Project Overview Introduction & Product Analysis Drawing & communication Sensing abilities in robots Programming Robots Mechanisms and Systems Designing new products & Packaging Presentation and Rendering Biomimicry Concept Modelling Concept presentations

LESSON 07

LESSON 7 STARTER METHODS OF RENDERING Learning objective: Learn to graphically communicate products realistically. Apply tone, shading and shadow and learn how to use these with great effect. Practice communication skills relating to design ideation. METHODS OF RENDERING Rendering is the term used in product design by designers to describe a process that you might liken to colouring in. Rendering is much more complex than colouring within the lines, firstly because often there are no lines! Rendering requires a trained designer to pay attention to a number of techniques and features of a rendered image that ensure it looks realistic on the paper. These are: LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE. New words: tone, shadow, colour, light, quality, reflection, horizon, scale, rendering

LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE Rendering and Presentation Here is a rendered image of the original Hexbug robotic toy when it was first designed by the design team. Can you spot all the features listed below? Light – hits the edges of the plastic Shadow – appears on the legs Colour – is used all over Tone – is seen on the red legs Line quality – gives a crisp look Reflections – appear on the antenna Horizon – is not evident here Scale – is applied to the whole drawing LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE

LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE Rendering and Presentation Achieving a good rendering In order to be able to render, the first task is to produce clear and bold line work. This is part of the LINE QUALITY that is identifiable in all good renderings. In this sketch of the Ant, the outside line work is bold and dark, achieved with either a sharp HB pencil pressed hard to the paper, or with a fine line black pen. As young designers, you can always start lightly in pencil, then move on to pen once you have line work to trace. Another feature of this sketch is that the designer is already considering materials for the body and legs, by showing they are transparent (clear). How has the designer done this? LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE

LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE Rendering and Presentation Achieving a good rendering Once the line work is to a high enough standard, designers will apply lots of different media to achieve a quality look and feel to the design. Here the designer has applied a rich red pen to the body parts making them stand out, and used dark and light greys to creating the cogs and body parts underneath the top. Once the red is applied to the surface, white pastel is applied over the top of the red to create the light reflecting off the Ant. A white pencil has been used to create a sharp reflection on the edges of the plastic around the edge. You can see that the line work that was once so bold, now disappears behind the colour, pastel and pen work. The designer may also have scanned in this image and retouched it on a computer to neaten up edges and finishes. LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE

LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE Rendering and Presentation Colour & Tone Choosing the right colour and creating variations in the tone of that colour creates realism in your product design drawings. In this Larva rendering, note how much variation the designer has achieved from one green pen. By applying the pen over and over in the same space you can create tone. If you can create this tone to look progressively darker or lighter in a direction you create something called a gradient. This is shown below and taken from the image left. LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE New words: gradient

LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE Rendering and Presentation Pencil and pen Magic markers as they are often referred to a special pens used by designers to render. They apply lots of coloured ink with a sharp or chiselled nib. If applied repeatedly, the colour on the page becomes darker. Whilst this would not work on ordinary paper, which would see the ink run across the page, marker pad is special paper that prevents ink from bleeding. Once ink is on the paper, you can build up pastels over the top of the design, use light and dark pencils to highlight areas, and add different colours to create “parts” and “features” of your design. LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE

LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE Rendering and Presentation Using a computer Rendering is not exclusively done on paper with pens and pastels, it can also be carried out using desk top publishing (DTP) software. Here a sketch of the Crab has bee scanned into a computer, brought into the DTP software programme, and the designer has added colour using tools in the software. If, and only if, the sketch has “closed” areas of the sketch can the designer add colour. For example the legs are closed shapes which can be filled with red colour (like pouring paint into a tray to fill up to the edges) LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE New words: Desk top publishing (DTP)

LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE Rendering and Presentation Why use pen and paper when computers must be quicker? Because of the skill of the designer and their ability to render by hand quickly, it is often simpler to sketch and idea and render it rather than scan in the image and retouch it using a computer. Here a designer has explored two ways of designing the Crab legs by both are quickly rendered using pen, pencil and pastel. LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE

LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE Rendering and Presentation Has this been computer enhanced using DTP? Here is a rendering of the Inchworm Hexbug. Has the designer enhanced its appearance by scanning in the sketch and rendering it using DTP? The Answer is yes the designer has used DTP to produce this image. They have enhanced the sketch by fading it out over colour and tone done using the computer, added considerably detailed shadow and reflections, and also added a detailed logo to the check saying Hexbug. LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE

LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE Rendering and Presentation Watch and learn Watch this short video discussing how to rendering using different media, then have a go yourself using the lesson hand-out. Task: Render all of your Hexbug images using pen, pencil and pastel. LIGHT, SHADOW, COLOUR, TONE, LINE QUALITY, REFLECTION, HORIZON & SCALE

LESSON 7 PLENARY As a class, let us consider the following questions? A. Why do designers still render and sketch by hand when computers are available? B. How can colour have more impact than black and white (or grayscale)? C. What helps to emphasise a particular feature of a product? D. What can make a rendered image look confusing to the viewer?

Summary Today you have: Learning objective: Learn to graphically communicate products realistically. Apply tone, shading and shadow and learn how to use these with great effect. Practice communication skills relating to design ideation. Today you have: Learnt about shadow, tone shading and rendering with colours and in black and white. Practiced with great effect these techniques to represent a realistic product. Developed your communication skills focused on Hexbugs.