers/adults/children

Decorative techniques?Embroidery/cutback/

Lasered/freehand embroidery

When we design we often look at products to see how they have been made. To see if it is possible to make a better product or just to get a general idea of shape or form. What fabrics have been used? Or simply just for This is called a market research.

On the next few pages we are going to look at how to analyse a bag for its main design features.

Analysing existing products is a very important skill for any designer.

inspiration.

Product analysis – style

Background – Guiding pupils to look critically at products. We have found this to be instrumental to improving their design skills.

Possible teaching/discussion point Outlining of reasons why product analysis is a helpful tool for all designers/pupils e.g. comparison of functions, shape, size, materials. Product analysis is also a possible way to prompt idea generation i.e. other designers bags as an inspiration source. Could include discussion on copyright here.

Background –this page was generated to give pupils a broad outline of the numerous features that could be considered when analysing a bag product . For this bag project we have identified function and style as the two main focus aspects for analysis. Other aspects are included, but are not key objectives – these are dealt with in other projects later in Key Stage 3 e.g. target groups, seasons etc

Possible teaching/discussion point e.g. The presentation slide attempts to make pupils think about what are the main features that they would need to consider when analysing a bag and consequently when designing a bag product.

Background – It depends in which order you decide to complete this unit – style before function, function before style – chicken and egg situation. There is an argument that form should follows function – but we have also found that pupils feel very comfortable with the aesthetics aspects of products as a starting point. We change from year to year, so we have included a duplicate slide at the beginning of both presentations on style and function.

Design features to analyse or think about:

Bags

Seasons?Winter or summer

Fabric?Nylon/Denim

Style?How is it going to look?

Function?What is it’s intended use

What age group it’s aimed at?Teenagers/adults/children

Decorative techniques?Embroidery/cutback/

Lasered/freehand embroidery

Look at the bag opposite and identify things that add style to it.

Style:

A bag’s function will influence its shape and how it is going to look?. But there are other aspects such as colourcombinations of fabrics that will also affect how it will look? Can you think of any other things that influence the look or style of a bag?

Colour combination – red, grey & white

Logos and graffiti design.

Pockets, contrasting zips.

Top stitching can you think of anything else ?

Product analysis – style features

Possible teaching/discussion point - Is style more important than function? How much does style influence their selection of a school bag? Does the logo or manufacture matter? What are style features?. The slide is set up to allow for discussion. The teacher character answers are justified, as an exemplar of the justification level required. For example pupils will often given an answer of colour as a reason why they think a product is successful, but pupils are asked to further justify it i.e. because of the bright colours or contrasting colours used etc.

Background –this page is from the pupils booklet. We have found the word bank very helpful with spelling and it also triggers ideas.

This task can be completed in a number of ways . Pupils could work individually or in teams. The bags they analyse could be commercially manufactured bags or ones that previous pupils have made. These bags could be physically handled, or viewed digitally. It sounds a bit of a pain to photograph the bags and then placing them on presentation slides, but pupils enjoy the format and the lively class discussion that results from it. The sequence is left to loop during the exercise. We tend to favour the digital format at the moment! But we design folks are fickle.

Possible teaching/discussion point Pupils have an opportunity to make choices but they must be justified. The question related to why do we buy branded bags? They can reflect on the class discussion on logos and brands earlier, and give their view point in the booklet.

Background – A link is established with the previous page by reducing the mind map and placing it in the top left hand corner. The red circle highlights the focus of analysis – style.

Out of all of these bags which is your favourite and why?

This task is about looking at the style or aesthetics of the bags. The outline shape, colours, colour combination and logos etc.

Which bag do you like the most and why? Which bag do you dislike and why?

BAGS

Which bag did you like the most?I liked the ‘Bench’ bag the most

Why?I am attracted to the colours of pink and black.The shape if different to other bags too.

Which bag did you dislike the most?I disliked ‘The Emily’s’ bag the most as it is too small and the colours are too dark.

Why do we buy branded bags?We buy branded / labelled bags because celebrities carry them. Our friends have them and its cool to be fashionable.

Which bag did you like the most?But I also like the Ripcurl bag . The graffiti style looks interesting and also the way the embroidery stands out.. Difficult decision.

Background –these are just some of the bags that we have photographed for the digital analysis task. Sadly trends in bags are frequent, so a few new ones are added annually if only in an attempt to know what is “cool”. Notes from the bottom of the previous page apply to these presentation slides.

Possible teaching/discussion point – Pupils are encourage to explain their reasons why they like or dislike the style aspect of the bags. The teacher character gives exemplar reason. Each answer attempts to demonstrate a justification for the reason. Colour is not accepted as an answer as it is too vague, pupils are asked to justify why colour is a reason e.g. bright colours, contrasting colours, combination of graphics etc.

List three of your favourite coloursPink, Cream and Lilac

We often think that is only worth looking at the workof professional designers or products made in the shops. Very often you can get very good ideas or inspirationfrom looking at products made by other pupils. Look at how they have constructed the bags, what decorative features they have used, think about these

and see if you can improve them further.

What fabrics have they used to make these bags?

Analysing the work of designers in your own school

Website’s you could use to gain a further insight of bag design and functions include:

www.crumpler.com.auwww.louisvuitton.comhttp//nikeid.nike.comwww.eshop.puma.comwww.mulberry.comwww.animal.co.ukwww.makersguildinwales.org.ukwww.rrartwear.co.uk

Possible teaching/discussion point – Pupils are encourage to look at the work of other pupils and record possible aspects of their products too. Other pupils work too, can be a realistic source of inspiration to mix and match ideas.

Possible teaching/discussion point – A list of web sites, our pupils have found helpful for idea generation.