Lesson video

So in today's core design skills, we're looking at the wonderful world of design.

What are you going to need for today's lesson? You need your exercise book and some paper to draw on.

You need something to write with, your pencil or maybe some pencil crayons as well or colouring pencils and you'll definitely need a ruler for one of the exercises.

What we're going to explore today.

We're going to look at great iconic British design.

We're going to look at the 21st century lifestyle, the life that you're living right now and then we're going to do a little design challenge at the end.

Okay, keywords for today's lesson, Innovative.

So that's, if you develop a new or creative idea and it is at the time, it's going to to be more advanced or very original and brand new and people are going to start copying essentially.

And iconic.

That's something that is easily recognisable, something that sticks in your mind, it's memorable.

So those are the key words today, if you'd like to write those down.

So now we're going to start looking at iconic design.

Now question is, what do you think iconic design is? Pause the video, have a quick conversation and then we'll come back.

Well, I would explain iconic design to be, I'd say as a product, it's got to be groundbreaking.

So the technology being used in it or the way that it's made has got to be brand new and it's going to benefit the future, benefit the world.

Maybe to design like a logo that's easily recognisable.

We'll go into that in a moment.

But if you can recognise it straight away, it's iconic.

It could set a new standard, whether the way designs go or those functions have to be used or that particular style is the way forward.

So that's basically, it's something that's improved on the past and as I said, it's going to improve our future and it's going to set the trend for the future and something that stays in our memory.

And like I said, it can inspire people, it can inspire other designers.

It can set trends that we're going to carry on.

You ever hear your parents say, Oh, I used to do that when I was your age? Something iconic? So what I want you to do quickly now, just to spend a minute also and just write down as many products or icons, logos that you think are iconic.

Press pause, do that now and we'll come back to it.

Welcome back.

So now we're going to look at some iconic designs that I personally like.

We've got the iPod.

Now, I remember when the iPod was coming out, the original one, it was amazing.

We had MP3s but had so so many songs saved on one device and the screen and.

It was brilliant beginning of the era and look, it's still there now.

Now, the Marshal amp.

What is that you might say? Well, in the 60s, I want to say 60s, maybe 70s.

Rock and roll, Marshall amp, the way it was designed and the technology used it was great for rock and roll.

Probably the best one there was and probably used to this day which is why it still sells.

Good old Golden Arches with the McDonald sign.

Actually, before we go on further, McDonald sign is actually wasn't supposed to be a M but that's a story for you to research.

The Rolling Stone lips.

I know some of you have got this on your T-shirts or your bags, probably don't even know where it is, you probably just like it.

Well, that design was based upon their lead singer's actual mouth so, it then became an icon for the band of Rolling Stones.

Good all Nikes, Jordans.

The swoosh, which is actually based upon a Greek gods.

Did you know that? And obviously the Air Jordan symbol which some people know, I know.

I think it's iconic, personally.

Now the miniskirts.

Iconic again because it changed the way that females dressed for a period of time and it became a fashion symbol and it's more than a fashion symbol in all honesty.

And to this day, miniskirts is still rocking it.

Another piece of history, you can research there.

Good old peace symbol.

I don't think that anyone who sees that symbol and doesn't know what it is.

And again, that's a lot of very interesting story behind it as well.

The creation of that logo, worth you looking into.

I'm not going to tell you everything and bore you right now.

Do a better research.

And last but not least, good old Will.

William Shakespeare.

Now, I know he's not a product, he's a person but icons can be to people as well and he's a great British icon.

There's a slim chance you're going to go through school without learning about William Shakespeare's plays or poetry.

So to me, these are all iconic.

You've probably got some of these.

You've probably really got way more.

You've probably got some better ones that are more relevant to yourself but you may have got a good understanding of what iconic is.

So, now we've thought about the word iconic and we've seen some examples.

These three products, right, British products at that, are all iconic.

What I want you to do, pause the video and then write down your ideas to why you think these products are iconic and we'll come back in a moment and we'll just blast through the answers.

Welcome back.

So why are these products iconic? So the Mini, you may have said it was small.

Definitely was a very small vehicle at the time.

There was nothing else like that at the time, made it easy to drive and easy to park.

Obviously it's a win.

Now, it was a very low car, very wide or quite wide I should say.

So made it agile.

It was taking corners and bends.

and the way that the country lanes were at the time, was perfect to suit it.

But that then made it been recognised and used in rallies so it wasn't designed to be a sports car or a rally car but because of its features and how great it was, it actually became a rally car.

Won the Monte Carlo in the 60s, actually beat some very bigger and more powerful cars.

