Bottom Up vs Top Down Design Strategies

Designers’ Inspiration! Designers are challenged to come up with new products which will appeal to their chosen markets. These products range from consumer goods, clothing, printed publications all the way through to web sites. To be successful they need to always be looking to evolve and change Change can be something that is slow and organic or fast and radical In this presentation we’re going to look at 2 design concepts “Bottom Up” and “Top Down”

“Bottom Up Design” Imagine you were going to a family event like a wedding. You need to make sure you’re looking your best as all the family will be there with cameras!! You have a favourite pair of shoes that you just HAVE to wear as they’re comfy and you really like them. So…..using your shoes as the basis of your outfit you then go on to build the complete outfit to match these shoes. In doing this you’ve done “Bottom Up” design because you took something which was existing and that you knew was good…shoes…and built the rest of the design around these.

“Top Down” Design You have a family wedding to go to. You want to make a big impression and make sure you get noticed!! You have an idea of what the overall image is you want…maybe Bohemian Hippy (look it up) or Avant Garde or Retro. So you have an idea what the finished product may look like. Now you go about sourcing the individual parts you need to make it happen AND you may even have to get some of the items made as you can’t just go and buy them! “Top Down” ….you know what the finished thing will look like…you just have to find the parts to get you there.

Real life “Bottom Up” Design Many everyday consumer goods use common, interchangeable parts in their construction. These range from switches on electrical appliances, refills in pens through to computer components in our mobile devices. Designers know these components are reliable and plentiful so look for places where they can be used to make good financial sense. An example of such a manufacturer is the Ford Motor Company. Ford do what is called “Building to a cost” where they utilise the basic components they have to make good, reliable and popular cars. The door handle mechanism in a Focus is the same as a Mondeo and as a Fiesta!

Real Life “Top Down” Design When a designer decides they want to do something a bit more unique and new or different. In many cases the actual items needed to make the overall design work haven’t yet been made. A good example of this way of designing is the Bugatti Veyron. VW, who own the Bugatti name, wanted to make the fastest production car in the world. They had to design and develop many new parts in order for this dream to be realised….”off the shelf” parts weren’t there! One example is the need for car tyres that can stand speed in excess of 150mph….they didn’t exist before the Veryron!!!

How do they compare? Bottom Up Top Down

How does it work in Graphic Communication? To illustrate this we’ll use a standard model we should have seen before – The Water Pump It’s made up of a number of parts :- Body Crankshaft Cylinder Head End Plate Connecting Rod Bearings AND Piston

How does it work in Graphic Communication? In “Bottom Up” design you would perhaps start with the standard “Lifter” part and then build the other parts around this. So each other part is sized to match with the lifter. As the design progresses, more and more parts are created and added to the assembly with the final aim to create the completed pump. “Bottom Up” Design

How does it work in Graphic Communication? In “Top Down” design you may have an existing design or part finished one. You then have to design something that will fit with what’s already there. In this case we have the Pump pretty much complete but it needs a final plate to cover the end where the driveshaft comes out.

How does it work in Graphic Communication? So…a new sketch is made based on the existing product – the new part is “matched” to what’s already there. We use the “Big Picture” to work out what needs to be done!

How does it work in Graphic Communication? From that sketch a new extruded Part is made which fits perfectly with the other parts of the assembly. “Top Down” Design