The Society of British and International Design – Student Awards 2018

Last night Product Design graduate Rhys Morton  got news that his Final Major Project has been selected as a finalist for the SBID (The Society of British and International Design) 2018 Student Awards for the Product Design category. His project was to design and develop a new kind of prosthetic foot using polyurathane and nylon that is incredibly strong, durable and flexible.

He has a chance to win £1,000 as a category winner, and to win £30,000 as an overall winner. His project can be viewed on the SBID website:

https://www.sbid.org/education/designed-for-business/product-finalists-2018/

Rhys will be attending the ceremony at the House of Commons 29/11/18 at 7pm.

 

Lewis highly commended at plastics design competition

3rd year student Lewis Brown has achieved a highly commended award in the annual Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) competition.

Left to right: Steve Blanks (HellermannTyton), Gordon Haines (Master of Horners), Lewis Brown, Mark Freary (Teesside University), Bernie Rickinson (Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining)

Lewis Brown, who studied BSc (Hons) Product Design, gained the award for his product ‘Dynamic Grip’ – a new ergonomic garden multi-tool designed to make gardening comfortable and accessible for everyone.

The product caters for people who suffer with wrist arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions with an ergonomic handle and array of tools that eases the stress and strain from many common garden tasks.

DIP is organised by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and the Worshipful Company of Horners, and is one of the longest running student plastics design competitions in Europe. The brief this year for students was ‘Branching Out – Design for Garden Innovation.’

Students were asked to design an innovative product to be used in the garden, made primarily from plastics, that would better connect people with nature, enhance the pleasure of gardening or leisure activities within the garden, or help soothe mind and body after a long and stressful day.

Lewis attended a ceremony in London earlier this month where he was presented with the highly commended award. As part of the competition, Lewis has now been offered a placement with HellermannTyton, a leading supplier of products for fastening, fixing, identifying and protecting cables and their connecting components.

Lewis said: ‘To have got this far in the competition brings a great sense of pride and honour. Competitions like DIP are a great way of showing future employers that you have the right skills, and it helps to steer people down the best career path.

‘It has certainly made me think of my design from a new angle. It is easy to get carried away making a product look nice when realistically it could be impossible to manufacture. DIP makes you take a step back and consider a whole new range of factors.’

Mark Freary, Principal Lecturer in the School of Science, Engineering and Design, said: ‘This is a great achievement and recognises the three years of hard work by Lewis in developing his product design skills and technical knowledge.

‘This competition includes entries from postgraduate as well as undergraduate students, so Lewis has done exceptionally well in reaching the final six of such a prestigious competition. He has a great future ahead of him.’

Tees Made in London 2018

Last week, in the sweltering heat of London, students from product design exhibited their final project work at the New Designers Exhibition in Islington.

New Designers takes place every year at the Business Design Centre which was once the Royal Horticultural Hall. Over 3.500 graduates exhibited from institutes all across the UK.

New Designers allows students to showcase their work alongside fellow graduates from across the UK with the aim of getting themselves noticed and that first foot on the ladder, which will help shape their future.

Funding for the exhibition was raised by the students, through organized events and ‘live’ projects, and through sponsorship. Alongside the exhibition students produced postcards, mini portfolios , business cards and t-shirts to help promote themselves and their work.

This year was arguably our most successful to date with plenty of interest for all the students and potential employment opportunities. Good luck class of 2018.

 

Barcelona and a bit of F1 testing

Earlier this month Product Design students went on a study visit to Barcelona. Despite the weather we had a great time. One of the main visits of the trip was the F1 testing at the Circuit de Catalunya. What an amazing experience and the sounds were just awesome. Other visits included a guided tour of the Seat factory, the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona (Design Museum) and the unfinished Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi.

Day trip to Berghaus…

Product Design students visited the Berghaus Design Centre to present their interim concepts for trail running, walking shoes.   After a tour of the facility, the students presented their work to apparel designer, Margot Gandelin and Footwear designer, Joe O’connell (pictured right)   The tour gave students a fantastic insight into Berghaus trend forecasting, design process and garment testing procedures.   We look forward to presenting the final designs to the company in early May.

 

All aboard at Cannes

Product Design graduate Mārtiņš Ēlerts, who now works for Dixon Yacht Design in Southampton, has just got back from the Cannes Yachting Festival where the new Sealine C430 motor boat was unveiled.

“This is not the first boat that I have worked on to hit the water, but it is the first project where I had the privilege to see the entire development process. From the beginning, the very first sketch, initial CAD model, all the way to a finished boat moored up at the Cannes Yachting Festival. My main role in this project was to build the exterior CAD model, which was then further developed by our team of engineers and naval architects.”

 

It’s a fairly rapid design process, as most of the fine design features are created on the go. Some quick dirty 20 second sketch might happen every now and then, but usually all the different ideas are quickly modelled in 3D and agreed on, or dismissed, without ever touching a piece of paper or pencil. The main advantage is the ability to see and evaluate every idea from all angles in the correct proportions in the actual environment. Might not sound like the traditional design process, but it’s the reality of working in a small team, with short deadlines.”

 

“Now just have to wait for the chance to go on sea trials with the team.”

And here is a video of it on water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1usynPl_zc

 

 

Tees Made in London 2017

Last week, during probably the hottest week of the year, Graduates of Product Design exhibited their work at the New Designers Exhibition.

New Designers, hailed as the most important design event in the UK, ensures the life cycle of the design industry continues and thrives. It provokes fresh thinking and kick-starts careers, providing a pipeline of young talent into one of the UK’s leading sectors.

Each year brings 3,000 graduate talents from the UK’s leading design courses to exhibit and showcase their work with the aim of networking and getting themselves noticed.

This year was arguably our most successful to date with plenty of interest for all the students and potential employment opportunities. One student, Ben Ryder, was selected as one of the top 20 show highlights from all those exhibiting by Innovate UK, the Knowledge Transfer Network.

Our students, through organised events and ‘live’ projects, and through sponsorship, raised funding for the exhibition.

We Love Berlin

Earlier this month Product Design students visited the German capital, Berlin. The main part of the study visit was a day trip to the truly wonderful VW Autostadt in Wolfsburg, probably the world’s first automobile theme park, with its beautifully designed pavilions and of course the cars.

Other visits included the Reichstag, with the large glass dome designed by British Architect Norman Foster, the Vandenberg gate, the Bode Museum and trip to the top of the magnificent 368m tall Fernsehturm Tower with its incredible views of the whole city.