Project Process



Experience of design process & methodologies
Product Design and Art A Level has given me experience of design processes and methods. The whole of my Product Design course involved an intense process from start to finish of designing and producing my own product. I find this quite natural to do now as it is the way I have been encouraged through my education.



Experience of team leadership & management
Apart from my earlier experience in dancing where I taught young children how to dance, I have no other experience of team leadership and management.



Experience of costing projects & fee negotiation
I do not have any experience in costing projects and fee negotiation but I am certainly hoping this will develop throughout my Interior Design course. I aim to do this by obtaining a placement in a professional design company which amongst other things would allow me to gain experience in the financial aspect of project planning.



Experience of planning & managing project activity
I have limited experience of planning project activity through my courses at college for my A Levels. I gained my experience from having to plan my time effectively in order to complete the final product for the given deadline.



Experience of managing client relationships & collaboration
My only experience of this is from my A Level course in Product Design. For my project brief I had to design and produce a client based product. This involved being constantly in contact with the client and communicating my ideas and designs to enable producing a suitable product for the client which fitted their requirements. This gave me a greater understanding of what it would be like in industry to work alongside a client.



Experience of a wide range of project types & scales of innovation
Double Award Art in college consisted of being given brief after brief which all required different subject matters and outcomes so this gave me a slight insight into this criteria. However, I feel this is an on-going subject matter that will keep developing throughout education and into industry.







Enterprise & Marketing

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Knowledge of design sectors & creative industries
I do not have a great knowledge of design sectors and creative industries but this should develop throughout University life as I increase my knowledge within design.



Experience of project procurement & client consultation
In college for my Product Design module, I had to organize many client consultations in order to collect vital research to allow me to produce a suitable product for the client’s desires and requirements. I understand that client consultation is crucial in creating an accurate outcome for the project but I still need to develop my experience.



Experience in planning continuing professional development
Within college I had completed a module aimed at planning continuing professional development. This helped me to focus on specific aspects of my skills that were necessary to develop in order to achieve the future I desire, and plan how I would obtain them.



Experience and understanding of legislation & regulations
I understand from research processes at college and in the first year of University that there are many legislations and regulations applicable to designing. However, I do not have any experience of complying with these, apart from limited use of British Standards but I aim to develop this by research using books and journals as my main source.



Experience of design budgets & account management
I do not have experience of design budgets and account management. However, I am aiming to have the opportunity to do a work placement while at University so this will hopefully improve my experience of this.



Experience of design practice marketing & promotion
Even though I do not have much experience of design practise, marketing and promotion, I do have an understanding of this from research at college and also from day-to-day occurrences. I recognise that design marketing and promotion is crucial in order to make the public aware of certain products, which will therefore gain the best outcome for the company.







​Values & Vision

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Understanding & practice of ethical business standards
I only have a basic understanding of this topic but hopefully in the near future I will improve my knowledge and understanding of the practice of ethical business standards to a professional level.



Subscription to policies & standards of ethical design
I have high moral standards however I am unaware of policies and standards of ethical deign.



Commitment to & understanding of the imperatives of professional practice
In A Level Art I had to do a professional practise module which involved me to display a journey of my future life objectives and how I would prepare for this. For example, I planned my pathway into University to study Interior Design, and I also displayed my progression in this objective. This has given me a slight understanding of the importance of professional practise.



Awareness & appreciation of key design futures & innovation trends
I am quite aware of key design futures and innovation trends from my passion for designing. I currently have a subscription to FRAME magazine which keeps me up to date with key design futures and trends within Interior Design. I did have a basic appreciation of this before but from reading the FRAME magazines, I feel my appreciation has grown in vast amounts for this topic.



Awareness & practice of user centred design
In Product Design for A Level, my whole project was client based. This allowed me to practise user centred design with the correct use of anthropometrics and ergonomics coupled with safety regulations that comply with the users requirements.



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Skills & Knowledge

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Awareness of diverse & global range of design cultures & languages
I understand that designing can adapt in order to gain suitability for various different cultures. However, I have a limited awareness of this particular criterion so I intend to become more informed by research and investigation.



Experience of design research, analysis & synthesis
I have experienced design research and analysis in college when completing projects. Throughout both Product Design and Art, design analysis was crucial in order to gain a greater understanding of a specific design by analysing it in depth. Design research was vital in a project within college and gave me knowledge in certain aspects of designing.



Visualising / prototyping skills & aptitudes in a range of media & formats
I have a very high ability in both visualising and prototyping my designs in a range of media and formats. This is because I have been a very visual / hands on person from an early age and I feel I can envisage a design from a piece of paper into the completed product very competently. I have been lucky in being able to develop my prototyping skills throughout college and in the first year of university whilst using a wide range of different media, and I feel I have quite a high aptitude for this.



Aptitude in compiling interim & summative design presentations
I do not really have knowledge in this area but hopefully throughout my studies and experiences at university I will improve my understanding of this and I will develop my skills on producing summative designs.



Aptitude for designing through a digital platform
I have always been able to learn computer programmes and digitally made software with ease and I feel I have a natural ability with understanding a digital platform. I have become quite competent in AutoCAD and Google SketchUp. However I am keen to improve on my skills in both Adobe Photoshop and InDesign which I will have an opportunity to do so at university.



Knowledge & experience of process, component & production technology
Whilst being in education, I have learnt and trained myself in precise processes and production methods that would be similar to that in industry. Also, research of manufacture methods has given me a good understanding of the way that something is made. However, I believe that work placement would help to develop my experience in this area.