Hello and welcome to today's Design and Technology lesson.

Thank you for joining me.

My name's Mrs. Fletcher and I'm here to help you with your learning today.

Today's lesson is called Design Specifications and Fabric Selection.

And it's part of the 2D shapes to 3D products stationery storage unit.

In this lesson we get to look at the part of the design process where designers get their information together to make decisions about how a product will look or how it will function for the user.

The outcome of today's lesson is I can select fabrics for a purpose and as part of the design process, designers must make decisions about which types of fabrics they will use to make a fabric product and why they're going to choose that particular fabric.

So let's have a look at some keywords for today's lesson.

The keywords in today's lesson are very important to our understanding of our learning in this lesson so let's have a look at them together.

The first word is the word design.

Can you say that after me? Design.

Well done, and the word design means planning how a product will work or how it will look.

The second word is the word specification.

That's a bit of a tricky word.

Can you repeat that after me? Specification.

Well done.

And that is a list of the product requirements.

So either the things that the designer or the user wants the product to have.

The third word is the word performance.

Can you repeat that after me? Performance.

Well done, and that means how well a product or material works.

So how well it does its job.

And then the last word is the word stationery.

Can you repeat that? Stationery.

Well done.

And stationery are objects that are used for writing or drawing tasks such as pencils, pens, rulers and things like that.

Okay, so let's have a look then at how today's lesson will be broken down.

So there are three parts to today's lesson.

First of all, we'll look at design specifications.

so that's that list of requirements and decisions made by the designers about a product.

And in this case, we're going to be looking at a design specification for a pencil case.

Then we'll move on to the second part of the lesson where we'll be selecting fabrics for our product.

And then we'll move on to the last part where we'll be selecting fasteners for our products as well.

So in today's lesson, we get to make lots of design decisions about a product.

So let's get started with that first section on the design specification for a pencil case.

Products are designed with a user and a purpose in mind.

So they're designed specifically for a person to use and to do a specific job.

We must think about the design specifications for a product before beginning our designs.

So there's no point designing a product until we are very clear on what it needs to do, who's going to use it, and what details we need to include in the design.

A design specification then is a list of product requirements, which are needs that are decided before a product is designed and made.

So if we are writing a design specification, that's what that means.

A design specification can include lots of different information so it can have information on the function of the product.

So that's what it should do, what it's designed to do.

It can have information about the users.

So who is going to use this product when it's made? It can have information about the performance of the product so that's how it will work? It can have information about the appearance, so that's what it will look like.

It might have details about colours, and patterns, and designs and things like that.

It can have information about the materials that the product will be made from, and it can have information about the product's impact on the environment.

So that's how to reduce its impact, how not to create waste, how not to create any lasting effects on the environment by making that product.

Quick check then, what are design specifications? So that's what we are looking at in this part of the lesson.

What are they? Are they product names? Are they product requirements? Or are they a products user? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Of course, it is the product requirements.

That is what the decisions that the designer needs to make about what a product needs to have or have included when they do the design.

Well done if you got that right.

The user of a product is the person that you design the product for.

They tell you that what they need the product to do.

They may tell you that the features that they want the product to have or some things that they like that might influence the design of the product that they want.

Some of the design specifications are decided by the designer though.

So here's Sofia, she wants a new product.

She's got some requirements for the product that she requires to be designed.

She needs an easy access product to keep her stationery, remember that was her pens and pencils, safe and tidy in the classroom.

Her favourite colour is red.

She loves drawing and she likes funny characters like aliens.

So she's giving some personal information to us that might help influence the design of the product that we make.

We can use this information to set out our design specification.

So here we have an example of a design specification that we've created for Sofia.

So we've got information about the product, so she wants what we know would be a pencil case, so something that can store pens and pencils, we know is a pencil case or a pencil box, something like that.

The function, that means what it should do.

It should hold pencils and pens, maybe a rubber, a sharpener, something like that.

Who's going to use it? Well in this case, it's an 8-year-old school pupil 'cause Sofia has requested this product.

The performance of the product.

That's how it will work.

It needs to have some kind of flap to open and close or some kind of opening that she can get her pens and pencils and stationery out of.

The materials where we are going to think about making it from fabric in this case, and the appearance, which is influenced by the things that Sofia told us she liked.

We might choose a red or blue fabric because of Sofia's favourite colours.

We might choose a red fastener, which we'll go with that fabric and we might put an alien design on the outside because we know that something that Sofia liked.

