Question 1

What is NCEA AS 91337 about?

Accepted Answer

This standard is an external assessment (submitted portfolio work marked by NZQA) worth 3 credits. Students use drawing and other visual techniques to come up with and explore design ideas in response to a design brief. The focus is on how well you use visual tools — sketching, rendering, digital tools, models, etc. — to think through both how a design works (function) and how it looks (aesthetics). You do not write essays; you communicate through visuals.

Question 2

What do students need to do for AS 91337?

Accepted Answer

1. Choose a design brief and generate original design ideas in response to it 2. Use visual techniques like sketching, rendering, CAD, collage, or model-making to explore your ideas 3. Show both how your design works (function — e.g. size, construction, how people use it) and how it looks (aesthetics — e.g. colour, texture, shape, surface finish) 4. Develop a range of ideas, not just one, and show your thinking progressing over time 5. Curate and present your best work in a logical order so the viewer can follow your design thinking

Question 3

What's the difference between Achieved, Merit, and Excellence for AS 91337?

Accepted Answer

Achieved: You show a mix of 2D and 3D drawing approaches and communicate some functional and aesthetic qualities. Your ideas are fairly predictable or closely based on existing examples, but they are recognisable as design ideas rather than random shapes. You give them context — for example, by showing a person using the design — so the viewer understands what the design is for. Merit: Your ideas are more interesting, unexpected, or non-literal — they go beyond copying what already exists. You explore ideas in more detail using a range of visual methods. You clearly show how people interact with the design and demonstrate a good balance between how it looks and how it works. Your visual communication makes your thinking easy to understand. Excellence: You comprehensively explore both function and aesthetics in depth, including finer details like texture, lighting, construction specifics, and human interaction. Your ideas are bold or original but still grounded and practical. You show multiple viewpoints and a variety of techniques. You revisit and extend chosen ideas through further development or iteration. Your work is clear, easy to follow, and genuinely communicates your design thinking throughout the whole process.

Question 4

What mistakes do students typically make in AS 91337?

Accepted Answer

1. Only presenting one design idea instead of a range 2. Ideas that are too basic or simple for Level 2 — lacking complexity 3. Poor drawing quality: single-line drawings, no recognised drawing method, not enough detail 4. Failing to show what the design actually does — the function or purpose is not clear from the visuals 5. No clear context, so the viewer cannot tell what the design is or who it is for 6. Submitting large amounts of general research that does not show visual idea generation — this does not help your grade 7. Not ordering your work so the progression of thinking is clear to the viewer

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