Design for Life - Episode 6

Through the process of identifying and prototyping, the two students left in the competition have to look further into production techniques and marketing. The more complex an idea the more difficult it will be to manufacture due to the limit of technology as well as the cost involved in the object. This will impact on the usability and function of the product to the user in terms of cost.


Although from what Dick Powell says “If you get to the point of manufacturing and then find out what you have done is unworkable. You have failed.....That’s not what design is about making things that can be done. Not just developing dreams.” This confronting statement got me thinking that most of the time we are focusing on the concept and idea of the design, not knowing the cost or impacts/implications that will come through to the manufacturing stage.

We as designers should be aware of what can and can’t be made, but also designers should push the limits and see if something that is designed could be made without really knowing the outcome. However designers will still have to go through the process of designing and developing in order to find out if a design is possible or not.

A big factor in success in the market place is if the designed product is competing with existing designs as well as the amount of investment that will be put into the product. These things are important to think about when deciding to manufacture a product. Something that is innovating and useful to the humanity of the world will influence success in product and willingness to manufacture.

Great marketing is the key to success. If people don’t know about your design then no one is going to buy it. If your product pin points on all the aspects of need, want, function, appearance, ecology, etc, it doesn’t influence the success of the product if your targeted market doesn’t knows about it. So marketing is a way to get your target market to remember the advertisement and then influence them to want and buy the product. The marketing will highlight the key features and values that a designer has and wants to share with the world.

In the end of the process of designing, these two last students put all their learning and efforts into their designs through Philippe Starcks approach in design and developed in one to look at design in another way due to their experiences. There was only one winner, who was Ilsa. She won on the basis of ambition.