Task A3 | ​Existing products 

🔎 What? 
 
❗Why? 
 
Analyze a group of similar products that inspire a solution to  You are trying to figure out what makes related products a 
the problem.  success (or not) and you are trying to come up with ideas for 
  your own project.  
 

⚙H
​ ow? 

Inspiration board 
● Choose ​a product idea from this list - ​Choice of Upcycled Product 
● Create​ a Pinterest board of a range of products (at least 25) that are an inspiration to your specific project.  
● Present​ a screenshot of (a large part of) your Pinterest board in your design folder. Include the title and the 
hyperlinked source of your pinterest board. 
● ​ hen creating your inspiration board, choose products that are different from each other. If the 
Consider also​ -​ W
products are very similar, you will gain only limited knowledge and inspiration for your own project, because most 
products will lead to the same conclusions. It is likely that your inspiration will not only come from products that are 
similar to what you have in mind. Quite different products may have features that inspire you as well. 
● Review​ the ​high level example​ and the rubric (below) to ensure you have enough detail. 
● Choose and j​ ustify​ which project plan will be the foundation for your project. You will incorporate elements from other 
projects, but choose 1 that best represents what you want to make. 

Inspiration Board of​: tote bag Ideas 

Source:​ Cronqvist, Tea. “​https://www.pinterest.se/teamatildac/upcycled-tote-bag/​ ” Pinterest Board. Feb 2020. 

PMI analysis​ | Plus, Minus, Interesting 

The command term a ​ nalyze​ is defined as​:  
 
“Break down in order to bring out the essential elements or structure​.” 
 
In this task this means conducting a PMI analysis for the products you identified in your inspiration board. 
 
Tips for analysis: 
● Evidence that you looked closely at the site of the pin 
● Identified properties of the products (size, shape, style, functional effectiveness, appropriate for fabric, 
appropriate for your skill level, appropriateness for client) 
● Bullet points but full sentences 
● Explain why it is a strength/challenge/interesting point 
 
 Analyze​ strengths (​plus​) of the products. In your analysis clearly identify and explain specific features that 
⊕  make the product successful. 

↬ Most of the bags don’t seem too hard to make which is good for me because I’m going to need 
something fairly easy to make since my skillevel is not that high.  
↬ Many of the pictures are really clear and you can easily see the instructions and steps to making the 
final bag. This is good because I’m going to need to know how to make the bag since I’ve never 
made one before. 
↬ The bags in the pictures fit my clients style which is good because I want her to like the bag and 
use it.  
↬ The instructions that you can see in some of the pictures include the measurements which is great 
because I can get a better idea of what the final product is going to look like and how big it’s going 
to be.  
↬ Some of the pictures show bags with two sets of handles which is perfect because my client has 
requested just that so if I could have that in my final product, that’d be great.   
↬ Judging from the pictures, the construction of the bags seem to be pretty good which is great 
because the bag has to be strong so that my client can carry heavier things in it as well.  
 

Analyze​ weaknesses (​minus​) of the products. In your analysis clearly identify and explain specific features 
⊖  that make the product less successful. 

↬ Some of the bags are made of denim which is not good for me because I’ve brought in a dress that 
isn’t made of denim, so I can’t use denim to make my bag.  
↬ There are other materials used for some of them as well, such as leather, which I don’t have access 
to either.  
↬ Some of the sites that the pins linked to turned out to be in other languages which might be a 
disadvantage since I don’t understand it.  

Outline​ all take-aways (​interesting​) you have gained for your project by analysing the products. 
ℹ  Take-aways are Ideas that are worth remembering for later in the project. 

↬ Many of the bags have some kind of embroidered things on them which i find interesting because I 
feel like my client would like having some embroidery on her bag.  
↬ Another interesting thing is that one of the bags has a little pocket on the outside, I think this idea 
could be great because often when my mom goes shopping, she brings her phone with her, so she 
could put her phone in the little pocket.  
↬ Some of the bags have extra handles/straps that can be used for wearing the bag on your back. 
That might be good because it’ll make it easier for my client to carry around.   
 
 
 

Choose and justify a project plan 

 
Select one of the products from your inspiration board and justify the choice for this product to design in the next 
stage of the design cycle.  
 
Your justification must address the following elements: 

Why did you choose this product over the others in your inspiration board? ​Explain how it is appropriate for: 
● your client  
● the fabric you chose 
● your skill level 
  
I think that this product will be good for my client because it looks almost exactly like what she described to me 
that she would like to have. It's also appropriate for the fabric that I’ve brought in because I think that I could 
easily use that material when making this bag. It’s not the exact same fabric as in the picture, but I think that the 
fabric that i have will work just as well. It fits my skill level as well because my skill level isn’t very high and this 
product doesn’t look too hard to make.   
 

   
A3 Assessment 
Level  Descriptor  Typical features of student work 

0  The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below. 

1-2  The student ​presents​ some  ❏ The analysis of the individual products l​ ists​ specific features as strengths 
existing products that inspire a  or weaknesses. 
solution to the problem.  ❏ The inspiration board is ​not completed​, nor a link to your source. 
❏ The choice of final product demonstrates ​limited​ analysis and thinking 
about client, fabric and skill level. 

3-4  The student ​outlines​ features  ❏ The analysis of the individual products o​ utlines​ specific features as 
of some existing products that  strengths or weaknesses and leads to some further insights regarding the 
inspires a solution to the  project. 
problem.  ❏ There is a l​ imited​ number and range of products in your Pinterest Board. 
There should be at least a range of 25 products that are different from 
each other 
❏ The source is included, but ​not in, proper​ MLA format. 
❏ The choice of final product demonstrates ​basic​ analysis and thinking 
about client, fabric and skill level. 

5-6  The student ​describes​ common  ❏ The analysis of each individual product or system d ​ escribes​ specific 
features of similar products  features as strengths and weaknesses and leads to meaningful insights 
that inspire a solution to the  regarding the project. 
problem.  ❏ There is a s​ ufficient​ number and range of products in your Pinterest 
Board. 
❏ The source is cited in p ​ roper​ MLA format. 
❏ The choice of final product demonstrates ​sufficient​ analysis and thinking 
about client, fabric and skill level.  

7-8  The student ​analyses​ a group  ❏ The analysis of each individual product or system e
​ xplains​ specific 
of similar products that inspire  features as strengths and weaknesses and leads to impactful further 
a solution to the problem.  insights regarding the project. 
❏ There is an e
​ xtensive​ number and range of products in your Pinterest 
Board. 
❏ The source is cited in p
​ roper​ MLA format. 
❏ The choice of final product demonstrates ​sophisticated​ analysis and 
thinking about client, fabric and skill level.