Hi there.

My name is Mrs. Dhami.

Thank you for joining me for your design and technology lesson today.

Let's get started.

The outcome from today's lesson is that we can analyse the work of others, which then influences design decisions.

So the big question for today is how can we use the work of other designers to help us as designers make successful design decisions? To do that, we are going to be looking at a range of different products, some that you might recognise and others that you won't.

So I hope you're feeling inquisitive.

Let's get started.

Our keywords today are iconic, function, form, design decisions and features.

We will go through iconic and design decisions throughout the lesson, but we need to recap function, which is the purpose of a product, form, a particular shape linked to aesthetics, and features, a specific characteristic or purpose of a design.

Feel free to come back to this at any point.

Through our lesson outline today, we will define iconic design, explore key designers and companies, and then go on to analyse the work of others.

And we're going to start off with defining iconic design.

So let's get going.

Okay, so I have hidden five different products on this page.

The aim is to try and work out what each one is before I reveal each of the three boxes.

So let's give it a go.

Top left to start with.

Fantastic.

Yes, you're right.

It is the sticky note.

Did you know that the glue for the sticky note was actually designed by accident? They were trying to develop a really, really strong glue and accidentally came across this glue allowed you to stick something on and then take it off.

Next product.

Fantastic.

Yes, it is the polypropylene chair.

Now, you might be sat on one of these as we speak.

Now Robin Day designed a polypropylene chair and it was fantastic, because it was the first chair that was able to be mass produced by being injection moulded.

This was quite revolutionary at the time.

Next product.

Easy one that one, the paperclip.

Did you know in France, they are known as trombones? You can see it, can't you, from the shape? Fantastic, the ballpoint pen.

You might be writing with one of those as we speak.

Did you know they are sold now in over 160 different countries? And last product.

That was an easy one, wasn't it? The famous toy brick.

Well done, folks.

So the products on the last page were all illustrations done in black and white.

So how did you recognise those products? Pause the video, ask the person next to you, how did you both work these out? You might have come up with the shape of them, the proportions, and the familiarity of seeing these products.

In reality, you are likely to also recognise these products by logos, colour schemes, basically iconic designs are really easily recognisable.

So let's have our first check.

It is often easy to recognise products by A, colour, B, price, C, shape, D, logos? Join me back in a minute when you have worked out the answer.

Fantastic, you're right.

Colour, shape, and logos.

Do you know which year these products were invented? We have the sticky note, the toy brick, and the paperclip.

Pause the video, see if you can work out the year between yourselves.

So the sticky note was invented in 1980, even before I was born.

The toy brick was invented in 1949.

And the paperclip, or the trombone as the French say, was developed in 1867.

This just shows iconic designs that are still around and still used by us all today, stand the test of time.

Quick check then.

True or false? Iconic designs are often forgotten about when new products are released onto the market.

Come back to me once you've worked it out.

That's right, it's false, and why? Iconic designs stand the test of time.

Just like the paperclip.

You are probably too young to remember vacuum cleaners with bags.

I remember them.

We used to have to empty the bag and buy a new bag to put inside the vacuum cleaner.

They're now obviously unusual in households due to the groundbreaking bagless and cyclonic system designed by James Dyson.

Iconic designs therefore are groundbreaking and they become a benchmark where new designs cannot go backwards, and then they become an inspiration for new designs.

So after James Dyson's bagless system has come cordless vacuums, the robotic vacuums, and now the vacuums with mop functions.

So to summarise, iconic designs are recognisable, stand the test of time, groundbreaking on a benchmark for new designs, and are an inspiration for new designs too.

Right, on to task A.

First of all, define iconic design.

Second, choose one of the following products and explain why it is an example of iconic design.

You can choose from the vacuum cleaner, the toy brick or the paperclip.

Good luck.

Well done for giving that a good go.

So your answers could include iconic designs are those that are recognisable, stand the test of time, groundbreaking and provide a benchmark, and then an inspiration for new designs.

Second part, I chose the toy brick.

The toy brick was invented in 1949.

