The Design Process: Brief to Manufacturing Proposal
How a designer works from a client brief to a plan for making a product: analysing the brief, writing a specification, generating and justifying concepts, developing working drawings, and preparing a costed manufacturing proposal.
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From an idea to a made product
Engineering design is the ordered way a designer turns a need into a product that can be made. It begins with a design brief, a short statement from a client of what the product must do. The designer researches similar products and turns the brief into a specification, a detailed and measurable list of the requirements the product must meet. Next come concepts: a range of annotated sketches of possible solutions, in 2D and 3D, from which one is chosen and justified against the specification. The chosen concept is developed into working drawings with key dimensions, and finally into a manufacturing proposal that names the materials, components and production methods for the scale of production, with an overall cost. Unit 1 is coursework, so here you learn the knowledge behind it rather than submit a portfolio. One more idea runs through it all: the process is non-linear, so what you find at a later stage can send you back to improve an earlier one.
Design process words
Learn these before you match anything, and keep brief and specification clearly apart.
Brief against specification
Two documents guide the early work, and it is easy to confuse them.
How to work from brief to proposal
Take a design task in order. Turn the brief into a clear specification of measurable requirements. Sketch several concepts rather than one, then judge each against that specification and justify the concept you choose. Develop the chosen concept into working drawings with real dimensions. Finish with a manufacturing proposal that names materials, components, methods and a cost for the number of units to be made. Keep in mind that the route is not a straight line: a result at any stage can send you back to improve an earlier one.
Match the stage to what it produces
- analysing the brief
- writing the specification
- generating concepts
- the manufacturing proposal
- a clear statement of what the client needs
- a set of measurable requirements to meet
- a range of annotated design sketches
- a costed plan of materials and methods
Choosing a concept
A designer has finished several concept sketches for a product. To decide which one to develop further, what should the concepts be judged against?
- The design specification, because it lists the measurable requirements to meet.
- The cost of the cheapest possible materials alone.
- Whichever sketch took the longest to draw.
- The personal taste of the designer on its own.
A good specification
Select the TWO things a good product specification should include.
- Measurable requirements the product must meet
- Performance targets that can be tested
- The name of the favourite colour of the designer
- A promise that the design will never be changed
Total unit cost
One unit of a product uses materials costing 12 pounds and bought-in components costing 8 pounds. Add these to find the total cost of one unit, in pounds.
Order the design process
Put the main stages of the design process in their usual forward order, earliest first.
- Analyse the design brief
- Write the product specification
- Generate and justify concepts
- Develop the chosen solution into working drawings
- Prepare the manufacturing proposal
Complete the design facts
A short statement from a client of what a product must do is the design _____. A detailed and measurable list of the requirements a product must meet is the _____. Before choosing one idea, a designer sketches a range of _____. The final costed plan of the materials, components and methods to make the product is the manufacturing _____.
Match the term to its meaning
- prototype
- iteration
- justification
- costing
- an early working model made to test a design
- improving a design by repeating stages after testing
- the reasons given for choosing one concept over others
- working out how much the materials and methods will cost
Spot the true design facts
Tap the TWO statements that are true about the design process.
- A design brief comes from the needs of a client
- A manufacturing proposal names materials, methods and a cost
- A designer should develop only one concept and never sketch others
- The design process must always run in a straight line with no going back
Run a design task
Read each case and choose the best response, with a reason.
- A client asks for a lightweight folding stool for camping. What should the designer produce first from this request?
- The designer now has three concept sketches for the stool. How should the best one be chosen?
- Testing a prototype shows the stool is too heavy to carry easily. What does the non-linear design process allow the designer to do?
Explain the design process
A new engineering student asks how a designer gets from a client request to a plan for making the product. Explain the design process.
- Explain what a design brief is and where it comes from
- Explain what a specification adds to the brief
- Explain why a designer generates several concepts and how one is chosen
- Explain what a manufacturing proposal must include
- Finish by explaining what it means that the design process is non-linear