VCE Product Design and Technology (Metal/Wood)

Unit 1: Product re-design and sustainability

This unit focuses on the analysis, modification and improvement of a product design with consideration of the materials used and issues of sustainability. Finite resources and the proliferation of waste require sustainable product design thinking. Many products in use today have been redesigned to suit the changing needs and demands of users but with little consideration of their sustainability. Knowledge of material use and suitability for particular products is essential in product design. Additionally, knowledge of the source, origin and processing of materials is central to sustainable practices. Students consider the use of materials from a sustainable viewpoint. Sustainable practices claimed to be used by designers are examined.

Areas of Study

• Product design process
• Product design factors
• Re-designed product and compare it with the original design

Unit 2: Collaborative design

In this unit students work in teams to design and develop an item in a product range or contribute to the design, planning and production of a group product. They focus on factors including: human needs and wants; function, purpose and context for product design; aesthetics; materials and sustainability; and the impact of these factors on a design solution. Teamwork encourages communication between students and mirrors professional design practice where designers often work within a multi-disciplinary team to develop solutions to design problems. Students also examine the use of ICT to facilitate teams that work collaboratively but are spread across the globe. In this unit students are able to gain inspiration from an historical and/or a cultural design movement or style and its defining factors such as ideological or technological change, philosophy or aesthetics.

Areas of Study

• Human-centred design factors.
• Production