It is easily recognised for its simple, yet effective design, balancing both form and function.

The company have branched into many subproducts such as advanced toy bricks aimed at adults and building blocks aimed at toddlers.

It is still a popular product for both young and old today, clearly showing that it stands the test of time.

The company have inspired other toy designers to create products that link together and inspire creativity such as construction sets.

Well done if you had a good go at that.

So now that we have defined iconic design, we're going to use that now to explore key designers and companies, and I'm going to introduce you to my favourite personal designer.

Throughout history, key designers and companies have significantly influenced design as we know it today.

There are many, many different designers and many different design companies, but today, we are going to explore the designer Trevor Baylis and the design company Alessi.

In 1991, the designer Trevor Baylis watched a programme about the spread of the virus HIV in parts of Africa, which can then lead onto the condition AIDS.

You notice that in some rural parts of Africa, the dangers of spreading a virus could not always be communicated, because some communities could not read healthcare literature or did not have access to electricity to access TV or radio messages.

Baylis solved these design problems by inventing the first wind up radio.

Wind up is an example of a renewable energy source.

The mechanical energy from winding the radio winds up a spring.

As the spring slowly unwinds, the radio plays.

Let's have a listen to Baylis explain his own idea.

<v Baylis>Great honour to participate</v> in this, what, 21st century challenge.

My name's Trevor Baylis, and perhaps you may not know, but I invented the wind up radio.

People often ask me, "How did it all come about?" It was pure chance.

I happened to be sitting here where I am now in fact looking at my television and I could have been watching "Come Dancing" or "The Golden Shot," but in fact, I was watching a programme about the spread of HIV, AIDS in Africa.

And this was really, really dramatic and I almost turned it over to another programme, but I listened long enough, because they said the only way they could stop this dreadful disease cutting its way through all these people was with the power of information and education.

But there was a problem.

The most effective way to get information to people was through radio, but alas alas, because most of Africa doesn't have electricity, the only other form of electricity was in the form of batteries, which were horrendously expensive.

People were batching their maize and their rice in order to obtain batteries and where do you get batteries? So I'm just sitting here thinking about this and then I can, well, very instantly, I can imagine myself in the old days when we used to have a wind up gramophone with a big horn on the top and I thought, "Look, hang on, hang on.

If you can get all that noise by dragging a rusty nail around a piece of old baker light using a spring, surely there's enough power in that spring to drive a small dynamo, which in turn will drive a radio." And then because my workshop out here, my studio as I call it, is the graveyard of 1,000 domestic appliances, I was able to find a cheap transistor radio and a small DC motor, which I realised when running reverse becomes a dynamo and I put that into the truck of a hand brace, I turned the handle having joined the two wires to the back of the cheap transistor radio, and I in fact generated the first bark of sound, and that was within top half an hour of watching that amazing programme on television, and that really is how the wind up radio got started.

<v ->Wow, I just love this design.

</v> What a fantastic design from such a simple idea that helped to educate and change the lives of so many people around the world.

True or false? The wind up radio designed by Trevor Baylis focused more on form than function.

Pause the video, have a think and come back to me when you're ready.

Fantastic if you answered false and why? Baylis's main focus for the wind up radio was on the functionality of producing electricity without the need for batteries or mains-powered sources.

He didn't care what it looked like.

Purpose was to educate people who could not write or read.

Baylis was influential in terms of innovation.

He thought about the old fashioned wind up gramophone and he used this idea to develop and inspire the first wind up radio.

He went on to win the 1996 BBC Design Award for the Best Product and Best Design.

He received an OBE and a CBE in recognition of his services to invention.

Quick check.

Trevor Baylis was inspired by which product when inventing the wind up radio? Have a quick think.

Tell me, tell a friend, come back to me when you're ready.

That's right, it was the gramophone.

Well done if you got that right.

The handle is turned, which winds up a spring, storing mechanical energy as tension inside the spring.

As the spring slowly unwinds, it releases the stored energy which turns the gears inside.

