IGCSE Design and Technology (Graphics)

Revision Notes

Miss Hall

Introduction

Design and Technology is a subject that covers three main disciplines; Resistant Materials (the
study of woods, metals and plastics), Electronics and Graphics. Our specialist area is Graphics.

You will have three assessments for this GCSE:

1. An exam which covers knowledge in Design Technology such as environmental issues,

ergonomics and health and safety etc.
2. An exam which covers drawing and design skills. You will be given three questions and
you will pick one of these questions. (The questions focus on Graphics, Resistant
Materials or Electronics, pick the Graphics question!)

You will have mock exams for these each term in years 10 and 11.

3. A 40 page coursework project where you will have to design and make a graphics
product to a design brief. This will assess your skills, knowledge, creativity and
understanding of graphic design. This will be undertaken in term 2-3 of year 11.

Revision Websites

If you do not understand any of the revision material. Please ask! If you would like to expand
your knowledge or test your understanding these are very good websites to use:

1. www.designandtech.com
2. www.technologystudent.com
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/design/graphics/
4. http://www.design-technology.info/graphics/default.htm

Select the Graphics area on each of these

Year 10 term one: Revise upto section on Reprographics.

Year 11: Revise everything!

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Understanding Graphics
Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen,
paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain.

Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers,
symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings, or other images.

Graphics often combine text, illustration, and colour. Graphic design may consist of the
deliberate selection, creation, or arrangement of typography alone, as in a brochure, flier,
poster, web site, or book without any other element.

Consumers
Most market research is conducted through questionnaires. This helps designers &
manufacturers identify what consumers need & want out of new products.

Questionnaires contain two types of questions.

 Closed questions: consumers pick from a range of given answers

 Open questions: consumers are free to give their own opinions.

Target Market: The term ‘target market’ refers to the demographic or group of people that a
product is aimed towards.

Consumer/Customer: This is the person/people that will buy your product. It is important to
consider them at all stages of the design process and to always consider their needs and wants.

Customer Profile: This is a visual representation of your customer; it should indicate the
following about them

 What age is your client?

 What type of clothes does your client like?
 What are your client’s interests?
 Is your client male or female?
 What design style/imagery does your client like?
 What are your client’s job/educational interests?

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Design and Technology in society
The manufacture, use and disposal of any product can have both beneficial and detrimental
effects upon people, wildlife and the environment. All products, therefore, should be designed
to minimize the detrimental effects.

Product Manufacture

Think of a super market and all the products it sells. It is important to remember that many of
the processes used to make those products, or the materials from which the products are
made, produce waste. All waste is unsightly, and some can be dangerous. Toxic waste is very
dangerous – it can damage the health of people and wildlife. Toxic waste must be kept away
from living things. This can be done by burning, dumping and burying, but these methods are
not always successful. Leaks from containers, seepage from landfill sites and air pollution from
burning all contribute to environmental pollution. Not to mention the waste dumped into rivers
and out at sea.

In addition to pollution caused by waste materials, huge quantities of energy (power etc) are
used by factories to actually make their products.

Many industries have responded to government and consumer pressure to develop alternative
methods of waste disposal which avoid producing toxic waste in the first place.

Product Use

We all use products. This also puts the environment at risk. For example, every time you go for
a drive in a vehicle the exhaust fumes fill the air. Aerosol cans (e.g. deodorant, fly spray) used to
contain CFC’s, which were very harmful to the environment. We need to modify our behaviour
as consumers with regard to product use with the aim of reducing environmental damage and
providing a healthier environment for people to live in. For example we should choose products
which waste less energy and use fewer materials in manufacture.

Product Disposal

Some of your discarded products may be recycled (e.g. cardboard, glass, plastic), but what
happens to the rest? Often it ends up as landfill and when it decomposes it produces pollutants.
Some goes into the ground and some may find their way into rivers and underground water.
Good waste management is also part of looking after the environment.

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Energy

The three fossil fuels, oil, natural gas and coal, were formed millions of years ago when dead
plants and animals were trapped under deposits and became buried underneath land.
Compression over time fossilised the remains, creating carbon-rich fuel sources. All fossil fuels
are finite - the deposits that exist cannot be replenished when they are used. With further use,
all are in danger of running out.

The question of when each one will actually run out, however, is a tricky one. There are many
different opinions and calculations and none really agree on the exact timing. Many different
factors need to be considered including how much of each deposit is left in the Earth, how fast
we are using each fossil fuel at the moment, and how this is likely to change in the future. If we
start switching to alternative fuel sources that are renewable rather than non-renewable, the
reserves that we have will obvious last longer.

Natural Gas
Some experts believe that current natural gas deposits fill around 6000 trillion cubic feet that
could, with the current level of usage, last for about 50 years. This assumes that there are still
no new sources of natural gas still to find. The difficulties in transporting natural gas (because of
its explosive nature) mean that it tends to be used fairly locally to its source. The gas fields of
the North Sea have been a rich resource for the UK but other countries in Europe obtain their
supplies through long underground pipelines from Russia, which are hundreds of miles long. As
the pipeline runs through several countries, the continuity of the supply can be compromised
by political disputes.