So there you have it.

Iconic and obviously you might've seen it in a couple of movies.

"Italian job." No, you probably haven't watched "Italian job." "Number one".

It's not for your age group and "Number two" is a bit old so yeah.

Mini, iconic great symbol of what else, great British icon.

Concorde.

Now, sad thing about a Concord is, when I was growing up I used to love them and I spoke to my nephew not so long ago, he's older than you, he's in year 10 but he doesn't know what Concorde is and that was quite upsetting 'cause for me, that was a great technological and design moment of my life growing up.

So, concordes but yeah.

Concordes if you don't know, they were faster than bullets.

They travelled twice the speed of sound.

It was supersonic travel.

Amazing.

I wish I could.

I wish I did, I really do.

The fuel engine that they built was the most efficient fuel engine ever.

Now, what's interesting is.

I'll tell you that in a moment, aerodynamic wings.

So they're actually called Delta wings.

Sorry I didn't remember that.

So they're called Delta wings and they actually became iconic and used throughout the world for other aeroplanes.

Flew 11 miles above the earth surface.

Now, for all those scientists out there, who do physics and all sort of stuff.

11 miles above this earth's surface is on the cosmos space, good.

So this plane used to fly and like, there's earth, there's the sky, here's space, it used to fly there like so close to space.

It was expensive and it's been an experience but yeah, we used to fly by space.

Imagine that.

And it got New York, from New York to London under three hours.

Now think about this.

If there's a five hour time zone and it takes you three hours to fly, you can actually leave and arrive before the time you were supposed to be.

Because the time.

Yeah, it's all mad.

Basically, you leave a land earlier than when you left.

It's crazy, crazy and the iconic and iconic moments The Union Jack.

Now, I'm assuming we all know what the Union Jack is.

The flag.

Very recognisable.

If you see, you know it's the Union Jack.

Some people didn't know this and I was quite surprised.

It has actually it has three flags in it.

I'm not surprised that it has three flags, I knew that.

I'm surprised you didn't know that.

So it's actually got three flags inside of that.

So you've got England, Scotland, Ireland in that.

England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Yeah, all in there.

It's in there.

Very used around the globe obviously.

You've got Commonwealth and the United King.

Not United Kingdom.

What do you call it? The British Kingdom, the Great British Kingdom? Kingdom anyway, all around the world.

Used by many popular culture stars as well.

So you think about it.

You might not know the spice girls.

Well obviously Geri Halliwell, great spice girl.

She wore it as a dress.

It was very iconic thing You've got Stormzy who recently wore his rest, some Union Jack on it as well.

Countless of items. It's about, you know what it is.

Very, very iconic.

Now, what you could be asking yourself is, when something's a product like these, also iconic, what do all the designers learn from them? What do they do with this information and how can they use it in their own products? So, I'm not going to make you do that right now but it's worth thinking about.

So now, we're going to look at some iconic design, architecture in the first instance.

Have you seen this building before? Yes, no? So you might have seen it before, you might've have heard of it before, called the Gherkin.

It's actually 30 St.

Mary Axe.

So you might know it as the Gherkin.

Got it's name right evidently because it looks like a gherkin essentially.

What am I going to tell you? Number one is the unique shape.

If you go and see London's skyline, it's a beautiful thing to see but you'll see that it's instantly recognisable.

There're not another building anywhere that looks like that.

So you notice straight away and it was used in the branding for the London Olympics, 2012.

There was that Olympic man on top of it spinning as well.

Again, giving it worldwide recognition.

It's a very sustainable building as well.

So the way it's designed, they use something called biomimicry, which we're not going to talk about today but you will use that in your lessons.

But yeah, biomimicry has been used to design it where they've used nature, so therefore, it's created a very efficient and sustainable source of heating and cooling.

All sorts of great stuff.

And yeah, as any good thing, that's iconic it'll win awards.

It's won global awards and has influence over designers as well.

That's Mr. Norman Foster.

You may see some of his work.

Remember stadium? I know this.

Have a look.

Now, another piece iconic design, probably one of my personal favourites, the piece of graphic communication essentially.

It's by a gentleman who's called Harry Beck.

Some people say it's Henry Beck, but I've always known him as Harry Beck.

Anyway and he's the gentlemen, the draughtsman behind the London Underground map as it is today.

If you haven't seen it, easy for you to find it online.

Now, like I said, he was draughtsman and what he used to do was work with electric circuits.

So, he knew what he was doing and he looked at the map and he decided to recreate it using the principle of his circuit boards.

Now, what that done.

It meant that, the original map which will show everything close and far which had geographical value, he eliminated that because it was pointless.