Trevor Baylis's ideas have inspired many sustainable products that we use today, and you might own one of the following, wind up radio, wind up torch, wind up toys, wind up lanterns.

These are likely to have been inspired by Trevor Baylis's designs.

Baylis was not just influential in terms of innovation.

He was also influential for many other reasons, with the first being sustainability.

Obviously the wind up radio was powered by a renewable source of energy, and this has inspired future companies, future products to be also designed using renewable sources of energy.

He also chose to manufacture his products close to where they would be used so that he could decrease carbon footprint of transportation.

He was also influential in terms of inclusivity, because he aimed to get local disabled communities to manufacture the wind up radio so that it would empower them and create jobs that they might not have had without this.

He obviously was influential in terms of education, because he managed to reduce the spread of dangerous viruses by informing people through no electricity.

And obviously it was an ethical design educating communities unable to read and write.

Wow, what an amazing man.

What an amazing invention.

How was Baylis's wind up radio influential in terms of sustainability? Was it A, because it was manufactured locally, B, low unit cost, C, reduced the spread of viruses, or D, powered by renewable sources of energy? Have a think.

Discuss with your partner and come back to me when you're ready.

Well done if you got A and D.

Baylis has been and continues to be influential to designers in exploring and consequently solving ethical issues with an appreciation of innovation with a focus on function, sustainability and inclusivity, and promoting education and ethical design.

He has inspired fantastic amount of designers and we're going to look at a couple of them together now.

Daniel Sheridan was a design student from Coventry University and he was inspired by Trevor Baylis.

He developed solutions for generating electricity in remote areas.

He developed the Energee-Saw, which allowed electricity to be generated through play on a seesaw.

Sheridan calculated his creation, the Energee-Saw, could power classroom lighting for an evening with just five to 10 minutes of use.

This was important as many pupils could only attend in evenings using candlelight to study.

He wanted to increase educational access by using sustainable energy.

Wow, a fantastic product.

The Hippo Roller is another example of an ethically-designed iconic product designed by two South Africans, Pettie Petzer and Johan Jonker, in 1991.

Many people in certain parts of the world do not have access to running water, so they have to travel quite a distance to wells and to places where there is water and carry it back to their homes.

The Hippo Roller enables large amounts of water to be transported easily and efficiently to remote parts of the world where access to water is limited.

The Hippo Roller then influenced other designers in their design decisions when developing new products.

Aqua Roll, which you might be familiar with, is a camping product used to transport water in a similar way to the Hippo Roller and used throughout this country.

We have just seen a few products influenced by Trevor Baylis.

So what was Trevor Baylis influential in terms of? Was it A, function, B, form, C, sustainability, D, inclusivity? Have a think.

Share with your partner and come back to me when you're ready.

Well done if you got function, sustainability and inclusivity.

All three of those were major influential parts of Baylis's design.

I have two products here.

What I'd like you to do is have a little look at them both and try and work out what they are.

Pause the video, discuss with the person next to you.

Come back to me when you're ready.

Did you manage to work them out or do you need a clue? So first clue.

Product A tends to be used in a kitchen.

Product B tends to be used in a bathroom.

I'll give you five more seconds.

Have a little discussion with your friends.

Okay, let's start with product A.

This little funnel on the boat there is actually a knife.

Any suggestions? It's actually a butter dish.

The funnel comes out as the knife, the top comes off, and the butter goes inside that bottom part.

So product B, we said it was the bathroom.

Any suggestions? Fantastic if you got it right.

A toilet brush and holder.

These products are designed by the Italian group of designers called Alessi.

Okay, let's try it again with two more products.

Your clue though this time is that they are both used in the kitchen.

Come back to me when you've had a think.

Okay, let's start with product A and I'm going to give you one more clue for a picture.

Notice the nose and notice how the top part has been flipped over.

Any suggestions? Well done if you got it right, it is a citrus squeezer.

Let's try product B.

Again, it's used in the kitchen.

Any suggestions? It's actually a paper towel holder.

Again, these products are designed by the Italian design group Alessi.

True or false? Alessi was a single designer who created lots of fun products.