Oil

The world could still have oil reserves that would fill 800 million barrels, with about half that in
the Middle East. Because we use oil to manufacture many materials, including plastics, we use
oil at a faster rate than gas or coal. People have been expecting oil to run out within the next
few years since the 1990’s. No doubt it is currently getting scarcer and as a result less
expensive, but currently estimates suggest we will not actually run out until between 2025 and
2070.

Coal
Coal is the fossil fuel with the greatest reserves and coal reserves are spread all over the Earth.
It is very labour intensive to recover as it lies deep below the surface; usually around 300 feet
below land level and deposits can be only a few centimeters thick.

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Global Warming

Governments around the world realize that we are approaching the ultimate crisis in terms of
oil supply and there is a global movement to reduce the amount of fossil fuels that we use. If
we can find alternative energy sources, it would not matter if oil, gas or coal ran out or not. The
issue of global warming and climate change is also an important reason why fossil fuels have
really out of favour. Carbon dioxide emissions from burning and using fossil fuels could be
contributing to global warming and causing disruption to the weather patterns all over the
world.

Alternatives to fossil fuels

There are plenty of alternative energy sources that are renewable or in constant supply such as
wind power and solar power. Most people are now realising that a massive switch to these
types of power will be required in the future but it seems to be human nature that the urgency
to make things happen will not be great enough until the prospect of running out of fossil fuels
is much closer.

Ergonomics and Anthropometric Data

 Ergonomics is the interaction between the Human body, products, systems and
environments.

 Anthropometrics is the Science used to improve Ergonomics. It is the study of the

human body and its movements.

 In Anthropometrics you look at the measurements of the human body.

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  Supplied as figures or tables.
 Average = 50th Percentile
 Most data used between 5 & 95th percentile.
 Types of measurement Static = Fixed Dynamic = Moving

Ergonomics can be split into three different areas.

1. Ergonomic Design of an Environment.

2. Ergonomic Design of a Product.

3. Ergonomic Design of a system.

The aim of Ergonomic Design is to make products easy to use, to reduce the risk to the user &
to make things more efficient.

What Is Ergonomics in Working Environment Design?

 Ergonomics helps to make the environment you are working in safer and more efficient
through ease of use – from better design.

What Is Ergonomics in Products?

 Ergonomics studies the human body and its limits. The usual goal in product design is to
make a product that suits the body.

 These products are designed with ‘USABILITY’ in mind.

What Is Ergonomics in System Design?

 Ergonomics helps to make the system you are working in safer and more efficient
through design of the layout and flow.

 The usual goal is maximum output without physical harm. 

Design briefs and specifications in IGCSE D&T

Every designer starts work with a design brief. It is a short statement describing the following
things:

 why the product is needed

 what the product must do

 where the product will be used

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  Who will use the product?

Example

Personal hygiene is an important issue in the home.

I am going to design and make a toothbrush storage system for use in the bathroom. It must
hold toothpaste and four brushes and will be aimed at teenagers.

Specification

A specification is a list of criteria that your design must meet. Specifications can be extremely
detailed documents and it helps to consider some broad headings.

 User requirements – what does the user group need?

 Function – what it does and how it works.

 Cost – cost to manufacturer and cost to consumer.

 Aesthetics – what it looks like: form, colour, texture shape, etc.

 Anthropometrics – body sizes of the user group.

 Ergonomics – how the product and user interact.

 Materials – what materials are suitable/available

Specifications are best written as a bullet-pointed list, containing as much detailed information
from your research analysis as you know at this stage of the project.

Research skills
Researching is a vital skill for a designer. To research effectively you need to be able to collect,
edit and record specific information which will help you to design and make a successful
product.

Before beginning the research, you should look at your design brief and think about the
following questions:

 What do I need to find out?

 Where can I find it out?

 How am I going to record and present the information?

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Primary research means finding out information directly from a source – it’s first hand
information.

 writing a survey to find out people’s needs, wants and desires

 testing some materials to see how they react to moisture

 interviewing an expert who has specific knowledge of an area

 Carrying out a product analysis of a similar product.

Secondary research means finding out information that another person has already prepared –
it already exists in some format or other.

 composing a theme board to collect different images for inspiration

 visiting a museum or art gallery with a camera and sketch book

 using text books or the Internet to search for information

 investigating software packages in school

 Exploring a CD-ROM for images.

When you have collected your research information, you need to edit, analyse and record it.

Editing

 Read through your design brief and then select relevant information from your
research. Using a highlighter may help you.

Analysing

 Gather your edited research and look at it in detail. What information does it
contain? How does it help you to solve your design problem?

Recording

 Think about the methods you can use to communicate your research analysis, such
as graphs, charts, pictures or reports.

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Rendering
Rendering: Applying colour and shade to an object to improve its presentation.

Rendering includes the thick and thin line technique, colour, tone and texture.

Typography
Why type is important

• Type is important because it's an unconscious persuader

• It attracts attention and sets the style and tone of a document

• It defines the feeling of the page

• The right typeface can encourage people to read your message.

• The wrong typeface or bad typography can make your message go unread.

Type is image

• Type can re-enforce the image you wish to portray.

