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Responding to stimuli in design work

Student project board of design brief and developmental work for a light
Image caption,
Responses to shells as a stimulus could relate to colour, texture, form or other elements

There are many different ways to respond to stimuli for design work. You could:

  • Base a list or a spidergram on your design brief to explore possibilities.
  • Make a collage of market research images in your sketchbook or make a .
  • Make a collection of images of designers’ work that you particularly admire.
  • Make a collection of images relating to your source of inspiration.
  • Make 3D forms based on your source of inspiration, if appropriate.
  • Take photographs.
  • Doodle some initial ideas in your sketchbook.
  • Make drawings based on your source of inspiration.

The spidergram below shows how you might explore the design problem of creating a poster for a musical of The Great Gatsby.

Market research - book cover, film/music posters. To do - collect 1920s images, draw, take photos. Inspirations - Art deco, Jazz age, Designers. Imagery - Key scenes, 1920s, cocktail party, music