So there's a mix of design decisions from the designer, that's us, and the product requirements from the user, so that's the things that Sofia told us she wanted.

True or false then.

The designer decides all of the design specifications.

Is that true or false? Pause the video, have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Of course, it's false.

Because we made some of those decisions for that design specification but Sofia, who was the user in this case, also gave us some of that information as well.

So the designers will decide some of the design specifications and their job is to design a product that matches those specifications but some of that information will come from the user.

Well done if you got that right.

Time for a task in this part of the lesson.

So you will be designing a pencil case product not for Sofia but for a different user.

So your first part of your task is to interview a person who you can make a pencil case product for.

So that will be your user and that could be a partner or a friend, someone you can make a product for.

And you need to find out from them what they want and need, the product that you are going to design for them to do or to have.

So you're finding out the things that you need, the information that you need to put into your design specification.

Once you've got that information from your client and you've made some of those decisions yourself, you need to do the second part of the task and that's to complete a design specification of your own.

Just like the one we did for Sofia earlier on, where we made a note of all the details of things that she liked and things that she wanted for the product and decisions that we made about the fabrics and fasteners that we might use.

And you're going to do that on the worksheet or on a separate piece of paper, making sure you've got all of those categories filled and all of those different areas of wants and needs that the product should have.

Pause the video and come back when you've got all that information about your product.

Welcome back.

Hopefully you managed to interview your user and got lots of useful information for your design specification, which will inform the design you make for your product.

So everybody's design specification will be slightly different because they will wrote it depending on the needs of their user.

So you need to have make sure that you filled in the product details, so that's what it is we are making, so we are making a pencil case product.

The function, so what does your user want the pencil case to do? So it might be, in this case, I put an example of whole 12 coloured pencils so that might be what you want your pencil case for.

The user is the person you are making it for.

So it could be an 8-year-old boy, an 8-year-old girl, some whoever you are making your product for.

The performance, we need to think about what do they want their pencil case to do specifically.

So do they want it to be easy to open? Do they want it to have a hook and loop fastener? Do they want it to be secure? Do they want it to have a flap? A certain type of detail that you need to put in there as well.

You need to think about the materials.

So you might have made a decision about which fabric you might use, or which type of fabric fastener you might use and then you should have some details about the appearance.

So this'll be informed by what your user told you about what they like.

So it could be their favourite colours, it could be a design that they want.

So in my example, I'm going to choose a red or white fabric because my user told me that they like a particular football team, and because they like football, I'm going to use that as a design influence on the product in the end.

So your design specifications should lay out all that information for your user.

Well done if you've got all that done.

So for the second part of the lesson now, we're going to think more specifically about the fabrics that we can use to make a pencil case product.

Fabrics all have different qualities and that's why we need to think about which one we might use when we are making a specific product like a pencil case in this example.

So fabrics can have loose or tight weaves.

So that means the threads that are woven under and over each other, which is what makes the fabric can be quite loosely woven together or they can be very tightly woven and that affects the appearance and the performance of the fabric.

A loosely woven fabric has lots of holes in it and a tightly woven fabric doesn't have those holes or gaps between the threads.

Some fabrics are waterproof and some are not.

Some fabrics are flexible so that's easy to stretch and bend into different shapes.

And some fabrics are very stiff so they hold their shape and they can't be changed easily by pulling them.

When we are designing a product then, we should make sure that the fabric that we choose is suitable for the function or the job that our product is going to do.

So would a fabric like this with a loose weave be a good idea, a good choice if we are making a pencil case? What do you think? Pause the video, have a chat to your partner or have a think.

Do you think a loose weave fabric would be good for a pencil case? Welcome back.

What did you think? I would think not.

I don't think a loose weave fabric would be very good for a pencil case because the gaps in the fabric would allow those pointed ends of a pencil or a pen to poke through our pencil case and that's not really how we want a pencil case to function.

So what about this question? Does a pencil case need to be waterproof? Have a think or talk to your partner, pause the video while you do that and come back when you've had a think.

Okay, what did you think? Does a pencil case need to be waterproof? It might be helpful in case any liquids got on your pencil case.

For example, if a water bottle was leaking inside your school bag, that could mean that a waterproof pencil case would be helpful.

It's not necessary, but it might be something that the user would want, particularly if they know that the pencil case could get wet.

So time for a quick check.

Why is a loose weave not suitable for a pencil case? So we've just been thinking about that in the previous slide.