• Change your typeface and you go from casual to formal, silly to serious, staid to stylish,
old fashioned to modern.

• You can use typeface to attract attention, strengthen your message, and improve your
image

Non-verbal meaning

• Non-verbal meanings are often used in advertising, as a graphic designer reinforces a

message through the choice of typeface, arrangement of letters, and colouring effect. In

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 the examples shown below you can see how a change to the style and colour can impact
on the words.

Elegant
Examples of non-verbal meaning

Non-verbal meaning can be achieved by creating shapes with the text.

Choosing a typeface

There are no good and bad typefaces; there are

appropriate and inappropriate typefaces.

Think about your reader and the feeling you want to

convey, and then choose a typeface that fits.

Type should make the words easy to read.

Serifs

 Small decorative strokes that are added to the end of a letter's main strokes are
called serifs.
 Serif faces are more difficult to read in small
scale (smaller than 8pt) and in very large sizes.
 Serif form contains four designs called Old
Style, Transitional, Modern and Slab Serif
designs.

Sans Serif

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Sans serif faces don't have serifs; cross-lines at the end of a stroke. The appearance of the
letters is reduced to the essential figures.

Examples of Sans serif fonts include:

• Arial

• Arahoni

Script, Brush, Italic & Freehand

• Script typefaces are based on handwriting; but often this is handwriting with either a
flexible steel nib pen, or a broad-edged pen, and is thus unlike modern handwriting.

• Brush typefaces look as if they were drawn with a brush.

Examples include:

• Brush Script

• Freestyle Script

• French Script

Slab Serif (Egyptian)

• These faces have block-like rectangular serifs, sticking out horizontally or vertically,
often the same thickness as the body strokes.

• An offspring of the slab serif typefaces Century Schoolbook is often used in newspaper
work, because it holds up well under adverse printing conditions.

Century School Book

One point perspective drawing

Terminology:
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Horizon: This line is a horizontal line at eye level – it usually separates ground from sky.

Vanishing Point: is on the horizon. All lines apart from the horizontal and vertical lines direct
towards and meet at the vanishing point.

Vertical: going up and down the page.

Horizontal: going side to side on the page.

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Two Point perspective drawing skills
6. Rub out the unwanted lines.

Isometric drawing
Why do we use isometric drawings?

Isometric drawings are one of the most realistic ways of drawing 3D objects. They also allow us
to draw to scale

This is an oblique drawing. You get no marks in the exam for oblique drawing. You must draw
3D shapes in isometric unless told otherwise.
It is important to know the difference between diff
types of drawing.
You may come across a question involving planom
drawing. This is different from isometric in that th
angles are both 45°

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Planometric drawing
This convention can be exceptionally useful as the drawing is 'built-up' from an actual plan.  If a ground
floor map of a room is completed and all the walls are shown as flat panels - vertical to the first 'view' -
then a PLANOMETRIC view has been started.  One big advantage of this drawing style is that all circles
still appear as circles on the finished sketch, whereas on an isometric they will appear squashed.  If
measurements need to be taken straight from the drawing, it is obviously easier as you can simply
measure everything on the paper and then use the scale.

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15
Reprographics

Process Applications Advantages Disadvantages

Magazines High quality, Expensive to set up

Lithography Posters Prints photos and text Only suitable for long
Cereal boxes Widely available production runs

Expensive packaging Very high quality More expensive than

Gravure
Stamps Prints photos and text Lithography

Can print on uneven

T-Shirts surfaces
Only prints simple
Can print onto object that shapes
Printing on to
Screen Printing products such as TV will not fit through a
Will not print fine detail
remotes and printing press
walkmans  
Can be used for batch
production

Carrier bags Can print onto plastic

films and foil Lower quality than
Flexography Yogurt pot lids
Cheaper to setup than Lithography
  lithography

Only suitable for letters

Books with large and line drawings.
Letterpress Very sharp letter quality
amounts of text NOT SUITABLE FOR
PHOTOS

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CMYK: Four colour printing

Only four colours are needed to reproduce the millions of colours visible to the human eye
when printing.

Cyan Magenta Yellow BlacK

Any colour can be reproduced using a combination of these colours.

These four colours are usually referred to as CMYK.

Before any picture is printed is has to be 'seperated' into these four colours. This is
unsurprisingly called colour separation.

Printed images are usually made up of millions of tiny dots of colour placed close to one
another. You can see these if you look closely at a photo in a newspaper. When you stand back
away from the image you can no longer see the individual, CMYK dots but millions of different
colours.

Colours can also be reproduced by overlapping the four colours as the inks are slightly
transparent. Cyan put on top of yellow will appear green.

It is important that each colour is lined up exactly with

the previous colour. Registration marks are used for this.
They are usually a cross with a circle around it. They are
printed 4 times, one in each colour over the top of each
other.

If the colours are lined up accurately you should only see

a black registration mark. If one of the colours are out of
line you will see that colour registration mark printed
slightly to the side of the black registration mark...

If the colours are out of line the final image will appear
blurred.

When printing a lot of something the registration marks are checked every so often to avoid
reproducing a lot of errors.

