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  • The Harrogate Grammar School journey…

    During our Finishing and Presenting ideas webinars, the participants had a chance to know in detail the journey of last year’s winner from the perspective of their leading school teacher, Dave Allen. We thought that Dave’s presentation was very comprehensive, explained what we are looking for and showed in detail the  journey that the Harrogate Grammar team went through. We have made Dave’s presentation available below for your reference whilst doing your Design Ventura project (PS – make sure you check his tips at the very end!).

    If you couldn’t attend any of our webinars, you can now consult our webinars here.

  • Aqua Hook Product Development

    Students from Harrogate Grammar School have been working with Giles Miller Studio Ltd to develop their Design Ventura 2016 winning product, Aqua Hook. We are pleased to announce that the product is now on sale and has been renamed Hook20.

    The team competed with over 10,000 students taking part in 240 schools across the UK to be shortlisted as one of ten schools invited to pitch their ideas to a panel of expert judges at the Design Museum in December 2016. The judges were impressed with the simplicity and effectiveness of the idea and that it had come out of thinking about solving a real problem the team faced.

    The product was assembled and launched at the Design Museum and at the Deutsche Bank Office on the 10 July 2017. Visit the Design Museum shop now to buy yours or purchase it online – all proceeds go to the students’ chosen charity Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre.

     

  • Independent school winner’s prize day 2016

    On Thursday 27 April we had a visit from the team from Royal Grammar School, in Newcastle. The team came first in the Independent and Overseas category with Kit Control, a visual checklist tool enabling the user to physically and mentally check off items of sporting clothing as they pack their sports bag.

    The judges thought Kit Control, was a nicely presented and prototyped idea with good research into manufacturing and materials. They also thought the team clearly identified a problem and solved it creatively, with a clearly defined target audience in mind.

    Their prize was a workshop and museum and shop tour with Tiffany Radmore, a Design Museum educator and Paul Jenkins, a product designer at Triple Double Studio.

    During the day, the team went to speak to Steven Preston, the Retail Operations Manager for the Design Museum Shop to hear about the type of products the shop stocks and to research the packaging and display options.

    The team then worked with Paul Jenkins to further design Kit Control along with some ideas for their packaging and point of sale marketing.

    Thanks to Tiffany and Paul for their time.

  • Second place students visit Sebastian Conran’s Studio

    On Tuesday 25 April we had a visit from the team from Reepham High School & College in Norfolk. The team came second in Design Ventura 2016 with BluPrint, their wooden, laser cut interactive toy with pop out shapes that can be combined in different ways to create imaginative, fun characters.

    The judges thought BluPrint was a fun, creative idea which was very well presented and the team had developed a great prototype. To improve the product for sale in the Design Museum shop, the judges suggested that the team could develop their design with other design themes such as architecture or vehicles that may fit in with the Design Museum content.

    Their prize was a visit to the Sebastian Conran Associates Studio, to see behind the scenes of a product design studio and to discuss the possible development of their product.

    The team then worked with Sally Jones, a Design Museum Educator, to develop the marketing and a point of sale display for their product.

     

    At the end of the day the team had positive ways to take their fantastic idea forward.

    Thanks to Marie Favre and David Moseley for giving us their time.

  • Design Ventura winners in the news – March 2017

    Harrogate Grammar School in the Harrogate Informer. You can see the full article at http://www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2017/02/28/harrogate-grammar-school-wins-design-museum-ventura-prize-2016-17/

  • And the Independent and Overseas School winners are…

    Congratulations and thank you to all the Independent and Overseas schools that took part in Design Ventura this year.

    In December, our judging panel had a difficult decision to select the winning team for this category but we are pleased to announce the winners are…

     

    First place – Royal Grammar School, Newcastle

    Kit Control
    A visual checklist enabling the user to physically and mentally check off items of sporting clothing as they pack their sports bag.

    Second place – Mill Hill School Foundation, London

    Flip Switch
    A product that allows children to expand their imagination by creating scenarios for their characters in iconic landmarks backdrops.

