The design and making process: researching, designing and developing ideas, experimenting and refining with materials, making and evaluating, evidenced through a portfolio and learning file.

What this dot point is asking

In CCEA GCSE Contemporary Crafts you are marked on a journey, not a single object. Every project, whether in the Making portfolio or the Working to a Brief response, moves from a starting point through a sequence of stages to a finished, well-made craft outcome. This dot point sets out that sequence, often called the design and making process, and shows how to evidence each stage in your portfolio and learning file so the four assessment objectives are all met. The stages line up neatly with the objectives: researching and recording (AO3), designing and developing (AO1), experimenting and refining (AO2) and making and realising (AO4).

The stages of the design and making process

A strong craft project usually moves through overlapping stages, each leaving a visible trail.

The stages are not strictly linear. You will often return to recording when a new idea needs more reference, or revisit a material test when an experiment suggests a new direction. What matters is that the portfolio and learning file show each kind of activity and show them connecting.

Researching and recording: the foundation

Recording is the first-hand evidence everything else grows from. Strong recording is observational: drawings made from the real thing, photographs you have taken yourself, notes about colour, texture and form, and early material samples that test how a material behaves. It is relevant to your intentions, meaning you record the things your project actually needs, not random studies. Recording from your own observation and your own hands-on testing, rather than only from the internet, is what lifts AO3 into a higher band.

Designing and developing: growing ideas from sources

Developing turns raw research into design ideas. You investigate sources, above all the work of craftworkers and designers, analyse how they use materials and techniques, and then push your own ideas forward from that influence. The key is transformation: a top portfolio borrows a technique, a surface or a form and makes something new with it, annotating what was taken and why. Developing also means generating several possible directions and thinking about which materials suit each, rather than locking onto the first idea.

Experimenting and refining: test, then improve

Refining is where you explore materials and techniques and then improve the strongest results. You might test the same form in different clays, fabrics or woods, try several joining or surface methods, then select the most successful and develop it further. Refining is visible when there is a trail of trying, reviewing and selecting, not a single safe attempt. This is the heart of AO2.

Making, realising and evaluating

The final stage is the finished craft outcome that realises your intentions. A strong outcome is clearly connected to the studies before it, shows skilful, controlled use of your chosen material and process, and reads as yours rather than a copy of a source. It answers the question your portfolio has been asking. You then evaluate it honestly: what worked, what you would change, and how well it meets the starting point or brief. Evaluation is part of the process and shows the reflective judgement markers reward.

Try this

Q1. Name the four stages of the design and making process and the objective each mainly evidences. [4 marks]

• Cue. Research and record (AO3), design and develop (AO1), experiment and refine (AO2), make and realise (AO4).

Q2. Why does first-hand recording and material testing score more highly than copying internet images? [2 marks]

• Cue. AO3 rewards your own observation, hands-on testing and insight; copied images show neither.

Q3. What does it mean to refine, as opposed to simply trying a material once? [2 marks]

• Cue. Refining means experimenting with several materials and methods, reviewing the results and improving or selecting the strongest, leaving a visible trail of decisions.