USING OUR NEW TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT CREATIVITY IN 3D DESIGN

Mr Ben Wall

The teaching of Product Design at Downe House has recently moved away from the constraints of Design Technology to the teaching of the ‘ThreeDimensional Design’ strand of the Art and Design disciplines at both GCSE and A Level. This has allowed our pupils to spend more time exploring materials and processes within the workshop and to produce highly creative sculptural and product design outcomes.

Technical processes remain central to project work, with our new laser cutter in constant independent use by girls in all year groups. In the Lower School, projects such as the ‘Make a Scene’ project [1,2 & 3] have involved creative 2D CAD (Computer Aided Design) that have dug right down to the level of editing ‘nodes’ in the TechSoft Design software [4]. 1 Amelia (LIV) ‘Make a Scene’

2 Eliza (LIV) ‘Make a Scene’

3 Charlotte (LIV) ‘Make a Scene’

4

At GCSE the girls have been exploring the work of artists and designers and producing sculptural work in a variety of forms. This has included use of the newly installed metalworking area and MIG welder [5, 6 & 7].

5 Elfreeda (LVI) ‘Small scale model’

6 Ella (LVI) ‘Small scale model’ At A Level the CAD and laser have been used by Ella and Elfreeda (LVI) to create exploratory concept models for chair designs. Charlotte (UVI) has developed her ‘breakfast bar’ design through 2D CAD, 3D CAD, laser-cut models and a full-scale welding jig to ensure that all her components lined up perfectly for subsequent MIG welding [below].

The new laser cutter and MIG welder have provided daily opportunities for pupils to explore creative ideas in three dimensions. In this way the new emphasis on blending a range of materials is continuing to inspire original work. Many people see ‘woodwork’ and ‘metalwork’ as outdated, but this is a bit like saying that pencil and paint are old fashioned and cannot lead to anything fresh and new – clearly nonsense. Explored in the right way, materials and technological processes (old and new) can open the door to incredibly creative designing and making.