You needed to know where it was going, but not exactly where it was on the map because it's a system.

So you just needed to know where to get on and get up and change.

So he simplified it and made the information.

so super clear, easy to understand, clear symbology, couldn't get it wrong.

And what that meant essentially, was, it influenced the world.

Now, if you go over to France, they're maps are literally based on that.

They're similar or the same.

You go to New York on the subway system, we've been to America where you run the subway system, very similar.

Germany, I'm pretty sure they've used it around the world but like I said, that was the new schematic for writing a map so Mr Beck, we salute you.

In the graphical world, I love it Absolutely amazing.

And because I think it's so amazing, you guys have got job to do now.

There you go, adopted around the world.

Oops.

So the task I've got for you now, the graphic communication tasks.

Now, there's a little map there that's where I'm from, Good old Wolverhampton.

Hey, hey.

Good old.

I just took a map of my local area, my town centre.

I know it like the back of my hand anyway, but as you can see, everything's dotted around everywhere.

Shops, clubs.

You won't be going to any clubs.

Restaurants, swimming, baths, parks, all sorts of stuff.

What I want you to do, is find your local area something similar and create your own schematic map in the style of the TFL map by good old Mr. Beck So, I want you to have something that looks like this.

Think about the places you're going to choose, lay them out, think about okay so.

Wait, you don't know.

If you see my big circles, they're mega stations and you see the smaller circles they're intersection.

So that's where you can change over.

That's how the maps designed.

All the stations, you just have them point enough, of the directions, et cetera, et cetera.

Now, what I should also tell you at this point probably is, the map that Mr. Beck designed, literally had horizontal lines, vertical lines, and 45 degree lines, that was it.

They've changed it over the time because they've had to put more and more on the map but let's try and stick those angles there.

So we've got our verticals, our horizontals, about 45 degrees, okay.

That what we're going to try and work with.

And then also, if you look at the button there it says, HiHo Wolverhampton.

Hey, hey, hey.

I'll let you do your own research but there's a particular font face that is used for the TFL? They've got their own font design for them.

You can find it online easily.

I'll let you do your research and you could title your map as well, what the area is, okay.

Now, this is definitely going to be one of those things I'd love to see you share online later on but we'll talk about that.

So with this in mind, what I need you to do now, pause the video, make sure you've got your ruler, your colours, get a map and then design your local area in that schematic format I'll see you when you get back.

Welcome back.

And I really hope you enjoyed that task.

Definitely, what I'm looking forward to seeing shared online.

100% promise.

But now we're going to move on and I want to talk to you quickly about something called, The 4th Industrial Revolution.

Now, we're going to have a quick history lesson.

Who can shout out the first three industrial revolutions.

Let me hear you quickly.

Right so, the first industrial revolution was based upon water and steam power.

The second Industrial revolution was based upon electricity and mass production.

The third one, well, that was the beginning of computers and that's when.

Was I born into the 3rd Industrial revolution? Maybe.

Maybe I was born.

Yeah, I think I was born into the third and you guys now are born and living inside the fourth industrial revolution where we are looking at automation, virtual reality.

The land of the internet basically and.

It's amazing.

But yeah, 4th Industrial Revolution, something for you to look into.

Now one area, I like vehicles.

I've always enjoyed my cars that's why we're going cars.

It's nice.

What I want you to do, just pause the video quickly and have a think about all the features and technology that you believe have been advanced in vehicles at the moment.

So pause it now, write those down, and I'll see you back in a minute.

One minute.

Welcome back.

So, I don't know what cars you've got in your family but you've got cars now that have got computer screens built in.

It's more than just a screen.

It's an actual computer and just thinking and talking and read all sorts of stuff.

We've got new light technology.

Now, I won't tell you the company but and what they do with their lights.

So imagine I'm driving my car and you're coming towards me on the opposite side, my lights will dim.

So this part of my light will dim so then you can drive through without getting blinded or startled I should say.

And then when your car passes me, my lights come back.

That is technology.

That is advancements.

Self-driving cars and self-parking cars.

Even some of the basic ones, you can just press the button and they reverse parks Pretty amazing.

Sensors.

You know, beep beep beep.

Smart keys.

So you don't even have to put your finger in the ignition no more.

Cameras all around so you can see the peripheral when you're driving on parking, reversing.

Reverse cam is a common one now I guess.

Electric charging.

And the funny thing is.

All these things in cars now that you're going to be pretty used to, to me growing up, these are all sci-fi, movies, futuristic, spaceships kind of thing.

And now, it's our normal life.

And talking about normal life, I think about what advancements we've got a home.

