Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr Donnelly.

I'm one of the design technology teachers for Oak Academy.

This lesson is going to be great.

I had such fun planning it.

I hope you really enjoy it.

We're going to design a lamp based on the nature.

We're going to use nature to make sure that our lamp is inspired in such a way that it looks really awesome.

And we're going to use nature to make sure that there is a function to the lamp that is also inspired from the one better that is the natural world.

You're going to need a pen or pencil and some plain paper to take apart.

I'll let you pause the video, go and get those things and I'll see you here in a moment.

So I hope you've got your pen or pencil and some plain paper and ready to go.

You know, that we're designing a lamp.

So we're going to conduct a product analysis to look at some existing lamps so that we can see if there are any features that we'd like to take and put with our design.

The next thing that we're going to do is we're going to look at nature to see if we can use that, to find some solutions to the problems that we're going to find once we've looked at what we need for our lights.

So once we've conducted our product analysis there will be some issues that we find and we're going to see if we can solve those problems using nature.

Once we've come up with that solution, we're going to design a mood board, or you can use the one that I've made during this lesson to help make sure that your lamp looks just the way that you'd like.

So there are three things that we'll explore during the lesson.

One of them is, we'll look at what the key features are of a product.

Next we will look to see if nature can help us develop the product.

And then we'll all look to use a mood board to design the actual form and the shape of a lamp.

When you use a mood board, this is going to be an unusual way that we come across today.

We're not going to look at whole pictures just going to be part of pictures to take some of the real interesting detail and put those into our lights.

I've already mentioned that you're going to need some equipment, just two simple things something to draw with and something to draw on.

Ideally, this will be plain paper.

There were three key words or terms used in this lesson extensively.

The first one is a specification.

This is sometimes known as a design spec or design specification.

It's a list of points that our designer must follow to make sure that what they design is perfect for the needs of the clients.

The next term is design fixation.

This means not being able to get away from an idea.

So if you've ever drawn something and thought I'd like to make that one and it's the first drawing that you've done.

That's an example of design fixation.

If you use the mood boards and strategies I talk about in this lesson, you will avoid design fixation and you'll be able to produce many designs rather than being stuck with just one.

The last word is inspiration.

It should be that when you've designed your product you can look back and know where it's been inspired from.

This slide is a recap for my first lesson.

It's important you know what biomimicry means.

If you didn't do lesson one, then you could go back find it and do that one now which is really good.

This lesson though, uses some of the same words from the previous one, one word which is key is biomimicry is made of two parts.

And I think it's important to understand where the word comes from and that will help you remember it.

So we break the word down.

The first part is bio you might've heard the word bio in bio fuel, bio diesel, biological and it comes from a Greek word, which means bios.

And that means organic life.

The next word is mimic you might've heard this.

So to mimic someone is to copy.

So bio mimicry, if we add those two words together, it means that we've got organic life and we're going to copy it.

The next word that I'll use a lot is biomorphic.

This is made of two parts as well.

And to break this word down we've got the same beginning, which is bio.

Can you remember what bio meant? So it's organic life.

Can you remember which country the word comes from? Bios.

It was Greece.

So bio means organic life and it comes from a Greek word, which is bios.

The next part of this word, which is morphic.

You might've heard the term to morph into something.

And that means to change appearance.

So if we've got bio morphic, this means that we're going to look to nature for organic life and we're going to design something that looks like it.

So we've got biomimicry where we look at the function from nature and we've got biomorphic where we look at the form from nature.

By understanding these two terms, you'll be able to get on really well with this lesson and design your lamp based on nature, both in function and form.

This slide simply sets the tone for the lesson.

It's explains what it is that we're going to do.

We're going to design a lamp.

We're going to look to nature to see if we can use that for designing the way that the lamp looks.

And we're also going to see if nature can inspire the functions of the light and how it's joined together.

I'm going to pop two pictures on the side now there are two different lights.

They both work as lights that's their function, but there is something that's very different about both of them.

You pause the video and maybe draw it down on your sheet of paper.

What you, the main differences are.

So they're both lights, but there is one key difference about the way that they function.

If you pause the video now and have a think.

Have you had chance to see the difference between one light and the next? So you know that they both work as lights but the difference that I thought while looking at two of them is that one of them is free-standing and could be moved around a desk.

So you could have it on a desk, in an office.

You could move it to another part of the desk or you could even unplug it and move it to another part of the house easily.

The next lamp that's fixed to a wall.

How it's fixed there is unclear from the photo but my guess would be that there is some things screwed to the wall that the lamp clicks onto, or there could be some other method that actually holds it in place.

But the main difference was one is fixed and one is movable.

On this slide I'm going to show you two pictures.

Can you see what the link is between these two pictures and the two pictures that were on the previous slide? I'll let you pause the video now while you have a think.

If like me, you thought the snail looks like it stuck to a pane of glass, you're right It is.

And it's very similar to the way that the lamp was stuck to the wall on the previous slide.

The skeleton that was used to inspire the way that the lamp actually moves.

So the lamp on the previous slide is called an angle posed a lamp and its movement is taken from the human skeleton.

Earlier in the lesson, there was a slide called keywords.

One of those words, it was specification.

And I highlighted that a designer needs a specification to make sure that what they draw matches the set criteria.

The criteria is often set by a client.