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Finishing Techniques
Techniques Example Description
Die cutting: This is the method of cutting printed paper to
shape. It works like a giant gingerbread man
cutter, pressing the shape out of the paper or
card cereal

Scoring   Heavy materials such as board to difficult to

fold, so the outside edge needs to be scored first
so the material does not tear when folded
Scoring can be done by machine or by hand

 
Ultraviolet   Uses UV radiation to harden a liquid plastic
varnishing coating applied to paper or card. It is the
ultimate high gloss coating

 
Aqueous   Is a water-based varnish, but is not high gloss
varnishing
 
Spirit   Is a spirit-based varnish, but is again not as high
Varnishing gloss as UV varnish.

 
Laminating The printed design can be laminated, covered in
a sticky backed plastic; this will improve the
aesthetics (appearance) and make the product
stronger.

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Embossing: This is raising the surface of the paper or card in
the shape of text or image so it stands in relief.

Simple geometric shapes

Geometry can be divided into:

Plane Geometry is about flat shapes like

lines, circles and triangles ... shapes that
can be drawn on a piece of paper

   

Solid Geometry is about three dimensional

objects like cubes, prisms and pyramids.

Plane Geometry

Plane Geometry is all about shapes on a flat surface (like on an endless piece of paper).

Polygon
A Polygon is a 2-dimensional shape made of straight lines. Triangles and
 
Rectangles are polygons. Here are some more:

Pentag Pentagr Hexag

     
on am on

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Transformations and Symmetry

Transformations:

 Rotation
 Reflection
 Translation
 Resizing

Symmetry:

 Reflection Symmetry
 Rotational Symmetry
 Point Symmetry

Solid Geometry

Solid Geometry is the geometry of three-dimensional space - the kind of space we live in ...

Let us start with some of the simplest shapes:

 Cube
 Cuboid

Solids come in two types "Polyhedra" and "Non-Polyhedra":

Polyhedra :
(they must have flat Platonic Solids
faces)

  Prisms

Pyramids

     

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 Non-Polyhedra:
(if any surface is not Sphere Torus

  flat)

Cylinder Cone

Packaging Design
Why Package Things?

 Promote
 Protect
 Preserve

Before about 1850, packaging was limited to barrels, wooden boxes and jute sacks. Only after
this date was paper made cheaply enough and paper bags began to appear.

Other packaging materials such as tin, aluminium and various plastics developed alongside
paper and board. Glass was one of the earliest packaging materials.

The purpose of packaging is primarily to protect or preserve its contents and secondly to
improve presentation. Protection is needed against handling and during transportation. The
presentation to the customer provides necessary information and improves sales by making the
product more visually appealing.

Folding Techniques

Packaging: Flaps
The size and design of flaps is very important, both as a means of gluing the box
together and also to ensure that the top bottom and sides fit well together.

The flaps should not be less than 8mm wide and wider than this for larger boxes or
cartons.

The ends of flaps which are to be glued should be cut at an angle of 60 deg. to
ensure that excess card does not interfere with the inside of the folded corner.

Packaging: Tabs

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 The shape of some boxes and cartons allows only very small glue flaps or tabs.

Sometimes triangular shapes are needed and these can cause difficulties near tight
corners.

Joining curved shapes is done by creating a number of small tabs to follow the
curve. Before attempting to glue these tabs, ease the crease by scoring along the
edge.
Packaging: Corners
When materials are folded up to form corners the inside of the corner often
distorts. This is especially true of thicker materials because of the squeezing
together or compression which occurs on the inside of any bend.

The easiest way to deal with this is to drill or punch a small hole before attempting
the fold as shown in corner number 1. This removes the problem area.

When using materials such as sheet metal or plastics, which will stay in place when
folded, the hole can be used to decorative effect to create open corners - perhaps
revealing a lining material. See corner numbers 2 and 3.

The shapes of the flaps or tabs can also be altered to produce a more interesting
design out of a construction necessity as in corners 3 and 4.
Packaging: Hinges
Simple hinges can be made in paper and card by using adhesive tapes, drinking
straws, stitching, paper fasteners, rivets or by simple scoring and bending the card.

ADHESIVE TAPE is used by alternatively sticking it to the top of one side of the hinge
and the bottom of the other;

DRINKING STRAWS can be used to mimic an actual butt or back flap hinge;

STITCHING like adhesive tape, proceeds from the top of one side, down in between
the two pieces and then up through the opposite side;

Packaging: Card Manufacture

Paper is mainly a web of vegetable fibres called cellulose which is extracted from wood pulp.
Other plant fibres such as cotton, flax, hemp, bamboo, sugar cane and cereal straw can also be
used but wood is the most widely used source. Small amounts of additives in the form of
minerals, chemicals or dyes enhance particular properties, such as whiteness or strength.
Board is the industry's name for cardboard and is made from several layers of pulp. Very thick

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 board is made by sticking together sheets of paper or board. This is known as laminating.

Orthographic drawing.
Orthographic drawing is a way of drawing a three dimensional object. Normally the object is drawn as
three separate, related views - Front View, Side View and Plan View.

Ellipses
Drawing Ellipses the easy way !

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Although you need only draw a few 'diameters' across the circle you will find
it easier to draw an ellipse with greater accuracy if more are used .