    Third place – Chigwell School, Essex

    Shadow stories
    A bedtime story aid that allows a scene or character to be projected onto a wall or ceiling with the use of a light or torch.

  • Winning Product 2016 – Aqua Hook

    The Design Ventura 2016 winners are Harrogate Grammar School with Aqua Hook, a water bottle hook that can be clipped to any loop outside of a bag to carry a bottle. Designed with the 2016 brief “Change” in mind, this practical product was a favourite with the judges.

    Harrogate Grammar School’s 3 x A3 design sheets demonstrate how the team generated and developed their ideas. The sheets really clearly show the team’s design and prototyping processes and how they planned to address the criteria set out in the design brief, as well as allowing our shortlisting judges to quickly and clearly understand the final product design.

    Harrogate Grammar School’s entry form:

    The team competed with over 10,000 students taking part in 240 schools across the UK. With their entry, Harrogate Grammar School earned a place on the shortlist as one of ten schools invited to pitch their ideas to a panel of expert judges at the Design Museum in December 2016. You can watch the video to find out more about what happens at pitching day.

    The Harrogate Grammar School team made a convincing case for Aqua Hook at the pitching event, presenting an engaging pitch and demonstrating clearly how the product fulfilled the design brief and judges criteria. The judges were impressed with the simplicity and effectiveness of the idea and that it had come out of thinking about solving a real problem the team faced. After much deliberation, the judges decided they should be the winners of Design Ventura 2016.

    The Harrogate Grammar School team were awarded with the Design Ventura 2016 Winners award at the Celebration Event and Design Ventura exhibition opening in February 2017.

    Following the Celebration Event, students from Harrogate Grammar School worked with Giles Miller Studio Ltd to develop their Design Ventura 2016 winning product, Aqua Hook.

    An out come of these meetings was that Aqua Hook was renamed Hook20. The product was assembled and launched at the Design Museum Shop on 10 July 2017.

    On the launch day, the Harrogate Grammar School team put their sales skills to the test, selling their product at the Deutsche Bank Office.

    All proceeds from the sale of Hook20 went to the team’s chosen charity, Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre. Harrogate Grammar School proudly presented a cheque for £1,079 to the charity at the Celebration Event 2017.

     

     

  • Design Ventura Judging Panel 2016

    “This year’s Design Ventura Pitch day is on Monday 12 December. This is when our top 10 shortlisted school teams will come to the Design Museum to present their product ideas to our judging panel of design experts.

    This year our judges are:

    ALICE BLACK
    Alice is Director of the Design Museum. As well as developing audiences, exhibitions and programming over the last eight years, Alice has led the museum’s project to transform the former Commonwealth Institute into the new home for the Design Museum.

    Alice began her career in banking in New York and her experience in the UK spans work in the public and private sector, in large, multi-site national museums as well as independent museums.

    ASIF KHAN
    Asif Khan’s London-based architecture practice was founded in 2007. Works range from cultural buildings and masterplans to houses, temporary pavilions, exhibitions, installations and products.

    Asif was a Designer in Residence in 2010 at the Design Museum and was awarded Designer of the Future at Design and has been a Design Museum trustee since 2015.

    CHRIS RUSE
    Chris is Director of Capital Markets & Treasury Solutions at Deutsche Bank and has supported the project since the first year of Design Ventura, including being on our first judging panel 5 years ago.

    Chris’s involvement is part of the Born to Be, Deutsche Bank’s youth engagement programme.

    MICHAEL SKAPINKER
    Michael Skapinker is an FT associate editor. His column on Business and Society appears on Thursdays. Born in South Africa, he began his journalistic career in Greece and joined the FT in London in 1986. He received the Work Foundation Members’ Award for his contribution to the understanding of working life in 2003.

    SEBASTIAN CONRAN
    Sebastian studied Industrial Design Engineering at Central St. Martins, where he gave the Sex Pistols their first booking and designed the record sleeves and posters for The Clash. After working at corporate identity consultancy Wolff Olins and leading hard-goods development at Mothercare, he founded Sebastian Conran Associates design studio in 1986, which he continues to lead.

