Deliver.
Whilst ‘to deliver’ is simply to dispatch a finished product to a client, the Deliver phase of the VCD Double Diamond design process is much more than that. It is during this phase that designers take the raw materials, the visualisations made in response to inspiration and investigation and turn them into deliverable design solutions. Thus, the artist Picasso referred to in the introduction to the Develop phase, would in the Deliver stage, consider his numerous sketches and oil paint studies, evaluating, recomposing and enlarging, until the composition and the use of materials and media truly reflect his every intention and a masterpiece can be revealed.
Takeaways
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Deliver
The VCD Deliver phase is when students turn their developed design concepts into polished, final solutions ready to present to clients. Students apply critical thinking to evaluate and choose their best ideas, then refine them using professional conventions and create suitable presentation formats.
- Critical evaluation drives smart decisions.
Students use analytical tools like Pugh Matrix, SWOT analysis, and other critical thinking strategies to evaluate their design concepts against the brief's criteria objectively. This systematic approach ensures the strongest ideas are chosen for final development rather than relying solely on personal preference. - Professional conventions Matter
Each design field has established conventions that must be learned and applied, from typography rules in poster design to Australian Standards for technical drawings. Understanding and using these professional practices make student work credible. - Mock-ups enable real-world testing
Creating prototypes, models, or mock-ups allows students to test their designs with actual users and receive valuable feedback before finalising solutions. This iterative process of presenting, testing, and refining ensures designs truly meet user needs and brief requirements. - Presentation format requires design
The way final solutions are presented to clients is itself a design challenge requiring careful consideration of visual language, layout conventions, and audience needs. A well-designed presentation format enhances the impact and professionalism of the design solutions being delivered.
Introduction
In the Deliver phase, students use critical thinking strategies to evaluate the success of their design ideas against the design criteria they set in the brief and in response to feedback they received in a Design Critique. They learn and use conventions of the design disciplines within which they are working, hone materials, methods and media and refine and resolve the use of Design Elements and Principles in design concepts. They pitch, test and evaluate mock-ups and prototypes of design concepts in real contexts and receive real-time feedback data to drive the resolution of design ideas so that they communicate the client’s intention. Students choose appropriate presentation formats and use conventions of those formats to present ideas and concepts for their clients.
Skills used in the Discover phase include:
- use critical thinking strategies to reveal data about design ideas and evaluate the success of ideas against design criteria and select preferred concepts for refinement and resolution
- resolve design concepts for feedback
- select and use media and materials to resolve the communication of ideas, aesthetic qualities
- select and use conventions including Design Elements and Principles appropriate for methods chosen to resolve the communication of ideas, aesthetic qualities and information
- prepare and deliver design concepts as mock-ups or prototypes for a Design Critique or a Pitch (for the School Assessed Task in Unit 4), receive and analyse and act on feedback
- select and use presentation formats to deliver design solutions to the client to satisfy the needs of users or users and the information found in earlier research
- use relevant components of visual language, including conventions of design disciplines, to deliver effective visual communications that address the requirements and constraints in the brief
The Deliver phase uses Convergent Thinking.
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Evaluate and select ideas
The first step in the Deliver phase is for students to use Critical Design Thinking strategies to reveal data about their design ideas, evaluate the success of their ideas against design criteria and select preferred concepts for refinement and resolution.
Critical thinking
Students consider the range of design ideas created in the Develop phase of the Design Process. They also consider the Brief, the analysis of their Human-Centred-Design research and the Design Evaluation criteria they wrote during the Define phase. Using all of these components they make a rough selection of a range of ideas, or concepts then conduct a formal Critical Design Thinking analysis to evaluate and select the ideas most suited to the needs of their audience or users.
Critical Design Thinking routines or strategies that can be used include the Four Field Matrix, the Pugh Matrix, P.M.I. and P.O.O.C.H, S.W.O.T. and Six Thinking Hats ™ or other perspective-taking exercises. Students should choose the most appropriate ones to suit the design discipline they are working in. The Pugh Matrix is well suited to this stage of the Deliver phase because it gives design ideas a score that can be used to justify the selection of design concepts.
Selecting ideas or concepts
task
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1.1 Select Design ideas or concepts
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Resolve design concepts for feedback
Students refine and resolve several design concepts for each communication need shown in the brief. They use media and materials creatively to support aesthetic qualities and begin to incorporate conventions of the design disciplines within which they are working. This stage of the Deliver phase is iterative where students may flick back to the Discover phase, revisiting their research, target audience or user data and initial design ideas, whilst developing each design concept.
Resolve MEDIA AND MATERIALS
Resolve CONVENTIONS, Design Elements & Principles
As students develop and refine the design concepts they begin to incorporate conventions used within the design disciplines they are working. The term convention refers to accepted practices or rules used within design fields and disciplines. Conventions are often strategies for the use of Design Elements and Principles. Some examples of conventions within particular design disciplines include;
Messages
Posters, flyers, magazine
- type and typography, mast-heads, puffs, scale and proportion of components, colour schemes, tone of language, images, use of Gestalt Principles of Visual Perception
Interactive Experiences
Web sites, app designs, kiosks
- Navigation and structure, screen sizes, animation, sounds, user feedback, type and typography, colour schemes, icons, styles and consistency, user accessibility, use of Gestalt Principles of Visual Perception
Objects
Industrial designs, fashion
- Conceptions of good design, Australian Standards conventions for technical drawings, scale, ergonomics, controls, sustainability, principles of Circular Design, 3D CAD and actual models, renderings, properties of materials
Environments
Buildings, Landscapes, Set Designs, Virtual landscapes
- Form, void, sight lines, Australian Standards conventions for technical drawings, 3D CAD and actual models, renderings, properties of materials, characteristics of light and shade, sustainability
task
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2.1 Methods, media and materials
Develop each design concept further by refining the use of selected methods, media and materials.
