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​: ... Ideas 

 
 

Source:​ Sean’s Pinterest board h

​ ttps://www.pinterest.com/anicentr/real-desgine/  

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 the client). 
● Bullet points but full sentences. 
● Explain why it is a strength/challenge/interesting point 
z 

Analyze​ strengths (​plus​) of the products. In your analysis clearly identify and explain specific features that 
⊕  make the product successful. 

● Fig1 this product has nice cartoons that form the toy story and it has a cute cover and the product has a nice a 
cushiony feel to the product and the product has a good feel to it and it is perfect and it is nice for kids to carry 
this and because of that everyone and the texture of the cushion is fluffy and nice and warm. 
● Fig 2 the texture of the cushion has a thick fabric and has a long-lasting time because and the fabric wouldn't 
rip that easily and the texture of the skateboard and t really feels like a real skateboard and 5teh other side is 
not made out of sandpaper and that is why that it won’t make you get hut and everyone is able to use it and 
because of that it suites but it does not suit babies because they mite bite into the pillow. 
● Fig3 this has a simple design and the people like this because of some people but I think that a lot of people 
would like that because for kids and other people from different ages are able to have this simple destine and I 
think that al to of people would like this destine and a lot of people say that this has a good texture for a 
cushion and has a really simple cloth and design  
● Fig 4 has a cool idea for people that like rot use shoes and sometimes they are able to put a hole into the shoes 
and is above to use it like a house slider for I think that for people that like to wear shoes inside the house but 
don’t want to make the house dirty I think that this will suit them because this has a real-life shoe texture and 
looks like a real shoe. 

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

● the weakness of the first fig is that sometimes the cartoons come not like said in the picture but instead in a 
really funny way some people said that it looks like it has been melted and no one would like that because if it 
looks meted no one would buy that product some people said that he fabric of the skateboard cushion has a 
weak and rippable texture. 
● Fig 2 people said that the texture of the destine after 3rit has been washed the flour of the skateboard cushion 
will be different because while washing they used a lot of water and also to the fabric go the pillow ripped 
apart and that would not be good for the people that bought the product because sometimes when they 
wanted to get the same type of cartoon they will melt and will be deformed. 
● The simple destine of fig3 has a simple destine but when it came to some customers the clot of the shark on 
the skateboard cushion was very faint and was not able to see what the cartoon of the product and after using 
the product for a few days the product started to rip appar and did not hold the shape of its own state. 
● The beautiful clot of fig 4 did not really show when one customer bought the product started t defer on and 
inside dog, the shoe started ripping and water 2 weeks the product did not say that they could have a refund 
so at the end they have a hollow and inside of the shoe there was only some inside of the shoe so at the end 
they 8had it throw out the shoe and never use or use that we site to buy any more products. 

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

● I think that fig one has a simple design and I like that A lot because I usually simple designs and that is good 
thing because since that I am mediocre at stitching it should be easy for me because there less line for me to 
thread and that might be a good thing of I might try something more advanced because that might be better if 
I try something so that I could challenge myself a little bit more. 
● As I have said that I was mediocre at stitching so that it would be quite easy for me to use make one design 
because when I only have to focus on one design it is easier for me because I could just focus on one thing 
rather than two things. 
● Fig 4 I think that it has a great design and I don’t think that it is going to be that hard for me to make that 
because I could use half of the shoe and use half of a t-shirt because that is more important that I focus on one 
design and when that happens and that will help me improve on my stitching skills and because that 
sometime when you are stitching one thing to another thing it would be easier for me to transition to thing and 
because of that I would have to constantly switching threads and that would be a challenge with me because I 
have only hand sown but never use a sewing machine. 
 
 
 

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 (you) 
● the fabric you chose 
● your skill level 
... 
 

   
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 
inspire a solution to the  project. 
problem.  ❏ There are a ​limited​ number and range of products on 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​ the  ❏ The analysis of each individual product or system d​ escribes​ specific 
common features of similar  features as strengths and weaknesses and leads to meaningful insights 
products that inspire a solution  regarding the project. 
to the problem.  ❏ There are a ​sufficient​ 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.