STANDARD GRADE DESIGN UNIT CRITICAL ESSAY
A Comparison of Two Shoe Designers
Working in Different Styles or Periods
The Critical Activity which you will produce for this part of the Standard Grade Course is of particular importance. Not only is the work worth one third of your grade, but your written assignments will be submitted to the SQA for marking. You should remember then that someone else apart from your Art and Design teacher will be reading your essay. You must explain quite clearly what you are writing about. It is also in your own interest to write neatly and legibly or type out your essays. Your work for this assignment will be presented as an ESSAY.
Your two shoes should be quite different in style so that it is easier for you to write a comparison . For example you could choose a man’s Timberland boot and a high end fashion stiletto by Jimmy Choo.
The purpose of this essay is to show the influences and cultural trends which have influenced the two different shoe designers. You will have to show examples of the shoe designer’s work to help illustrate your essay more fully. There will be eight main sections to this essay :
- Introduction to the essay
- Short history of shoe design
- Information on the first designer
- Analysis of one of the designer’s shoes
- Information on second shoe designer
- Analysis of the second designer’s shoe
- Compare and contrast the two shoes
- Bibliography
All the main shoe designers have web sites and also look up google images to get some ideas. All the images for this unit have been found on google images !
You should find this essay to be fun to do and also very interesting .
THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO
- Gather information from the internet, teacher’s notes , library , magazines books etc Remember to go to the school library as there are a few books there on shoe design.
- Construct an essay
- Present your essay
Make sure that when you write your essay that it is in YOUR OWN WORDS. The examiners will be able to tell easily if your essay is genuine. The essay will be no less than 1500 words.
That is approximately 5 sides of A4 when written by hand. As stated above it is really important that you get a photograph of the shoes you will be analysing as this will help your essay.
Please try and not repeat yourself or include information that is not relevant.
Work your way through all of the questions below and then collate this information and put it into essay format in your own words.
Remember that this is an essay about Design, how and why designers have considered function ,trends etc
Standard Grade Essay Design
The title for your essay will be :
‘A Comparison of Two Shoe Designers Working in Different Periods or Styles’
1. INTRODUCTION
Write a brief introduction to your essay. You might begin something like this :
In this essay I am going to write about the work of two shoe designers, their lives and influences. I will also be looking at the history of shoes and why they are important. Finally I will compare and contrast the two shoes.
The above is just a guide, make sure that you write it in your own words.
2. A Brief History of Shoe Design
In this part you should read over the notes and also look up on the Internet.
You should mention that shoes are important as they protect our feet and have developed over the centuries. Shoes became fashion statements over the centuries and certainly today shoes are not seen just as accessories they are a main part of a fashion outfit. They also play a major role in sports and occupations but this is for protection again. This part should be about 200 words.This is a handling of information part and is factual. It is not a personal response.
For this information go to a shoe is an item of footwear , 4th year shoe design history, history of your shoes.
3 & 5. Information about your first shoe designer. Repeat this procedure with your second shoe designer
You should choose a well known shoe designer and collect information about this person. You should be researching on the internet and from books .This part should not be less than 300 words it can be a little longer but not shorter. This again is a handling of information part and not a personal response. You should make notes first when answering the questions and then put it into essay format.
The areas you should be concerning yourself with are :.
- What is the history of the designer, when and where were they born include dates?
- Is the designer still working today ?
3. What kind of design education if any did they have?
4. Who and what influenced the designer?
5. What cultural trends influenced the designer eg. music, politics, fashion etc?
6. Their range of work other objects they may design such as clothing perfume etc
7. Originality
8. Function(that means are the designer’s shoes practical or decorative)
9. Technology (what techniqueshas the designer used in the manufacturing of their shoes)
10. What materials does the designer use in their shoes?
11. Ease of wear / the ergonomics of the shoes the designer produces, are they comfortable to wear, do they support the foot, do they distort the look of the wearer’s feet and legs such as a high heel would do ?
12 What consumer group or target audience is the designer aiming at / top designer haute couture/ popular street fashion/sport/ working shoes /shoes specific to occupation etc?
- Any other information relevant to the designer about their work?
4& 6. This part of your essay is very important because it is your own analysis of the shoe design. Therefore it is very important for you to answer all the questions as fully as you can and in essay format.
It probably would be a good idea to make notes when answering the questions and then put it into essay format.
Analysis of one of the designer’s shoes. Repeat this procedure with your second shoe design. This part should be no less than 500 words.
- Does the shoe have a name if so use this as the title for this part and
include it in the essay
2 What is the function of this shoe
- Is it decorative or functional ?
- Where would the wearer wear it ? Would it be to work or a dinner, ball party ,
office, sportswear, tennis etc
5. What kind of outfit would look good with this shoe design?
6. What colour of outfit would suit this shoe design?
,
7 What are the materials which have been used in the making of this
shoe? Leather , plastic, rubber , cork metal etc
8What do you consider to be the source of inspiration for this shoe design? Has the designer been influenced by other fashion ,politics , music etc
9 When was the shoe first produced ?
10 Do you consider this shoe to be good taste , what kind of style
do you think it has ?
11What are the main visual elements of the shoe? Describe the shoe as fully as you can ?
12What is the target market for this shoe? What kind of person , male or female and age group would wear this shoe? Would they be outgoing , sporty , elegant , ready for work etc ?
13What are the health and safety aspects that the wearer would have to be aware of when wearing this shoe?
14What kind of technologies have been used to create this shoe?
15Do you consider it to be mass produced if so say why or why not , give a good reason for this statement.
16What is the price of this shoe?
There may be other points you may want to include which you have found out so make sure that you put them in as well.
Make sure that you get a photograph of your shoe. Make sure that your research it fully on the internet and in books.
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7. This is the part of your essay where you compare and contrast the two shoes and the designers’ work and style. Once again this is an important element to the essay as it is your personal thoughts and comments and this is what the assessor is interestedin reading.
Compare and contrast the two shoe designs and also the designers’ work.
This part should be 400 to 500 words.There is a list of things you should beconsidering , go to Comparison of two shoe designers
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8.Bibliography
It is very important that you include a bibliography at the end of your essay. This should include all web sites, books etc. It must be quite precise so that the assessor can see where you got your information from. If you do not include abibliography you will lose marks. It is a good idea to write down every site you visit at the time so you do not forget.