Design, Sketching and Planning of Decorative Pieces
A design is examinable when it can be built, measured and costed. This domain tests the path from brief to cutting list.
Planning sequence
- Write the brief: who uses it, where, size, budget, deadline.
- Build a mood board of colours, motifs and forms.
- Draw six to eight thumbnails, then select one.
- Make a scale drawing - 1:1 for small pieces, 1:5 for larger - with overall and part dimensions.
- Prepare a cutting list and paper templates.
- Build a prototype in scrap, test it, revise it.
- Estimate material, time and cost before starting the final piece.
Design principles
Proportion, balance, rhythm, unity and one point of emphasis. Place features on the rule-of-thirds, not dead centre. Choose a colour scheme deliberately: complementary for contrast, analogous for calm, monochrome with one accent. Match the design to the user - a child's money box needs rounded edges and a non-choking stopper; an outdoor planter needs a drainage hole and a weather-resistant finish.
Design to the waste
Let the material set the size. If your bottles are 75 mm across, design a shade that fits that diameter instead of hunting for a different bottle.
Worked example
A pen stand from a cardboard tube: height 100 mm, tube diameter 75 mm, base 90 × 90 mm. Cutting list - tube 100 mm; base 90 × 90 mm; wrap 100 mm high × 240 mm long, because circumference = π × 75 ≈ 236 mm plus 5 mm overlap. Reasoning: forgetting the overlap leaves a visible gap, and forgetting material thickness makes the base too small to seat the tube.
Traps
Sketches without dimensions; ignoring material thickness and joint allowance; designing a shape for which no waste exists; skipping the prototype; choosing decoration that cannot be repeated in production.