Pop back to me when you've got your answer.

Well done if you got false.

Why? Alessi is a group of designers who share the same design vision and ethos.

Giovanni Alessi founded Alessi in 1921.

Alessi employed various designers who contribute to its vision of creating functional, yet fun and artistic products.

Alessi is an Italian design company founded in 1921, known for creating stylish and playful household products just like the ones that you were guessing a couple of slides ago.

The company believes in combining creativity, quality, and innovation to turn ordinary objects into fun and beautifully-designed pieces that bring joy to daily life.

Let's have a quick check.

Alessi products aim to bring what to daily life? Colour, hope, or joy? Pop back to me when you've had a go.

Well done if you managed to get joy as the right answer.

This is the iconic Juicy Salif designed to juice fruits by Philippe Starck for the Alessi group.

The fruit is squeezed and rotated on top.

The juice runs down the grooves into a cup placed between its legs.

The Juicy Salif retails at around 60 pounds in comparison to some simple polymer fruit juices around five pounds.

Sofia had a go at using the Juicy Salif and she did a product analysis for us.

She said for form, it's an iconic design.

It's very individual and it's very beautiful.

However, that can of course be subjective, meaning that not everybody might agree.

As for function, Sofia said juices fruit, but the juice spills down the legs, meaning that juice goes over the table as well as into the cup.

Contains pointy edges that could be sharp, especially to young people in the kitchen.

It cannot be washed in the dishwasher.

It's made of polished aluminium that can corrode with acidic fruits.

Oh dear.

And it does not separate juice and pips.

Therefore, does the Juicy Salif focus more on function or form? Have a think.

Tell the person next to you.

Come back to me.

Well done if you got that it focuses more on form.

It definitely does, especially in comparison with this chart.

Sofia goes on to say, "The function of the Juicy Salif is really disappointing, especially in comparison to a more affordable polymer version.

Why do so many people want to own the Juicy Salif?" The Juicy Salif is an iconic design created by the world-renowned design company Alessi.

Some iconic designs are bought because of their form and as a piece of art.

Sometimes they're not even functionally used.

Quite often they appear on someone's shelf as a show off piece rather than as a functional piece.

True or false? Alessi products tend to focus more on form than function.

Come back to me when you've got your answer.

Well done, it is true.

Why? Alessi believe in combining creativity, quality, and innovation to turn ordinary objects into fun and beautifully-designed pieces, bring joy to daily life.

Alessi are influential in a very different way in comparison to Trevor Baylis.

Alessi are influential in terms of making products enjoyable and fun to use, products with an emphasis on form.

Do you own any products that are fun to use, but perhaps do not function as well as they could? I bet you do.

Alessi have inspired designers to consider form and not just function.

Task B already, wow.

So for part one, choose either Trevor Baylis or Alessi, then explore a product that has been designed by one of them and explain why it is an example of iconic design.

To help you, remember to consider the definition of iconic design we covered in learning cycle one, iconic designs are instantly recognisable, stand the test of time, ground-breaking and a benchmark for new designs, and an inspiration for new designs.

Good luck, have a go.

Your answers will be different according to who you chose.

I chose Trevor Baylis.

Trevor Baylis was an inventor who designed the wind up radio so that people without electricity could listen to the radio and be educated about the spread of serious illnesses such as AIDS.

It is an example of iconic design, because using the wind up technology in this way was groundbreaking.

Trevor has since passed away, yet we still talk about his invention today, showing that he's timeless.

His creative thinking inspired other designers to harness other ways to produce electricity, such as a seesaw designed by a university student that powers schools in remote villages.

Well done for having a go with that.

Fantastic work, folks.

We're now onto our third learning cycle where we are going to analyse the work of others so that we can start to make successful design decisions.

Let's start by defining what a design decision is as it's one of our keywords.

A design decision is where a designer has to make a deliberate choice to meet a requirement or solve a problem.

Design decisions happen at many different points in the design process and will influence the outcome of the final product.

Design decisions often cover these subheadings that you might be familiar with throughout your DT education.

