Question 1

What is NCEA AS 91627 about?

Accepted Answer

You need to show that you can take a starting point (something meaningful to you like a photo, music, or a place) and use visual drawing and design techniques to develop it into actual design ideas. You'll explore and transform your starting point using different drawing strategies—like sketching, 3D modelling, or digital tools—to generate multiple design ideas that could work as real products or spaces.

Question 2

What do students need to do for AS 91627?

Accepted Answer

1. Choose a starting point that's meaningful to you (like a landscape, social issue, or personal experience) and show clear understanding of it 2. Use visual communication strategies (drawing, sketching, 3D modelling, digital work) to interrogate and re-generate forms and shapes from your starting point 3. Generate a range of different design ideas that show clear connections back to your form exploration and starting point 4. Demonstrate that your design ideas have real functionality or purpose and that you can explain how they came from your starting exploration 5. Curate your portfolio carefully, prioritizing visual work over written analysis and avoiding irrelevant pages

Question 3

What's the difference between Achieved, Merit, and Excellence for AS 91627?

Accepted Answer

Achieved: You show good understanding of form exploration from your starting point, use visual techniques to generate multiple 2D shapes and 3D forms, and produce several design ideas with clear functionality that connect back to what you explored. Merit: You demonstrate purposeful, intentional exploration where you find a visual theme or narrative from your starting point, then repeatedly re-examine and refine specific forms—not just the overall design—showing a cohesive train of thought linked to your design context. Excellence: You select starting experiences highly relevant to your context that clearly inform your work, interrogate forms purposefully with unique outcomes, wisely choose which visual modes to use, show refined technical skills with good proportions and details, and continue challenging both how your design looks and how it works right through to the end—refusing to settle on an early idea.

Question 4

What mistakes do students typically make in AS 91627?

Accepted Answer

1. Including too many observation drawing pages and too many different starting points, which makes the interrogation and reinterpretation of forms unclear and wastes space that should show design development 2. Relying on too much written analysis or research instead of prioritizing visual work—extensive written content doesn't demonstrate the visual communication strategies being assessed 3. Starting with a copied design or source material rather than showing genuine exploration and interrogation—examiners need to see that you transformed your starting point into something new, not just applied an existing design idea

Design exploration

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