So when a designer works for a client if they fulfilled the points on the specification there's more chance that the client will be pleased with the work that the designer produces.

For this task you're going to have a go at working out what points do you want on your specification.

So you could take your sheets of paper write a lamp specification and then draw it down a couple of initial ideas.

To help you get started you might want to think about the purpose of your light.

Will it go on a desk? Will it go on a wall? or would it go on the floor? once you've thought of that you'd be ready to move on to think about how the lamp, or lights will function.

If you would like the light to be on a desk but then alter the direction of light.

Some movement will be necessary.

So how will the lights function and how will you change the direction of light? And then how will the lamp actually physically be on the floor, a wall or desk.

On this slide I've got three pictures that should help.

One of them show the light, which is on the wall.

And one of them shows a light, which is on the desk.

The next one is aligned for a living room that's placed on the floor.

Once you've looked at these three pictures it may help you to think what type of lights it is that you'd like to design.

So fixed to a wall, placed on a desk or placed on a floor.

This slide shows three pictures that might help you decide how the base of your lamp, will help it stay in place.

I've got one picture which is of a gecko and the end of its fingers, claws I'm not sure what you call them but they're high friction.

And that will allow the gecko to walk our client up a smooth surface.

That huge amount of friction that could be used to make sure that your lamp doesn't move on the smooth surface.

The next picture shows the claws of a bird of prey.

This could be something that could inspire the way that your lamp stays put and it doesn't move.

The next picture slightly unusual but this is a Burdock plant.

Velcro was inspired by a Burdock plant and at this end of each spur there's a slight little curve to it like a little hook.

And if you were to pick one and throw it it would actually stick to somebody's jumper.

So the Burdock plant inspired Velcro we've got the foots of a bird of prey, similar to an Eagle and then we've got the sticky pads from the Gecko.

All of those three could be used to inspire the way that you keep your lamp in place.

This slide shows how you might consider movement.

So there's a picture of a Lobster and you may look to the claws and external shell especially the tail to see how the lobster moves and if part of this could be used on your lamp.

The next picture you've seen before, but this is taken from the inspiration for the angle, posed lamp and lots of movement, especially ball joints are from skeletons and yet they used for mechanical devices and maybe even your lights.

The next picture shows a goose.

Now the camera that I'm using here this has got a gooseneck and it will allow me to move the camera and it's based upon the long neck of a goose.

So if I get the camera and just move it a little bit so it's allowed me to stay still but the camera picture has moved.

So the gooseneck was the inspiration for the webcam that I'm using the skeleton for the angle pose lamp and ball joints and there's a lobster that's got a shell that moves.

So the tail actually flaps to push the lobster along and then the movement in the claws that also could be some key points for your inspiration.

There are three things to focus on now.

One of them is what type of lamp that you're going to focus on.

Secondly, how will the lamp stay in place? And lastly, how will the lamp be adjusted? How are you going to use biomimicry and bio morphism to help you? You might want to pause the video to have a good look at the photos I have picked.

This mood board focuses on how I would design my lamp to make it stay in place.

So could you use any information from the pictures that are shown here to inspire you to design your lamp so that it has got a feature that allows it to stay put? So it may not be obvious straight away.

So in a moment, pause the video and see if there's any feature on here that you could take, to apply to your lamp design.

Here's the second mood board that I've picked.

This one I've made so that you can focus on how the lamp could move.

So the previous mood board that allowed you to gain inspiration about how your lamp could maybe stay in place.

This one, if you look at each photo closely pause the video, you should be able to take pallets from this and apply them to your lamp design to allow it to move and adjust.

So if you pause the video in a minute and read the information in the box for your task, you're going to design a light you can either make your own mood board or you could use the two that I've made.

So one mood board allowed you to focus on how the lamp could stay in place the other mood board would allow you to think about how movements could be applied to your lights.

So pause the video, read the box.

Maybe go back and have a look at the two mood boards and have a go yourself.

So here's my example I had great fun designing this who would have thought I could have designed a lamp based upon a Burdock plant and a Grasshopper.

If you have a look closely you may be able to see how it is that I've done this.

Firstly, the office that I'm in I've got a light and sometimes I do move it around.

Ideally I'd like it to stay in place.

So having a Velcro pad on the desk and a Velcro pad on a wall would mean that I could lift the light stick it to the desk and it would stay in place.

If I want to move the light when I couldn't lift it off and stick it to the Velcro pad I've already attached to the wall.

I decided to look closely at the hinged leg of a Grasshopper and apply that to get movement to my light.

Now that we've finished the lesson it's important to be visited the keywords and terms. I've hope you've learnt.

The first one is specification.

Sometimes this is known as a design spec.

And it's a list of points that a designer must follow to make sure that what they design is suitable for their client.

The next point or term was Designed-fixation.

If you've designed something and it's come from a variety of sources it's going to be difficult that you've got stuck with just one idea.

So if you've used a mood board with many images and you've designed a few different products or solutions using those images it will be difficult that you got stuck with just one.

The last point is inspiration.

It should be that you can look at what you've designed and link it back to where you've got your inspiration from.

I hope you've enjoyed the lesson, my name's Mr. Donnelly and if you've produced something that you'd like to share then please allow someone to take a photo and share it on Twitter, using the hashtags and information below.

Thank you.