Notice that the points have been joined up with a smoothly curving line and not a series
of straight ones !

Resources in Graphics
Drawing Pencils are a basic requirement of any graphics course. You need a number ranging
from 2B to 2H. These letters refer to the hardness of the pencil lead. When sketching a soft lead
such as 2B is can be used to produce quick drawings and
shading. On the other hand , when drawing precisely a 2H
or even a harder pencil such as a 4H is ideal. This type of
pencil keeps its sharp edge for longer and produces very
fine lines.

A refillable pencil is very useful especially if you are constructing a drawing that
needs a constant thickness of line. The refills are available in a range of thicknesses
and either hard or soft leads.
Disadvantages are that the refillable pencils are relatively expensive and so are the
refills. Also, the leads tend t o break more easily.

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 A fine pen (colour - normally black) is used to draw
permanent, accurate lines. Fine pens are available with
various thicknesses of 'tips'. They are especially useful for
printing and placing notes alongside designs and sketches.
They are also used for producing the final outline of a design.
Fine pens are relatively cheap and come in a range of colours.

   

T-Squares are use to draw horizontal lines. They are

especially useful when constructing accurate orthographic
drawings or architectural drawings. A T-Square is normally
used with a drawing board, set squares and clips. It must be
pushed firmly against the edge of the drawing board when it
is being used.

   

Set Squares are used to draw accurate angles. The most

common are 45 and 60/30 degrees. When using set squares
they should always used along with a T-Square. The Set-
square rest on the straight edge of the T-Square and this
ensures when the angle is drawn that it is accurate.

Board clips are used to hold the drawing paper in position.

They simply clip on to the board holding the paper firmly
against the drawing board

   

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 A ruler is possibly one of the most important pieces of drawing equipment. Rulers should only to used to
measure distances with lines being drawn with T-Squares and Set Squares. However, most people use rulers
to draw straight lines. But it must be remembered that the edge of a ruler is not guaranteed to have a
perfectly straight edge unlike a good T-Square or Set Square.

Templates are very useful. They are plastic with a number of

accurate circles cut out. They are used to draw circles of set
diameters/sizes and are particularly useful if the circle is small.
 
Small circles are difficult to draw using a traditional compass
because the compass can easily slip on the paper. With a
template, the circle diameter is selected and a sharp pencil is
used to draw round the cutout circle.
Ellipse templates are similar to circle templates and these are
useful for drawing ellipse / oval shapes accurately.

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 A craft knife is used to cut out card shapes It is important
that a steel ruler is used as the sharp blade of the craft knife
is less likely to slip. a cutting mat should be placed below the
card being cut. Also, if a plastic ruler is used the knife can
easily cut into its straight edge, damaging it. Great care must
be taken when using a craft knife as they are very sharp, if
they slip they can cut hands and fingers very badly

A scissors is used for general cutting and shaping of paper and

card. Generally, scissors very safe, unlike craft knives that can slip
causing ‘nasty’ accidents. However, they must still be used with
care.  
 
[Type a quote from the document or
Pencil sharpeners are essential for  
the summary of an interesting point.
sharpening pencils. Accurate drawings
You can position the text box
cannot be produced unless they are
anywhere in the document. Use the
sharp. However, when shading a blunt
Text Box Tools tab to change the
pencil is sometimes useful.  
formatting of the pull quote text box.]
A craft knife can also be used to sharpen
pencils. Normal pencil sharpeners tend to
shorten the lead as the sharpener is
turned. This means that the pencil needs
sharpening often. On the other hand
when using a craft knife, the lead can be
left quite long. Also, a small piece of glass
  paper can be used to give a precise edge
to the lead. A ‘chisel’ shaped point is
ideal for drawing accurate lines

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 A Flexi-curve is used to draw curves. It can be formed into
almost any curve as it is flexible. Flex-curves are useful as they
are simply shaped to form the desired curve. However, a flex-
curve is delicate and if forced into a tight curve it will break.

   

French Curves are purchased in sets of three or four. They are

used to draw curves by finding the section of curve that
matches the desired shape on the profile of the curve.
Some French Curves also have either circles or ellipses of
various sizes cut out. These can be used in the same way as
circle or ellipse templates.

A Parallel Rule is used to draw parallel lines. It is basically two

rulers held together by two linkages. The linkages provide the
parallel motion. The rulers have scales either metric, imperial
or both.
   

An Adjustable Square is a set square which can be adjusted to

almost any angle. When adjusted a small screw is hand
tightened, locking the set square in position. This means that
there is no need to have both 45 and 30/60 degree set
squares. They are much more expensive than normal set
squares.

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 A compass cutter is extremely useful if you are attempting to
cut circles in card or paper. using scissors often produces poor
results but a compass cutter usually cuts accurately. The
compass cutter can be adjusted to cut circles of varying sizes.
The cutting point is a craft knife blade. care should still be
taken when using this type of cutter.

 
A protractor is used to measure angles. A typical
protractor is a semi-circular piece of plastic with 180
degrees printed around its curve. This piece of equipment
is not only used in graphics for constructing accurate
drawings but is also used in subjects like Mathematics.

