Design for Students

Hi, sorry for the late reply, I have been doing a lot of work for my degree recently. Please read through this carefully and let me know if you need any more help or any other information.

I will give you information that I know is correct for studying in Australia, so please consider any differences there may be between your country of study and mine (if there are any).

I recommend spending some time to learn drawing in the universal industrial design style. If you do not draw in an industrial design style they may not be as willing to accept you into the course/ degree.

Also include any drawings / paintings you have previously made (even if abstract or using an unusual medium) as it helps to show your unique style and level of ability using other mediums.

It is great that you want to draw by hand. My lecturers said it is very important to learn to draw by hand over using computer programs, so keep practicing drawing that way.

In the links you can see some great examples and tutorials of how to draw in this industrial design style.

http://designforstudents.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/easy-steps-to-make-drawings-look.html - this is done on a graphics tablet but can be done the exact same way using markers/ pens.

http://www.idsketching.com/toolbox/toolbox-basic-marker-cube/ - similar to above link but using markers.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/basic-guidelines-to-product-sketching/ - I highly recommend reading this article and take the advice they give. This one article has lots of great into on most aspects of sketching.

For a good article on rendering your sketches, see this site,

http://www.idsketching.com/toolbox/marker-sketch-tutorial-luggage/

or if you do want to use digital program, this article,

http://designforstudents.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/easiest-way-to-draw-incredible-drawings.html

I am not sure if they want you to know anything about model making, but if they do, I suggest you start by using foam to make some models as it is cheap, easy and requires not many tools- see the below link.

https://davidneat.wordpress.com/materials/shaping/styrofoam/

here are some examples of models you could copy and make yourself

https://www.pinterest.com/jerrodbw/foam-modeling/

if you are feeling adventurous, try the technique in this article,

 http://designforstudents.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/prototypes-how-to-make-high-quality.html

*IMPORTANT NOTES*

Make sure to take care of your drawings- put them in a nice folder. Try to use nice large paper to draw on and NOT small scrappy bits of paper. Presentation is key.

Annotate your drawings- briefly explain what you drew, how the thing you drew would work, features of its design, etc. 

Make sure you take good photographs of your models or art so that you can easily show people or add it to your portfolio.

I recommend you do the following- Come up with a product concept by drawing and annotating. Work out the details of the product- make it simple to make and simple in design yet well resolved and well thought out. Then make a foam model based of the concept you drew. Spend time making it look nice and well finished (about 4-6 hours drawing and 6 hours on the foam model). Take photos of the model. Now make a an A2 sized poster. On the poster have pictures of your concept sketches, and pictures of the model and a title block and text explaining the inspiration and process for making the drawings and model.

Don’t be afraid to put pictures, articles, etc. of other peoples work- JUST MAKE SURE YOU REFERENCE THE ORIGINAL PRODUCER OF THE WORK. Make sure you briefly write about what you like about the work, why you think it is creative, innovative etc, what improvements or next steps could be taken.

It is hard for me to tell you exactly how much work you should put into the folio, its really up to your dedication, time you have and how much you are required by the university to do.

Learn hot to draw this in a detailed tutorial!