Design and Technology

DT GCSE and A Level projects

DT students explain how they continued designing and creating fantastic work, even through lockdown.

Lydia Reid L6 CR

This is a snapshot of some of the design work that I did during lockdown. It has been an unusual year for DT, as we haven’t been able to use the workshops. This has meant that over lockdown we have spent more time than normal on the design and iteration process. In the Spring Term, we did a Bluetooth speaker project, following research into the Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Op Art design movements. We spent weeks doing design exercises to generate ideas based around these areas including looking at dysfunctional design and synaesthesia music inspired abstract art. My design draws on the influences of both Op Art and 1920s Art Deco styles. All of the modelling for this project had to be done at home. Despite the limitations on this project, it was very interesting to spend more time than usual on designing and modelling. The final speaker slowly rotates on a stepper motor whilst playing music and with a light inside. Aashni Chavda L6 NP

This slide represents the inspiration and exploration stage in a DT project. Inspiration can evolve from anything, from architecture to nature. It helps you to build links and connections with your design ideas and the real world, enabling you as a designer to enhance your project.

Design revolves around experimenting and iterating. Throughout the A Level course we have had the opportunity to investigate various manufacturing techniques as well as gain new skills in the workshop. Unfortunately, Covid halted our practical lessons consequently allowing us to focus more on design principles. This encouraged us to think outside the box and explore new techniques unfamiliar to us. For our lockdown projects we made use of the resources available to us at home. I foraged through my garden shed to find neglected materials that I could use. For example, I used the remains of an underfloor heating pipe as a stand for my cloud lamp.

Dorsa Aram U5 Aske & Bea Pavitt U5 Alpha

DT gives you opportunities that other subjects may not. It is able to combine the best of both the STEM and Creative world, making it a win-win for everyone. As you move further up the school, you have the creative freedom to select the problem you want to solve, especially at A Level. If you want to make a crazy chair-table contraption like Betsy in Upper 5, you can too! Or you want to make a chair with music blasting out from the built-in speakers like Phoebe in Upper 5?

Although we were put in a strange situation for most of the GCSE course over the past 18 months, being able to make our projects was definitely a challenge, but a fun one. Being at home for so long meant that we were taking inspiration from the most basic things that we interact with daily such as the vase of flowers on the kitchen table or even our school files. We got to work with such cool mechanisms as microcontrollers, LED lights and of course copper sheet metal!

Phoebe Grankin

Dorsa Aram

Aparna Shankar & Sophia Nanthakumar

M5 Aesc

You may think DT in lockdown would be difficult, as not everyone is lucky enough to have a DT workshop in their back garden. But during lockdown, Middle 5 learnt the wonders of a simple piece of paper and scissors. Paper folding, flatpack designs and slice-form were among some of the main techniques we used to transform a flat piece of paper into a model submarine or hot air balloon, ready to zoom into the sky, (see what we did there?). But of course, this would not have been possible without Mr Squire’s handmade templates. It was an unusual experience to be able to do something creative in lockdown and discover a different aspect of DT away from the workshop. Trading blocks of wood for a piece of paper and a saw for some scissors made us realise design technology is about problem solving, not following a set of instructions. As odd as it may seem, it was very therapeutic, folding and cutting paper in our bedrooms on a Thursday afternoon. Lockdown DT lessons enabled us to think outside the box, even though we were cooped up in one, and overall were a very enjoyable experience.