Why is a loose weave not suitable? Is it because it's too flexible? Is it because it's not waterproof? Or is it because the holes are too large? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said it was because the holes, the gaps between those threads would be too large to keep a pencil inside.

Okay, so let's have a look then at fabric specifications when we are thinking about Sofia's product design.

So Sofia's pencil case needs to be sturdy to protect the stationery inside.

So she wants to keep her pens and pencils safe from breaking inside that pencil case.

She needs a stiff fabric for this.

So her pencil case needs to be made from quite a stiff fabric if that's what she wants her pencil case to do.

It could be waterproof, but like we said earlier, it doesn't necessarily have to be.

It does need to have a close weave, so whichever fabric we choose needs to have a close weave so there are no gaps 'cause we don't want any of the pencils or pens to escape from the pencil case through those gaps.

So we might pick something like a thick felt, a stiff cotton, or a waterproof nylon, which is a manmade fabric.

Those types of products could work well for making a pencil case product.

So we use the information that Sofia gave us to make a decision using our knowledge of fabrics about the type of fabric to use for this particular product.

Sofia also likes to reuse and recycle products and she thinks about this for her design specifications.

So when we are talking to her about her product, it's important to her that it has some elements of reusing or recycling in the design.

"Reusing old fabric products," she's telling us, "to make new ones is a good way to reduce waste." So that's why it's important to her.

Quick check then.

What do we call reusing old fabrics for new products? Was it renewing? Was it unpicking? Or was it recycling? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said it's recycling.

So something that was important to Sofia is recycling, that reusing old fabrics for new products.

Okay, time for a task in this part of the lesson now.

So you are going to look very carefully at some different types of fabrics, including some fabric products that could be recycled.

So just like Sofia was talking about earlier, we could use fabrics that have already been used to make products and we could reuse them for this product.

You're going to select one or two options of fabrics that you think would be suitable for your pencil case design.

So that's the design specification that you've already written earlier on in the lesson.

Which type of fabrics do you think would suit your pencil case design? You're going to cut out some swatches, which are just small samples, small squares of the fabrics that you would like to use or you would consider using for your design and add them, stick them on to your design specification sheet.

So that will give you more information about the product you're going to design before you start designing.

I would like you also to explain briefly why you've chosen those fabrics.

So why do you think they're suitable for your product design? So pause the video while you have a think about those decisions and come back when you've made your fabric choices.

Welcome back.

So hopefully you've managed to make some decisions about the type of fabric you want to use for your pencil case design and you've been able to explain why you've chosen those.

So these are the two selections that I've made for my product design and I've explained why I've chosen those.

And you might have written something similar to this.

So for the first swatch of my red fabric there, I have chosen this fabric because it's stiff and it has a close weave.

It is the right colour for my design.

So remember when I was thinking about having a red or white design colour for my product design, you might have different specifications, but that's why I've chosen that one for mine.

I've also chosen this denim product from a pair of old jeans and I've chosen this as a recycled fabric because it's very sturdy and it doesn't have any gaps in the fabric so it's got that tight close weave again.

So those are the specifications from my product design and why I have chosen these two fabrics for my design.

You should have one or two ideas about which fabric you have chosen for yours as well.

So let's move on to the last, final part of our lesson.

So this is where we get to look at a fastener that could be suitable for our products as well.

We need to consider the type of fastener that we use, just like we did with the fabric.

We need to think about the usability.

So we need to think about how easy a fastener would be to use on a pencil case.

We need to think about the material it would be made from, and we need to think about the application, that means how we will put it onto our pencil case in order for it to work.

If we think about those three things, we can make a good selection for our design.

When designing a product, we should make sure the fastener we choose is suitable for the function.

So we always need to make sure it's suits the job it's going to do.

Let's have a think then.

Would a hook and loop fastener be suitable for a nursery apron? So if we're thinking about what type of fastener would suit what type of product, if I was making an apron for nursery children to use, would a hook and loop fastener be suitable for that type of product? Pause the video, have a think or talk to your partner.

Come back when you've done.

Welcome back, so what did you think? I thought that yes, that would be a good type of fastener to use for that type of product because it's a very quick, safe, and easy product for young children to open and close and to use.

So I think that would be a suitable fastener for that product.

But what about this then? Would it be suitable for fastening trousers? So if I was going to use a hook and loop fastener for trousers, would that work as well? Pause the video, talk to your partner or have a think, come back when you're done.

