Stage 7 - Production

This is the final stage of The Design Process.  It's time to hand off the designs to the production team...well, not exactly.  There are a lot of tasks that are involved in producing a design.  The obvious one is feedback.  Aspelund describes positive and negative feedback as both equally important.  He mentions that negative feedback will dominate, but will also be the most vital when making revisions and final decisions.  I agree that any type of feedback will only benefit and strengthen the design.  He also covers prototyping.  At this state I wasn't aware of the different types of prototyping.  There's concept (rough representation of the design), throwaway (test function of a certain element), and evolutionary (exploration).  These prototypes are different approaches to modeling the design.  It also helps to better understanding the dimensionality of the forms.

There are other important factors to consider during the production phase.  Decision-making will always be a part of the design process.  That will never change.  The important thing to remember is that sometimes certain decisions can cause changes in the design.  For instance, deciding whether or not to continue experimenting with materials can alter the schedule of a design.  The deadlines are set and cannot be changed.  Aspelund also mentions budgets as another aspect of production that should be considered.  Sometimes the budget can put constraints on a design, but must be accepted and worked around in order to meet the specifications of the client.  I find this to be the most challenging because the budget could sway the direction of the initial design.  As a designer, I will have to adjust and make modifications as I go through my process.

The last section of this stage is about documenting and reviewing the design process.  Aspelund emphasizes the importance of keeping well-organized documentation of your work.  In my work, I have slowly begun to realize how this is extremely important especially when something goes wrong.  I always refer back to my old files.  The design process is one that will stay with me and I will continue to refer to it.  Although the methodologies mentioned throughout this book may seem obvious at times, they will assist me now and further into the future as I mature as a designer.