Integral digital design and fabrication methods for teaching product design

During a product/engineering design process, each design stage requires a different set of suitable design and model making tools no matter they are manual or digital in order to achieve best design efficiency and quality with a minimum project cost. Therefore, various digital fabrication methods in education need to be taught through design project-based teaching practice in context of a desktop digital design and product development process. This paper introduces an integral digital design and fabrication method for teaching Product Design students at university/college level, to enable them to gain good understanding of the roles of CAD and digital fabrications, pros and cons of using various digital fabrications at each stage in the design process, and what best benefits can be obtained with proper interaction between design and fabrication. Project examples are given to show how different design and fabrication tools were used in two product design processes and what the students learnt from them in terms of key points of understanding. This systematic approach of exploring digital fabrications in design education has been recommended.