A compass is an absolute essential piece of equipment. It

is well worth buying a good set which includes at least
two compasses allowing the drawing of small and large
circles. The drawing opposite is a ‘bow’ compass, this is
used for drawing small circles very accurately. Cheap
compasses tend to slip on the paper and break quite
easily. A good, quality compass set will last a life time.

Fastenings
Factors Affecting Types of Joining Processes

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  Strength of joint.

 Stiffness/Rigidity Needed.

 Type of Material Used.

 Affect of joint type on material.

 Appearance.

Once you have considered all of the previous factors affecting joints, you can then determine
which category of joining process you can use.

Temporary or Permanent

 Temporary joining processes do not damage the materials being joined when the joint is
undone.

 Permanent joints will damage the materials being joined if the joint is dismantled.

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 Joining Materials

Adhesive Joins Notes Safety

Pritt Stick Paper and Card   Safe for all

Non-Toxic

Spray Mount Paper and Card Is an aerosol spray  

repositionable

Ideal for gluing large

areas

Hot Melt Glue Gun Paper and Card Requires use of a glue Glue is very hot
gun
Wood
Dries (cools) in
seconds

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 PVA Glue Paper and Card Strong Safe for all

Wood Takes hours to dry

Epoxy Resin Everything Quick drying Solvent based

Very strong Use in well

ventilated area

Tensol Acrylic Sticks in seconds. Solvent based

Is a liquid. Fumes are very

dangerous
Melts the two
surfaces of the acrylic Use in well
to bond them. ventilated area

Assembly drawings
Assembly" Drawings
An isometric view of an "assembled" pillow-block bearing
system is shown on the left below.
It corresponds closely to what you actually see when viewing
the object from a particular
angle. We cannot tell what the inside of the part looks like
from this view.

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Year 11
Health and safety
Health & Safety in the Workplace.

 Health & Safety Executive have the power to shut a site down if it is not safe
enough.
 H & S is important to protect you (the pupil), the employee (me), the employer (the
council) and anybody visiting.
 As a designer & manufacturer you have the ultimate responsibility for your product
– You could go to prison if your design is faulty.
 Your product needs to be Safe, not injure people or the environment.

There are Government Acts to Protect Us.

The Consumer Safety Act is mainly concerned with safety especially when considering clothing,
toys and electrical goods. The government can ban dangerous goods with this Act.

The Trades Description Act protects the customer against false claims. For instance if a
manufacturer says that a product will increase intelligence and it obviously fails to do so - then
the manufacturer can be taken to court. The Trades Descriptions Act tries to ensure than
manufacturers claims about their products are true.

The Sales of Goods Act is aimed at ensuring that goods work in the way they should and that
they last a reasonable amount of time.

Fire Safety Regulations - aim to protect the public against poor quality furniture that could be a
fire hazard. The aim is to stop the sale of furniture that is easily set alight and give off
dangerous toxic fumes.

If you see either of these signs you know the product has been tested and will have met SAFETY
STANDARDS.

The European Union has set up rules for selling certain types
of products in the EU.

These rules cover such products as toys, medical equipment

and electronic devices.

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If you want to make and sell a product in the EU then it must meet these safety standards. If it
passes the tests it can display the CE Marking and be sold anywhere in the EU.

The British Standards Institute has hand its own set of safety and
quality guidelines for over 100 years. Products which display the
BSI Kitemark have passed quality and safety checks.

Customers see the Kitemark as a sign of quality. It can help sales

of your product. For example, equipment for babies usually
displays the Kitemark in a prominent position on the box to let
parents know the product is safe to use.

The Kitemark is most visible on products where safety is

important for example, fire extinguishers, and glass windows.

If the a product fails and injures someone, the fact that it has a Kitemark can be used in the
manufacturing companies defense in court. It proves that they tried hard to ensure that their
product was safe.

The Control of Substance Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations of

1988 are the a set of legal rules designed to protect workers from the
risks of exposure to harmful chemicals

Every hazardous material that you can come across at school or at

work will have a set of regulations for it that specifies exactly how it
should be used to be safe.

To ensure that they do not break the law employers must ensure all
hazardous substances have a COSHH certificate and they let people
who use the materials know how to use them safely. Even washing up liquid at work has a
COSHH regulation.

Recording and reading data

What is a pie chart?

A pie chart is a way of summarising a set of categorical data. It is a

circle which is divided into segments. Each segment represents a
particular category. The area of each segment is proportional to the
number of cases in that category.

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What is a bar chart?

A bar chart is a way of summarising a set of categorical data. It is often used in data analysis to
illustrate the major features of the distribution of the data in a
convenient form.

It displays the data using a number of rectangles, of the same width,

each of which represents a particular category. The length (and
hence area) of each rectangle is proportional to the number of cases
in the category it represents, for example, age group, religious
affiliation.

What is a scatter diagram?

A scatterplot or scatter diagram is a useful summary of a set

of data with two variables.

It gives a good visual picture of the relationship between the

two variables, and aids the interpretation of the correlation.

Each unit contributes one point to the scatterplot, on which

points are plotted but not joined.

The resulting pattern indicates the type and strength of the

relationship between the two variables.

