Design Ventura 2022-23 Celebration Event

Posted by Elysia Thorpe on May 15 2023

Design Ventura

On Thursday 27 April 2023 the Design Ventura team welcomed the top ten shortlisted schools to the Design Museum for a day of celebration.

The event was kicked off by Stella Fong, Head of Learning at the Design Museum. To begin the celebrations, schools were invited to join an insightful talk from Heba Tabidi, DJ and founder of SpaceBlack and Harrison Marshall, Co-Founder of design and build practice CAUKIN Studio.

Industry Insights: Heba Tabidi, Textile DJ and Founder of Spaceblack.
Industry Insights: Harrison Marshall, Co-founder of CAUKIN Studio.

After tea and cake students had a chance to compete against one another in a design challenge to build the highest Jenga Tower. Following on from this the students participated in an exciting typography workshop led by Sarah Hyndman from Type Tasting.

In the afternoon, students and guests enjoyed a careers insight speed networking activity meeting various design and business experts including a graphic designer, product designer, illustrator, and UX/UI designer to name a few.

In the evening, the Design Museum opened its doors to the shortlisted school teams, their teachers, family and friends, Deutsche Bank employees, design industry experts, the Design Museum team and special VIP guests to celebrate the success of Design Ventura 2021-22.

The Awards

Josephine Chanter began by welcoming the schools and guests to the museum. Then, this was followed by Tim Marlow, CEO and Director of the Design Museum and Christoph Woermann, Chief Marketing Officer of Corporate Bank Marketing at Deutsche Bank.

Judges then took it in turn to announce the Design Ventura awards:

OUTSTANDING FINALIST: Ferndown Upper School
OUTSTANDING FINALIST: Upper Hall School
OUTSTANDING FINALIST: Langley Park School for Boys

COMMENDATION FOR BEST DESIGN PROCESSSouth Wilts Grammar School
COMMENDATION FOR BEST FIT TO BRIEF: Prendergast Ladywell School
COMMENDATION FOR MOST EMPATHIC DESIGN: Orleans Park School
COMMENDATION FOR INGENUITY: Upton by Chester High School
Third Place: Colchester Royal Grammar School
Second Place: Cambourne Village College


Christoph Woermann announced the winning team The Piggott School with ‘STACK IT‘, A 3D architectural puzzle structure which challenges users to complete different tasks!

The winning team, The Piggott School with STACK IT!

Following the award ceremony, the Design Ventura Exhibition was unveiled including all the student made prototypes. This year the display included the past winning product Stack It! by The Piggott School. The exhibition will run from 27 April – 26 June 2023. You can find out more about visiting the exhibition here.

Thank you to all the schools, judges and guests for attending for this very special event celebrating the achievements of the Design Ventura 2021-22 finalists!

All photos ©Richard Heald Photography/Design Museum