Environment, cost, aesthetics, manufacture, ergonomics, life cycle, safety, user, materials, function, form, and size.

Now, different products will focus more heavily on certain subheadings than others.

The type of product will determine which design decision will need to be given more or less consideration.

So let's take the Juicy Salif.

We've figured out that that focuses more on form, materials and aesthetics, whereas the cheaper polymer one focused more on function, materials, and manufacturing on a large scale.

When designing this wind up torch, which design decisions were the main focus? Pause your video.

Come back to me when you're ready.

Of course, it's function.

Well done if you got that right.

In order to make effective design decisions, it is important for designers to analyse products that already exist so that they can identify successful features and then identify features to be improved.

There are of course many existing products to choose from.

However, starting by analysing an iconic product often provides us with a benchmark and plenty of inspiration.

So why do designers analyse products? Have a read of the options.

Come back to me when you're ready.

Fantastic if you got these right.

Designers analyse products to identify successful features, to identify those to be improved, and to help make effective design decisions.

Well done.

Identifying successful features and those to be improved allows designers to make effective design decisions to develop successful products for the user.

And this is shown so clearly through the vacuum.

As we said earlier, the vacuum starts with a bag.

It moves to the bagless and cordless, and then it moves on to robotic vacuums. Every time, design decisions are made to improve those features that could do with improving.

Let's go back to the vacuum with the bag.

Successful features at the time were it can pick up bits off the floor without sweeping, the user does not need to bend down.

The features though that needed improving at the time were the bag cannot be emptied and it must be replaced each time.

The electricity cord gets in the way.

And it is bulky and heavy.

Let's take each of those features to be improved and look at the design decisions around each one.

So the first one, the bag cannot be entered.

It must be replaced.

The design decision was to make it bagless with waste collected in a compartment.

The next one was the electricity cord gets in the way.

The design decision was to include a rechargeable battery and does not have power cord.

Bulky and heavy.

The design decision was to improve the design to reduce the overall weight.

After the bagless and cordless vacuum cleaner came the robotic vacuum cleaner.

Identify the successful features of the robotic vacuum cleaner.

Have a read of the answers.

Pop back when you're ready.

Well done if you got B, C, and D.

Successful features are that the user can relax, they can vacuum underneath some pieces of furniture, and they can be programmed according to the room layout, a great idea.

Onto our last task already.

Image A shows water being carried in a container.

Image B shows the subsequent design of the Hippo Roller.

For part one, analyse the method of carrying water in image A, considering the positive design features and those to be improved.

Then go on for part two to discuss the design decisions made when designing the Hippo Roller.

Answers could include positive features.

The container looks like it is made from a polymer, meaning that it should hopefully be leakproof and waterproof.

It has a large opening at the top, making it easy to fill.

It could be dumped into a pond or river without the need for hose or tap.

Features that could be improved.

The container is open, so dirt and/or insects could get inside.

And the water may spill out if not carried steadily.

When full, the container will be very heavy.

Carrying on your head is likely to be uncomfortable, especially for long distances.

Part two, the design decisions made when designing the Hippo Roller are likely to have been taken from the features needing improving in image A.

So the features needing improving were the container is open so dirt and/or insects could get inside.

The design decision was to make the Hippo Roller completely fully enclosed.

The next two features needing improving were that it was very full so it was heavy, and obviously being heavy would make it extremely uncomfortable carrying it on your head for long distances.

So the design decisions that came from both of these two were to make the Hippo Roller to be able to be pushed along by a large handle, allowing the product to roll and reducing the amount of effort required to carry the volume of water in comparison to carrying by head.

So that draws our lesson to a close.

Well done with all your hard work for today.

Let's summarise.

Iconic designs are instantly recognisable, stand the test of time, groundbreaking and a benchmark for new designs, an inspiration for new designs.

A design decision is where a designer has to make a deliberate choice to meet a requirement or solve a problem.

The work of others can be used to inspire and influence designers when making design decisions, often relating to function and/or form.

Well done with all your hard work today and I look forward to seeing you next time.

Bye bye bye.