Time/cost/skill and resource consideration and planning

Any company manufacturing a product or a supplier supplying goods have to calculate their
costs very carefully. The cost of employing people to promote, manufacture, market and sell
products should not be overlooked when you are designing a solution and you must carefully
explain the costing of designs, especially when you select your best idea and develop it. There
are two types of costs - ‘fixed costs’ and ‘variable costs’

Fixed Costs

These are costs that do not increase or decrease as output fluctuates. For example, salaries of
employees, rent for premises and advertising costs.

Variable Costs

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These change as output increases and include such things as materials required to manufacture
the product. If production increases then more materials are needed and consequently costs
increase.

TOTAL COSTS = FIXED COSTS + VARIABLE COSTS

Control
Why Do Flowcharting?

Producing a flowchart can be impressive and also helps with the design and development stage.

The feedback loops show you are using some quality assurance.

Background of Flowcharts

Flowcharts have been around for a very long time. No one is really attributed for their
invention.

BUT mass industrialisation and a man called W. Edwards Deming have

played a big part.

Also the fact the flowcharts are the fundamental process of a computer
have meant that as computer programmers have evolved into managers
then flowcharts have become more widely used as a tool for Control and
quality.

Flowcharts are a quick way of visually getting the idea of a process across. Flowcharts are a
quick way of managing a process. With management comes control and therefore improved
quality of the output.

Decision
A decision or branching point. Lines representing different

decisions emerge from different points of the diamond.

Action or Process
A box can represent a single step ("add two cups of flour"), or and

entire sub-process ("make bread") within a larger process.

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Flow Line
Lines indicate the sequence of steps and the direction of flow.

Completed Product

Raw Material in bins, finished product on pallets, or filed documents

Raw Material

Raw Material being introduced into the system.

Document

The symbol marks the use of a document, such as instructions being present
in the flowchart.

Standardised symbols

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Standardised symbols are used in architectural plans to show the placement of fixtures and
fittings, they are instantly recognizable by all the workers involved in the project.

Sectional drawing
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Sectioning
There are many times when the interior details of an object cannot be
seen from the outside.  It should not really be a surprise that a
convention is required to give additional details
about the interior of an object.  Many common examples can be seen
every day - items that lookas though they may be constructed In
similar ways when viewed solely with the information available from
the outer surface.

We can get around this by pretending to cut the object on a plane and showing the  “sectional
view“. The sectional view is applicable to objects like engine blocks, where the interior details
are intricate and would be very difficult to understand through the use of "hidden" lines
(hidden lines are, by convention, dotted) on an orthographic or isometric drawing.

Imagine slicing the object in the middle (figure 10)

Take away the front half (figure 10) and what you have is a full section view -  In isometric
section  and in orthographic section (figure 11)
Orthographic drawings are also essential when patent drawings are filed as details within these
can describe features far better than words alone. These are also labelled.

Arcs and circles in isometric

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 circles in isometric.
Exploded view drawings

Exploded drawings are extremely useful when explaining a design /

idea. The drawing opposite is a design for an educational toy (for a
young child) has been drawn with all the parts disassembled.

It is important when drawing an exploded view that all the parts line
up with each other when disassembled. The vertical guidelines clearly
show how the various parts are in line with each other. If an exploded
drawing is constructed properly anyone looking at the drawing should
be able to see how the various parts go together to form the finished
design/object.
Exploded views are useful because detail can be seen, parts are not hidden behind other parts.

Box nets
Look at a typical product on a supermarket shelf. It’s packaging started life as a flat development / net,
probably printed on a piece of card. It was then cut out, folded and glued to form the package.

The packaging of a modern mobile phone is seen below. Mobile phones arrive in the shops in stylish
boxes / packaging. Each package is manufactured from a material such as quality card. The insert is
normally made from either lower quality, recycled card or vacuum formed hi-density polystyrene. This
protects the phone and charger inside the package

Card is popular packaging material because it is cheap and it can be recycled. Also, colour and images can be

40
applied using a number of printing techniques. Normally the card is lacquered to give the box a gloss / satin
finish.

Often the packages are cuboid in shape as this means that they can be transported and stacked on shelves
easily, efficiently using space.

Packaging for almost any product is made in multiples. The only time a single package / net is manufactured
is usually when a prototype package is required, so that it can be tested and improved.
In industry a large, single sheet of card will be used to manufacture many individual developments / nets.
The diagram below is a typical layout. It shows multiple nets of the mobile phone packaging, printed out on
a single piece of card. This reduces waste and is a cost effective way of manufacturing packaging.

The mobile phone packaging has been arranged as multiple nets, with very little space between each one.
This arrangement of shapes is called a tessellation. A tessellation is a shape that is repeated over and over

41
 again without creating gaps or spaces. A Tessellation is sometimes called ‘tiling’.
In industry it may be necessary to make thousands of the same type of package. In order that materials are
not wasted, the developments / nets are organised on the card in such a way that there are only small gaps
between each individual shape. Special cutters called Die Cutters,   are pressed into the material to stamp
out the nets / developments, which are then folded by machines to from the packages.