Welcome back.

What did you think about the trousers then? Would a hook and loop fastener be suitable for trousers? So I was thinking maybe not, you could use it as a fastener on trousers, but it could come unstuck quite easily when you are bending and moving around in those trousers, and it may not last as long if you're using it every day to open and close that fastener, it would wear out quite quickly.

It certainly wouldn't last as long as a zip or a button might do, so I was thinking that it would not be a good product.

A good choice for that product.

Quick check then.

Which fastener do you think is most commonly used on shirts? So if you're thinking about a smart shirt that you might wear for a special occasion, what type of fastener do you think is commonly used on that? Is it a button, a zip or hook and loop? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? What type of fastener would you use on a shirt? Well done if you said button.

I think buttons are the most commonly used on shirts.

Certainly more common than a zip, or a hook and loop fastener.

Okay, so let's get thinking about fastener specifications then.

So thinking about what we need our fastener to do.

So Sofia's pencil case needs to open and close quickly when she needs access to her stationery, to her pens and pencils.

She also needs it to fasten securely leaving no gaps so that none of her stationery falls out when she's moving it around or carrying it in her bag.

And the fastener that we choose needs to be easy for us to apply to the product.

So we need to be able to attach it to the pencil case in order for Sofia to be able to use it as well.

And that's something we need to think about when we are choosing a fastener.

A hook and loop fastener then would definitely be a good idea to match those specifications because it's quick and easy to open, it fastens securely and doesn't leave any gaps.

And it would be quite easy for us to apply because a pencil case is quite a small product so it wouldn't be too difficult for us to apply.

, A quick check then before we move on.

Which of these is true about a hook and loop fastener? So if you're thinking about hook and loop fasteners, which of these is true? Is it A, that they can be made from metal? Is it B, that they are quick to open and close? Or is it C, that they need a buttonhole? Which one is true of a hook and loop fastener? Pause video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think then? Well done if you said it's that they are quick to open and close.

Exactly, they're not made from metal and you don't need a buttonhole with a hook and loop fastener.

So final task in this lesson then is to look carefully at some different types of fasteners, including some from products that could be recycled.

So it is possible to take a fastener off an existing product and reuse it on a new product.

So you're going to look at both of those types of fasteners.

Again, you're going to select one or two that you think would suit your pencil case design.

So looking at what your user wanted and how you are going to make this product, which type of fastener do you think would work on your pencil case design? You're going to make a note this time of the choices that you've made on your design specification sheet.

So you should have then a list of information.

You should have your swatches from the second task and you'll also have some information about which type of fastener would be suitable for your pencil case design.

I also would like you to explain briefly why you've chosen those fasteners, why you think they would work for your design.

Pause the video and come back when you've made those design decisions.

Okay, welcome back.

So again, I've been thinking about which type of fastener I could use on my product that I was making.

I was writing the design specification for.

And I've decided to choose either a hook and loop or a snap button fastener.

So hook and loop I chose because it's quick to open and close, it doesn't leave any gaps and the pencils won't fall out.

But I could also use a snap button fastener because they are also easy to open and close.

But I would need a few more of those to make sure that there were no large gaps.

So if I use enough of them, I will also close those gaps as well.

So one of those two could suit my design.

Hopefully, you've chosen one or two that would suit your design as well and you've had added that to your existing information that you've got in your design product specification.

So we are nearly at the end of the lesson now.

So we've made lots of design decisions in this lesson and we've written out a design specification showing just what we need our product to have and include.

And we've made some decisions about the fabric and fasteners we can use for our product.

We've learned that a design specification considers the user's needs and wants, particularly in this case, to store stationery.

We've been learning about fabric selection and how that depends upon the design specification.

So the type of fabric we use depends on what we want it to do, but also the colour and style of the fabric can also be affected by that design specification.

The fastening that we choose also depends on the design specification because we want to know who's using the product, and which type of fastener would be best for them to use, and which one would suit what the job of the pencil case as well.

And we've also been learning about how adding swatches of the fabric that we intend to use to our design specification adds to the knowledge of the performance and construction of our product.

So it helps us to see clearly how we are going to make this product in the future.

So lots and lots of learning there and lots of decisions to be made, just like a designer would have to do in the design process.

Thank you for joining me for this lesson.

Hopefully, we'll see you again when we get to look at applying these decisions that we've made into an actual design for a product.

Thank you and see you again.