Undergraduate Course: Product Design 2A: Design for Disassembly (DESI08157)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | This course, through a research and design practice, explores the diverse materials and manufacturing processes that are involved in bringing products into the world, the brand considerations which communicate how and why we would choose them, and what happens when a product is no longer in use. |
| Course description |
Through the lens of product design, and framed within circular economic principles, this course will introduce students to the primary principles of manufacturing, and the complex network of processes, materials, and systems that is required to bring an artefact into the world.
A series of talks, discussions, and practical activities will explore materials - their properties and behaviours - and how manufacturing processes transform them toward their use in designed products.
Students will explore how design decisions impact all aspects of production, use, and disposal of everyday objects, and develop skills to communicate design intent. These skills include sketching, 3D modelling, prototyping and appearance modelling, and will be applied through an iterative design and development process, creating concept designs for objects, including physical models, with a focus on responsible manufacturing, repair, and disassembly.
As a part of a project-based research and design process students will consider branding in product design; through decoding and encoding visual identity, students will explore how colour, material, and finish can be used to communicate brand values and why values are important in the circular economy.
The students will engage in regular presentation of their work, via diverse media (such as printed pin-ups, digital discussion boards, and oral presentations supported by documentation), exploring weekly research and design process; these will form the basis for their assessment as developing portfolios of work.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | This Course requires additional costs to be met by the Student.
Equipment and software: Most equipment and software required will be provided by the School through computer suites or loan equipment (students may choose to work with their own equipment e.g. laptop).
Materials: Students will be expected to fund the purchase of general art and design materials, such as sketchbooks, paper and pens. Students will be expected to fund purchase of some specialist materials required by their course [e.g. mould making and casting materials, wood, MDF, Thermoplastic for vac forming] We encourage the use of recycled materials wherever possible.
Printing: Students are expected to fund occasional printing [i.e. A3 colour prints for pin-ups].
Course Organisers will support you in meeting intended learning outcomes while keeping material costs to a minimum, but students will be expected to fund optional material costs as necessary for their own project work.
To fully participate in this course students are recommended to budget a minimum of £50 for this course. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
400
(
Lecture Hours 7,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 97,
External Visit Hours 4,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
271 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessed components.
1) Research portfolio, PDF (20-30 pages) and a minimum of 3 prototypes, 40%, week 6-7, assessed against all Learning Outcomes.
The portfolio, including physical prototypes, will explore manufacturing techniques, material production processes, and branding considerations.
This component must be passed.
2) Design portfolio, PDF (30-40 pages) and a minimum of 2 prototypes, 60%, December exam diet, assessed against all Learning Outcomes.
The portfolio, including physical prototypes, will demonstrate the design and development of a product that evidences an understanding of material specification, manufacturing processes, and reinforcement of brand values, as well as the skills and tools product designers use to communicate the design intent.
This component must be passed.
To help students with making each submission, we will explore case studies, from students and industry, and discuss possible approaches to the work. 3D modelling support is provided during the course, designed to allow students to work at their own pace. Students who prefer working in sketchbooks will be shown approaches for digitising this work for submission. Students who prefer working digitally can access the ECA Digital Media Skills workshops which are available free to ECA Students include workshops for various software including InDesign, and can access online training resources through their MyEd accounts.
The resubmission arrangements for this course are as follows:
As per the original assessment requirements, the resubmission for this course has 2 components of assessment.
1) Research portfolio, PDF (20-30 pages) and a minimum of 3 prototypes, 40%, assessed against all Learning Outcomes.
The portfolio, including physical prototypes, will explore manufacturing techniques, material production processes, and branding considerations.
This component must be passed.
2) Design portfolio, PDF (30-40 pages) and a minimum of 2 prototypes, 60%, August exam diet, assessed against all Learning Outcomes.
The portfolio, including physical prototypes, will demonstrate the design and development of a product that evidences an understanding of material specification, manufacturing processes, and reinforcement of brand values, as well as the skills and tools product designers use to communicate the design intent.
This component must be passed.
Students are still able to access workshops, however prototyping for this course can be completed without access to specialist spaces. Course resources provided can support desk-top making processes sufficient to pass.
Students will receive further resubmission information as per University regulations as necessary
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| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Students will receive verbal feedback from the course tutor/s during weekly timetabled sessions.
Peer-to-peer verbal feedback is encouraged at all stages of the development process, during group tutorials and pin-up sessions.
Verbal feedback from teaching staff, during tutorials and formative reviews/pin-ups, is intended to help students improve their coursework ahead of summative assessment submissions and can help to inform the development of work on future courses.
During formative review 1 (Week 4/5) students will present their draft 'Research Portfolio' and will receive verbal feedback. Further to feedback from staff this work will be updated and formalised for Summative submission in Week 6/7. Summative Submission 1 will act as feedforward for Summative 2.
During formative review 2 (Week 11) students will be asked to present their final draft design portfolio and prototypes. Students will receive verbal formative feedback to assist with refining this work ahead of submission during the Exam Diet.
Summative feedback will be provided from tutors in writing via Learn according to University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Investigate how designed products are manufactured, the origin and sourcing of materials, and how these apply to product design.
- Demonstrate application of iterative sketching, making, & 3D modelling skills, to develop design solutions that evidence appropriate material specification, manufacturing methods, and that respond to circular economic principles.
- Communicate exploration and application of branding considerations and their use within product design.
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Reading List
Braungart, William., and McDonough, Michael. (2002) Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, New York: North Point Press
Hallgrimsson, Bjarki. (2020) Prototyping and modelmaking for product design. Second edition. London: Laurence King Publishing. [online].
Joustra, Jelle. & Bessai, Riel. (2022) Circular Composites A design guide for products containing composite materials in a circular economy. Delft: TU Delft Open.
O¿Donnell, C. & Pranger, D. (eds.) (2020) The architecture of waste: design for a circular economy. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. [online].
Thompson, Rob. (2007) Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals, London: Thames & Hudson.
Thwaites, Thomas. (2011) The Toaster Project: Or A Heroic Attempt to Build a Simple Electric Appliance from Scratch. Princeton Architectural Press. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The topic and structure of this course is designed to help equip students with cognitive and subject specific skills: directly related to the field of Product Design.
Curiosity: Curiously exploring objects, through research, observation, use, and disassembly, is a useful practice to investigate materials and manufacturing processes.
Problem Solving: Design briefs encourage application of acquired knowledge to solve design problems, revealed through research and exploration.
Communication: Presentation and visual documentation, through studio sessions and portfolio submissions, communicate ideas, processes and outcomes, requiring design concepts and critical reflection to be articulated in relation to individual practice.
Reflection: Experimental making, testing, and refining processes, and appraisal and critique of individual and peer work, encourage critical reflection. |
| Keywords | Product Manufacturing,Material specification,Circular Economy,Model Making |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Miss Isla Munro
Tel:
Email: Isla.Munro@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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