Now, I was all right growing up.

I got access to stuff.

I had a PlayStation, I had a these and that but it was completely different to the world we're living in now, 100%.

I wouldn't have tablets and this and that.

But yeah, virtual reality gaming.

No, I don't have to go the arcade if I want to do anything like that.

Now you can do it in the comfort of your bedroom.

3D TVs.

Again, 3D glasses was a special treat.

Now, people got them.

Wifi, bluetooth, infrared.

Ow, we had infrared, I don't know.

Oh yeah, wifi and bluetooth now.

So again, you've got all these wireless devices.

Wireless mice, wireless keyboards, wireless lights, it's to mad.

Like I said, you're in the land of the internet now and you're always connected down to whether it's a smart watch or your mobile phone, wireless connections and internet is.

We can't escape it It's what we're living in right now.

Well yeah.

But now what I want you to think about is this, what comes next? Genuinely what happens next? Now, if the cars and our houses can do all these things right now, when it's your turn to have a vehicle legally, what can you expect when you're driving? What can you expect it to look like? What can you expect your features to be like? Who's even going to say you're driving it? You might not need a driving licence no more.

It might be a flying licence.

Who knows? I don't.

But what I want you to do is just to grab a page, sketch some ideas out, what you think a vehicle could look like, couple of the features.

Make sure you're annotating your work.

I've got example on the next slide so when you get there, pause the video, complete your task and I'll see you when you get back.

So this is just a quick example.

You can see that all my drawings, I've tried to keep them three dimensional drawings using two point perspective so and you can see I've got my creating technique around sketches to keep the shape so make sure you are doing that with your sketch work.

Now, if you look at my vehicle, well, are my images.

I know what they are.

I have a hologram, I've got a retina reader to start the car using my eyes.

You can see my cars.

Where's the tyres? You don't know because I haven't annotated my work.

So make sure you are including annotation to get your ideas across.

And lastly, if you want to enhance your work, you could use thick and thin line technique or you could also use a bit of colour to enhance your ideas.

Okay? Again, this is definitely something I'd like to see shared online.

We'll talk about that at the end of the lesson.

Pause the video, complete this task and I'll see you when you get back.

So welcome back everyone.

Hope you really enjoyed that design test there.

Quite fun, interesting.

Like I said, I'd like to see your answers, so make sure you share those online later.

But now, look for your final design challenge.

You're ready? So for the whole lesson really, we've be speaking about iconic design almost for the words.

So we're looking at iconic designers, iconic products, et cetera, et cetera.

Now, my personal favourite at the moment, what I believe is iconic in certain trends that everyone's going to be following, is the Tesla.

Not necessarily just their vehicle but their technology, their styles, sleek.

Obviously, it's very vehicle orientated so they make cars, electric charges, and then making some kind of space training thing as well.

Oh I know that body proof car as well, that mad shape one.

Love it, love it.

Tesla give me a job.

But like we said, that's very automotive.

So what I've done is, gone away and designed another product which I'm not going to tell you what it is, but I've designed another product in the style of Tesla.

So I've taken the inspiration from their charging port as you can see there and I've created this household product.

Now, I'm not going to to tell you what it is but feel free to jump on the Twitters and give me your ideas of what you think it might be.

I might even get a prize to the winner.

Who knows? Maybe, we'll see.

Well yeah.

So I've took my inspiration from someone that I think is iconic and created a product that's nothing to do with them.

That is what you are going to do next, okay.

So, you are going to design a new iconic product basically.

I want you to take one of your favourite brands or even a designer, anything you want and create a new product, not associated with them but I want you to do it in their style.

For example, if you were to choose Apple, not an Apple but Apple like, Macs and phones and all sorts of stuff.

If he was going to take Apple and probably I don't know trainers, you're going to make iTrainer or or something and design it in a way where it looks representative of Apple so you might use the colours or some of the technology features, et cetera, et cetera but it's in a shoe rather than in your phone.

So that is what I'd like to do right now.

So pause the video, get creative.

Do it to a good high standard.

Make sure you share it online as well later on.

We'll talk about that in a moment and then when we come back, we're going to wrap this up.

So I'll see you in a moment.

So there we have it.

There is the end of our lesson today.

Well done.

Very design heavy, I know but this is my world, this is what I like to do.

So, really proud of you guys.

The work today, I would love, love to see it shared online.

So please, please, please ask your parents or a responsible adult to get that shared online, tagging us on OakNational on the Twitter on hashtag, you know what it is.

#LearnwithOak.

You know how we do.

So, I will see you in the next lesson.

Take care.

Bless.