Design Illustration Biomimicry Project – KoaTeam

Sustainable Design Principles Is this worth doing? What is the goal we are addressing with our solution? Are you solving the problem or the symptom? Is it a win-win-win? Does it minimize the creation of new problems?

Student Outcome The goal of this part of the biomimicry project is to create an illustration of your system or product that you designed. Your illustration will be done using a drawing that is inked and scanned into photoshop. Using photoshop, you will color, add values and text to your illustrations to complete your design. You will write a one paragraph explanation of your design, so that together with your illustration anyone can understand what your product or system does.

What is Design Illustration? We are visual people with a better understanding of what we see rather than what we read or hear about. If you have a brilliant invention idea, you may need to convey its usefulness before the prototype is developed. That means you’ll need some kind of imagery of what it may look like and what it does. Product illustration is the visualization of your idea, a conceptual representation. It is used to show and tell before you have the actual product to demonstrate.

Different Options Computer illustration is the most common and can sometimes be quicker with a more realistic look. Rendering by hand can be done with pencils, paints, pen and ink or any art materials. The choice really depends on the product, Before anything, you’ll need to decide on your product’s branding, or its personality, that you want to convey to your audience. That will help determine the illustration style.

Multiple Viewpoints Most likely you’ll need at least 2 views of the product to show its dynamics. The basics are front, back, side, top and bottom. There should also be an angled view to show the product more 3 dimensionally, which could also look up or down at the product. The views used just need to make sense with the most important details of the subject at the forefront. A few more variations to reveal more detail are the cutaway view and the exploded view. If used, at least one other basic view should also accompany it.

Multiple Viewpoints

Cutaway or Ghosted View The cutaway or ghosted view takes away external areas of the product or makes them transparent in order to see the inner parts. This allows someone to understand the internal workings of the invention in relation to its outward appearance. Look at the examples on the next slides.

Ghosted View with Details

What’s missing from this?

Exploded View The exploded view is literal in the sense that the parts of an object have exploded in an orderly manner. They are floating and separated slightly to show their relationship and how they fit together. This type of drawing shouldn’t ever be the main image to represent the product. It may do a good job explaining how the product works or how it’s constructed, but it doesn’t do an adequate job showing what exactly the subject is.

Exploded View

Systems Illustration - ?s Systems thinking means you consider broader issues—preferably at the very beginning of design. These questions must be answered: Who will use this product? How will it be used? What is the relationship of one part to the whole? Where does it start and end? These concepts should subsequently be rendered visually, through a drawing or model that a design team can refer to as a representation of their overall vision. Look at some examples.

Systems: Landfill Process

System: Turbine Power Plant

System: Osmotic Power

System: PA

System: What is it?

What is missing?

Assessment You will be assessed on your illustration and your one paragraph explanation. Your illustration will be assessed on: Design, Detail, Color, and Shading. Your paragraph will be assessed on how well you explain what your system or product does, how it is sustainable, how it mimics nature, and how it solves the problem. See Rubric.

Product Illustration If your group design is a product, you will need to do an illustration that includes multiple views or ghost/cutaway view. You need labels.

System Illustration If your group design is a system illustration, your drawings should be side/top view. You need to have labels.

Product & System

Timeline: Day 1 Rough sketch, decide, then draw a full size sketch of the product or system. You should know what colors you will use. Write where the labels will go and what it will say draw final illustration with details and realism. Drawing should be with lines only. No words, arrows, shading, or coloring in. Re-sketch neatly on a clean sheet of paper. Don’t forget to leave space for the product name, words, arrows, boxes, etc. Check the rubric!

Timeline: Day 2 Ink your pencil sketch. Scan and color in Photoshop. Follow the instructions that are on the biomimicry website. Mr. Wills was using a different version of Photoshop, so yours will look a little different, but the tools are all still the same. Check rubric.

Timeline: Day 3 Add color, contrast, and value to the illustration.

Timeline: Day 4 Add arrows and text. Check final illustration with rubric to ensure earning maximum points. Get feedback from classmates and advisor. Make adjustments. Turn in.