Making Toys

Design writing represents one form of expression with the MFADT program. As a result, students in the Major Studio.  In addition to learning how to write a design brief, students will also be asked to produce a longer piece of writing associated with the many aspects of their course work.
*Document Objectives
1. Present a clear and concise overview of the project concept;
2. Situate the project within historical and creative contexts;
3. Provide a set of criteria used to evaluate the project;
4. Provide self-assessment of the project’s strengths and weaknesses
5. Give an overview of the design process;
6. Present a list of related resources.
**Guidelines
This document will be composed of the following sections:
A Thesis Sentence and Thesis Paragraph: One sentence that summurized the big picture of the project.  This is located in on paragraph that expands on that one sentence.
Domains: what are the domains with which your project engages? What relationships exist between thesedomains?
Summary: a narrative description of the project. What is it, who is it designed for, what is it designed to do, what kind of technology does it explore, etc.
Precedents: What are examples of work that share something in common with your project? These precedents can be contemporary or historical, can be drawn from the realms of design, technology, sociology, psychology, etc. In preparing this section of your document, please include the following information for each precedent discussed:
• title of work and author/designer/artist
• brief description of project
• relevance/relation of the project to your own work
Iterative Design Process and User-testing: a narrative description of your process, prototypes, user-testing, key methods and discoveries, sample sketches, storyboards, diagrams, etc.
Evaluation: the Evaluation section of your document has two parts:
• a narrative summary that outlines your thoughts on the strengths and
weaknesses of your project.
• a list of criteria that you are using to evaluate the quality of your project. These criteria will be shared with the critics during your final presentation, and will serve as the basis for feedback during your review.
Future Directions: Summarizes what step would be taken if this project would be continued in the future. This should be written absolutely last, and after final presentations.
Bibliography, References, Resources: a list of important works used to guide your project. Bibliographic information should include the title of the work, author(s), publication date, publisher, and pages cited.