Designing Dream Machines

This video, 'Designing Dream Machines' shows us how designers really work and how they start with a brief and end up with the final product. The video is set at Seymour and Powell and British design partnership. One this about this group is that they try to design for the future, rather than design for now, which can be very tricky, as you must predict what is needed for the future, which can cause conflict between the designers and the clients.

The brainstorming phase of the briefs they were given was important in how it showed how open minded you had to be as well as how working in a group allowed more ideas to flow. Next they had to research extensively to get an idea how the product could improve on current products and also how current trends will evolve in the future to allow the product to be innovative and original by the time it is released.

After that the product can start to take shape and many concepts can be produced allowing the client to choose what product they want. This than leads to the prototype phase where the concept must evolve into a working product. They use many techniques, including some futuristic and soem that have been used since product design began. This then leads to the final presentation to the client which, and when the product ends up being rejected you feel for the designers as they have gone through so much to gain nothing in the end. Even the best companies can fail sometimes whic can be very disheartening, however when the designs work, the company will forever be remembered and all the work pays off. Its a tough industry but with pateince and hard work it can all pay off.