Three-dimensional Design

Show how the balance of expression and function differs between a sculpture, a piece of jewellery and a product.

1. 01Sculpture - expression

   A sculpture is made to express an idea or feeling with the freedom of fine art; function is not a requirement, so form serves meaning.

2. 02Jewellery - both

   A piece of jewellery is both worn (a function - it must be wearable, fit the body, fasten) and expressive (it carries beauty and meaning), balancing the two.

3. 03Product - function

   A product must function well - be usable, ergonomic, manufacturable - so use disciplines the design, though good products are also well-formed and considered.

4. 04Design accordingly

   Each is judged partly differently: the sculpture by its expression, the product by its function, the jewellery by both - so the priorities of the design follow the discipline.

Result: The three disciplines sit at different points on the expression-function spectrum, showing that three-dimensional design ranges from the purely expressive to the strictly functional, with priorities set by the discipline.

Analyse how form, space, material and scale work in a Barbara Hepworth carved sculpture.

1. 01Form and mass

   Hepworth carves smooth, abstracted organic forms with a strong sense of solid mass and continuous, flowing surface, resolved from every angle in the round.

2. 02Space and void

   She pierces the mass with holes and hollows, so the void becomes as important as the solid - the space passing through the form and relating it to the surrounding space and landscape.

3. 03Material

   Carved in wood or stone, the material's grain, colour and worked surface are integral, and the natural material links the forms to the landscape and body she evokes.

4. 04Scale

   At a human or monumental scale, the works invite the viewer to move around and even through them, a bodily, spatial encounter that smaller or larger scale would change.

Result: The analysis reads the sculpture through mass and void, material and scale in the round - the specifically three-dimensional formal concerns - showing how a 3D designer thinks about solid, space, material and scale together.

A student designs a large ceramic vessel. Show the process and material problems they must solve.

1. 01Choose the process

   For a large vessel, coil building (adding ropes of clay) suits the scale better than throwing, so they select the process for the form and size.

2. 02Manage material behaviour

   They must join coils soundly (scoring and slipping) to avoid cracks, and dry the piece slowly and evenly, because clay shrinks and cracks if rushed or joined carelessly.

3. 03Solve structure

   They design the walls thick enough and the form balanced enough to stand and support its own weight while soft, avoiding slumping.

4. 04Finish and fire

   They bisque fire, glaze (understanding the glaze chemistry and firing), and fire again - each stage with its technical requirements - to realise the resolved vessel.

Result: Realising the vessel means solving real process and material problems - sound joins, controlled drying, structure, firing - showing that three-dimensional making is inseparable from design and demands technical problem-solving.

A student is designing a ceramic pouring jug. Show how maquettes and prototypes develop it.

1. 01Rough maquettes for form

   They make several quick maquettes exploring the jug's overall form and proportions, judging each in the round - something drawings could not fully resolve.

2. 02Model for scale and balance

   A more refined model tests the form at real scale and its balance and proportions in the hand, refining the silhouette and the handle.

3. 03Prototype for function

   A working prototype tests how it actually pours (does it drip?), how it is held, and how it is made - revealing functional problems to fix.

4. 04Refine to the outcome

   Iterating the prototype - adjusting the spout so it pours cleanly, the handle so it grips - resolves the design, which is then made as the final jug.

Result: Maquettes resolve the form, the model tests scale and balance, and prototypes test and refine function and making - the successive three-dimensional trials by which a 3D design is genuinely developed and resolved.

Show how a chair could be designed as a functional product and as a conceptual sculpture, and how one might unite both.

1. 01As functional product

   As a product, the chair must be comfortable, ergonomic, stable, durable and manufacturable - function and the sitting body lead, in the 'form follows function' tradition.

2. 02As conceptual sculpture

   As a sculptural work, a 'chair' might be made unsittable to explore an idea - absence, authority, the human presence - where concept leads and function is irrelevant or subverted.

3. 03Uniting both

   A designer-maker might create a chair that both works beautifully and expresses an idea or delights - useful and meaningful, in the craft tradition of function united with expression.

4. 04Set the priorities

   Each version is designed to its priorities - the product to work, the sculpture to mean, the craft chair to do both - showing how function and concept shape the 3D design.

Result: The chair as product, as sculpture, and as craft object shows the range of three-dimensional design from function to concept to their union - demonstrating how identifying and designing to the right priorities shapes 3D work.