How they work

Angelo and a team of designers begin their work when someone asks them to develop a new product. For the Dolphin torch the client was Eveready who asked them to redesign the old Dolphin. Eveready wanted the new torch to look modern and stylish with extra features to make it appeal to customers.

The designers researched the other torches on the market to find out what the competition was like. The group of designers brainstormed creative ideas for how the new torch could look and work. The client, Eveready, helped to pick the design they thought would appeal most to customers. It was Angelo's design that was chosen to develop into a real torch.

Then Angelo and the team had to work out how to construct the new torch. They worked with engineers and manufacturers to test and develop the design using models and prototypes until the new torch was complete. The Dolphin was in production in 2003 and for sale soon afterwards.

How they do it: the design process

The client, Eveready, gave the design team strict instructions as to what the new torch had to do. These instructions or criteria are called the design brief. It was the designer?s job to come up with a new torch that met the criteria the client requested. The Dolphin torch is a product that has been around for a long time. The client knew a lot about the types of people that buy the torch, why they like it and what needed to be improved.

There were some design criteria specified by the client that Angelo and the designers had to consider. They had to make sure the new torch:

• could be used with existing types of batteries
• could use a particular type of lamp
• included a stand (this was a new aspect they had to design into the torch).

Some things like which materials to use for the torch were pretty easy to work out by looking at how the old torch was made.

"The aim of the design was to have the rugged look of the product, and to retain the practical and functional aspects of the product but to give a more modern theme to it, a bit more water-like because it is a waterproof flashlight."

At the end of the process, the design team produced a large document that they gave to the manufacturer. It had drawings and specifications of all the items needed to build the torch. They also gave the manufacturer a model of the torch, and a 3D computer model that the manufacturer used to create the tools to make the torch.

Teamwork is an important part of designing products. Angelo can?t do it all on his own. He works with model makers to work out how the product will look, and engineers to solve the problem of how it will work and be put together. He works with the manufacturers to develop the tools to make the product, and improve ways the product can be made.

"The biggest challenge was the initial ideas, the looks and the aesthetics of the product. Making sure it fitted in well with the iterations and making sure that there was a natural evolution of the product was one of the major tasks. We had to make sure that was right first off.

It's very important to communicate effectively with your client, always keeping them aware of what's happening with the project and keeping their involvement with it. It is a very important part."

 

      

Designer profiles developed by the Technology Unit, Curriculum K–12 Directorate and supported by the Vocational Education in Schools Directorate of the NSW Department of Education and Training in partnership with the Powerhouse Museum. © 2004