2.2 Conventions, Design elements and principles
Develop each design concept further by refining the use of Design Elements and Principles and incorporating conventions that are relevant to the design field and discipline within which you are designing.
2.3 Gather and annotate
Whilst developing and refining your design ideas, don’t forget to illustrate your visual diary and annotate your work to describe your design journey. Write comments that describe and justify design decisions, document iterations you make and reflect on your learning.
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Present mock-ups
The next part of the Deliver phase is for students to reveal their ideas to their class for testing and evaluation. As designers refine their concepts getting closer to satisfying the constraints of the brief and meeting the needs of their audiences or users, such convergence can prevent them from hearing different and valid perspectives. Showing, testing and obtaining feedback about design concepts provides students with opportunities to strengthen and resolve them further.
Create Mock-ups
Students prepare mock-ups or prototypes for a Design Critique or a Pitch (for the School Assessed Task in Unit 4), receive and analyse and act on feedback. A mock-up is a way to present a design concept to a client, members of a target audience or users, or design peers. Examples of mock-ups suitable for the Deliver phase include;
- A branding presentation board
- A model
- A high-fidelity prototype
- An assembled packaging design
- A map, flyer, brochure or magazine
- Pictures of communication designs in context
- A three-dimensional rendering
- Technical drawings
- 100% scale prints of design
- A storyboard or wireframe to represent an interactive experience design
It is worth remembering that a mock-up for getting feedback is not a final presentation. Students do not have to spend time on making a presentation. Just the design or prototype itself is sufficient to show for feedback.
CAUTION
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Mock-up emulators
A quick search on the internet will reveal a huge range of free applications and template files that will allow students to place a logo, for example into a range of contexts automatically. Teachers and students are advised that web applications or the use of AI (artificial intelligence) for creating mock-ups of designs are not permitted in VCE VCD. The reason for this is that students must have creative control over the making and presentation of their work at all times. Students are encouraged to make mock-ups using technology that is available to them, to present their ideas authentically, according to their own specific context.
Functioning prototypes
The VCE VCD Study Design and rules for School-Based Assessment do not require students to make fully functioning prototypes. Students are required to present their ideas using illustrations, storyboards, wire-frames, technical drawings or prototypes that demonstrate aesthetic qualities and provide information on how a design might function for a user. Whilst some functionality may be appropriate for an industrial design it is not a requirement of the study.
Mock-ups
Sample coffee logos mocked-up in context using Adobe Dimension.
Sample coffee logo mocked-up in context using Adobe Photoshop.
A student mock-up of cafe design for presentation one. Alyssa Ngo.
A branding set mock-up for presentation two. Alyssa Ngo.
A mock-up of a logo using a manual illustration and vector media application. Alana Lacy.
A mock-up showing a range of T-Shirt designs. Amy Nguyen.
task
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3.1 Create Mock-ups
Create one mock-up for each communication need. You may wish to show a design in a simulated context as part of your mock-up. Consider using a suitable scale for environmental and industrial designs, or a scale of 1:1 or 100% if possible, for messages and interactive experiences.
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Deliver design solutions
Delivering design solutions is the final stage of the Design Process. During this stage, students organise presentation drawings, models, prototypes or other design solutions into formats to present to their clients or end users. Students choose appropriate presentation formats and use Visual Language and conventions to fulfil the objectives of their brief.
Presentation formats
Students select final presentation formats to deliver design solutions to the client to satisfy the needs of users and address the information they found in earlier research. During the Define phase of the Design Process, students may have identified some ‘possible presentation formats’ in their brief. It is at this stage they choose the most effective presentation format for use in communicating ideas and addressing the needs of their audiences and users.
In senior VCD, a presentation format is a structure for the organisation of (usually) a group of design solutions or presentation drawings. There are accepted conventions on how to lay out and identify out components on a field or background. Students are required to treat the design of a presentation format in a focussed and intentional way – as they did for the design of each part of the presentation.
Visual Language in presentation formats
Students are required to conduct some additional research at this stage and learn how designers use relevant components of Visual Language, including conventions of design disciplines, to create effective presentations that address the requirements and constraints in the brief.
Each design field, and often the disciplines within each, has evolved conventions on how they create effective presentations for clients, users and even the general public. In addition, students who create technical drawings will be aware that conventions such as the Australian Standards Conventions need to be learnt and used consistently when creating presentation formats.
The use of Visual Language in presentation formats includes the use of Design Elements and Principles, the Gestalt Principles of Visual Perception and the appropriate use of methods, media and materials. Each of these components has a role to play in communicating ideas or information, evoking emotions or feelings and giving an engaging and rewarding experience for a viewer, audience member or user.
task
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4.1 Select presentation format
4.2 Mini-design process
Conduct a mini-design process, where you will learn the conventions that are used by professional designers when they create presentation formats. Use shortened versions of the Discover, Define and Develop phases of the Design Process to learn about and design a layout for your presentation. Draw a range of alternative layouts for your presentations.
4.3 Incorporate technical drawing conventions
4.4 Make presentations
Using the development work done in Task 4.2 complete the final version of a presentation format to be used for the submission of design solutions, for assessment.