Designing is not difficult. It can be great fun, but there will be many things for you to think about. You will need to make many decisions to solve the problems, which will occur, while you are working out your ideas.

It is easy to design things and to solve these problems if you have something to guide you, a route to follow.

You are going to follow a route called the DESIGN PROCESS. Most things, which are designed and made, go through the stages, which form the design process.

Design problems are very varied. You may be required to use a range of materials or only one. The project may be straightforward or more complicated. Whatever the problem, your route to a solution will be the same. You will follow the stages which make up the design process.

If your design has not been successful you may need to redesign part, or all of it. This will mean that you will need to go back to your initial ideas and develop another solution to the problem.

The design process is not only used in school but also by designers and engineers working on 'real' products in industry. It is very important that articles which are to be made and sold are designed properly and thoroughly tested to make sure that they are suitable for the purpose for which they are intended.