Practical / Project Work and Portfolio Presentation
What this domain tests
The practical and project domain tests whether you can carry an idea from brief to finished product and present it as evidence. The examiner looks for process, technical control and reflection, not just a pretty final object.
Core rules
- Start with a design brief: client, end use, size, budget, constraints and success criteria.
- Research and document: source images, market scan, mood board, colour palette, fibre and technique trials.
- Develop: at least five motif variations, three repeat options and two colourways; record decisions and rejections.
- Produce: a sample or final piece with a technical sheet (materials, dimensions, stitch or print details, care) and a cost sheet.
- Present: a portfolio with a clear sequence-cover, brief, research, development, final, costing, reflection. Use consistent lighting and label every image. Prepare a three- to five-minute viva.
Worked example
A 10-week project: a Sambalpuri-inspired cushion cover for a contemporary living room. Week 1 covers the brief and mood board; weeks 2–3 source study of bandha motifs and stylisation of six motifs; week 4 builds a half-drop repeat and two colourways; weeks 5–6 produce a screen-printed or woven sample; week 7 sews the cover; week 8 costs and tests it; weeks 9–10 complete the portfolio and viva. Reasoning: the brief fixes colour and size, the repeat makes the design producible, and the cost sheet proves viability. Photograph the final piece on a plain background with a scale.
Traps
A portfolio of process with no resolved final piece; missing technical or cost details; over-editing photos so colour is inaccurate; not recording failed trials; presenting a digital mock-up as a finished textile.