   

Types of paper

Paper Weight Description Uses Advantages Cost

Thin, translucent, Sketching and developing Translucent so ideas can be Relatively

Layout 50 gsm
smooth surface ideas traced and altered expensive

60/90 Thin transparent paper, Similar to layout, but mainly Can be

Tracing gsm smooth surface. used by draftsmen
Allows tracing
expensive

General use,
Lightweight, good Cheap when brought in bulk.
Copier 80 gsm
quality paper
Photocopying, inkjet
Available in range of colours
Fairly cheap
printer.

More expensive
Cartridg 120-150 Creamy white paper, General purpose drawing, than copier
Completely opaque
e gsm slight texture can be used with paint

What does 'GSM' stand for?

GSM stands for Grammes per Square Metre. It is how the weight of paper and card are
measured.

Normal paper for exercise books and photocopiers is about 80gsm.

Paper that is 160gsm is twice as heavy (Thicker)

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500gsm is thick card

Below are a number of symbols often seen on packaging. Each has a specific
meaning. The symbols are normally very simple and easy to understand.

The ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ symbol

is regularly seen on packages in
the UK. It is there to remind
people to place their rubbish in
a rubbish bin rather than
dropping it on the floor. It is
also aimed at making people
aware that they have a
responsibility to keep the environment around them tidy and litter free.
Sometimes the symbol is called the ‘be environmentally friendly’ symbol.

POLYTHENE TEREPHTHALATE (PET) is a material widely used for

packaging, especially drinks containers. It is 90% recyclable and the
symbol opposite reminds the consumer of this fact. Hopefully the
consumer will place the used packaging in the recycle bin, if he / she
can find one.

These are internationally

recognisable symbols for
recycling. They are seen on many
packages. Again, it is to remind
the consumer of the potential
recycling properties of the
package he/she is about to throw
away. It is aimed at encouraging
the consumer to recycling
packaging rather than throwing it
into a general rubbish bin.

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 This symbol also means that the material is recyclable. However, the letters
‘alu’ mean aluminium. It means the container is manufactured from
aluminium and that it can be recycled and used again. Look closely at
drinks cans as they are normally manufactured from aluminium and may
have this symbol.

A symbol that is occasionally seen on

packaging is the Fair Trade symbol.
This means that the contents of the
package has been produced in the
Third World and that the producer
(ie. the farmer) has received a fair
and realistic price. It also means that the produce is not from countries
whose Governments help their industry / agriculture undercut those of
much poorer countries by giving them subsidises.

This symbol reminds those

handling the package to keep
out of the rain and not to store
it in damp conditions. it is
normally found on card based
packages which would be
damaged if placed in contact with water.

 
 

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 The broken wine glass suggests that the product inside the
packaging could be easily damaged if dropped or handled without care
and attention. The contents are fragile !

The two hands holding or protecting the package is another

reminder that the contents should be handled with care.

   

The symbol seen opposite tells those handling the package that
it must be stored the right way up. The arrows point towards
the top of the package.

   

The symbol showing the thermometer is found mainly on

packages containing food and drink. The symbol clearly shows
that the contents should be stored at a temperature between
10 and 20 degrees (centigrade).

 
   

 
 
 

Created in 1988, when the Lion mark is displayed on a product it means that the
manufacturer/retailer has agreed to the ‘British Toy and Hobby Associations’
Code of practice. It is a consumer symbol that represents the manufacturers
promise to conform to all relevant safety information. Also, it means that the
manufacturer will not counterfeit existing toys and will advertise the product so
that advertisements state the truth about the limits regarding the way the toy
performs.
 
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 The telephone attached to the letter ‘Q’ means that if you are not happy with the quality
of the product/package contents, you can ring a customer services number. This is
normally placed very close to the symbol.

   
   
Customer satisfaction symbol. Seen on some packaging to indicate a satisfaction
statement eg. “This product has been prepared for your enjoyment. If you are not
completely satisfied please return the product and its packaging to ......”
   

The vegetarian symbol has a ‘tick’ in its centre. This means that the contents are suitable
for vegetarians to eat.

   

This is an alternative vegetarian symbol. In place of a ‘tick’ in its centre it has a symbol
that represents leafs. This means that the contents are suitable for vegetarians to eat.

   

Another alternative ‘suitable for vegetarians’ symbol.

   

This symbol suggests that the consumer should be aware that the product could contain
wheat, gluten, sulphites, traces of nut or it has been made in a factory that uses nut
ingredients.

   

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 The ‘gluten free’ symbol means that the product inside the packaging does not contain
wheat extracts. Some people are sensitive or even allergic to such extracts. Therefore,
clear labelling is required.
   
Ingredients symbol. This is often placed alongside the list of ingredients. It represents a
mixing bowl an spoon, with a colourful background to highlight the black and white
foreground.
The Ecolable is a scheme managed by the European Union. It was established in 1992 and
aims to promote products and services that are environmentally friendly. Companies and
businesses that use this symbol / label have shown consistently, that they sell products
and services ,that conserve the environment. For instance, a company that has reduced
its carbon footprint can apply to use the ecolabel. A company that uses recycled
materials in the manufacturing of its products or encourages recycling can also apply to
use the symbol.

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