    Sebastian has taught furniture design at the Royal College of Art, lectures frequently and judges many international design awards.”

  • Celebrating Design Ventura 2016

    “This year’s Design Ventura Celebration Event took place on 15 February 2017. The event, held in the new Design Museum in Kensington, brought together Design Ventura 2016’s 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 2016.

    The event was a chance for school teams to discuss and explain their Design Ventura products with the other guests. Students took full advantage of this opportunity – acting as spokespeople for their products and ambassadors for their schools.

        

        

    The event also saw the unveiling of the exhibition of Design Ventura prototypes, showing students’ work on the 1st Floor balcony, in a display designed by Alphabetical. Our shortlisted teams this year had made their way to the top ten teams out of over 10,000 students who took part, so putting their prototypes into a professional exhibition space was a fitting tribute to their hard work.

    Last Year’s Design Ventura winners Finchley Catholic High School came to the event to present a cheque of £1,570.48 from the proceeds of their Design Ventura product, Dazzle Racer, to their chosen charity, Great Ormond Street Hospital.

    The final, and most anticipated, element of the Celebration Event was the announcement of the Design Ventura 2016 awards.

    Presented by judges Naomi Cleaver, Sebastian Conran, Chris Ruse, Christoph Woermann and Michael Skapinker, prizes were awarded to the top ten schools: Dame Alice Owens School, Invicta Grammar & St Marylebone School snapped up the Outstanding Finalist titles; Woking High School received a commendation for championing change; Alexandra Park School received a commendation for communication; St Olaves Grammar School received a commendation for good design; Chancellor’s School received a commendation for innovation; Endon High School came in at third place; Reepham High took the second place prize; and Harrogate Grammar were our much deserved Design Ventura 2016 overall winners, with their product, Aqua Hook.The final, and most anticipated, element of the Celebration Event was the announcement of the Design Ventura 2016 awards.

    Presented by judges Naomi Cleaver, Sebastian Conran, Chris Ruse, Christoph Woermann and Michael Skapinker, prizes were awarded to the top ten schools: Dame Alice Owens School, Invicta Grammar & St Marylebone School snapped up the Outstanding Finalist titles; Woking High School received a commendation for championing change; Alexandra Park School received a commendation for communication; St Olaves Grammar School received a commendation for good design; Chancellor’s School received a commendation for innovation; Endon High School came in at third place; Reepham High took the second place prize; and Harrogate Grammar were our much deserved Design Ventura 2016 overall winners, with their product, Aqua Hook.

    Teacher of the year prize was awarded to Laura Pearl of Alexandra Park School.

    The Celebration Event was a great opportunity to all those who were involved in Design Ventura 2016 to celebrate all their hard work and the fantastic products developed by our 2016 shortlist teams and Design Ventura prize winners.”

  • Design Ventura Judging Panel 2015

    This year’s Design Ventura Pitch day is on Monday 7th December.This is when our top 10 shortlisted school teams will come to the Design Museum to present their product ideas to our judging panel of design experts.

    This year our judges are:

    ANGUS MONTGOMERY

    Angus Montgomery is the editor of Design Week, a title that provides breaking news and in-depth analysis of the trends that shape the design world and showcases the most interesting new design work. He is a former managing editor of the Architects’ Journal and reporter at the Press Association.

    CHRISTOPH WOERMANN

    Christoph is Managing Director, Global Head of Marketing, Global Transaction Banking at Deutsche Bank. Christoph has a passion for garden design and has been an ardent supporter of the Design Ventura project and a seasoned member of the judging panel.

    EDWARD BARBER

    Designer Edward Barber is co-founder of design studio Barber & Osgerby. Their diverse body of work spans industrial design, furniture and site-specific installations as well as limited edition pieces. Public commissions include the London 2012 Olympic Torch and projects for the Royal Mint. In 2007 they were awarded Royal Designers for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts and in 2013 the designers were each awarded an OBE for their services to the design industry.

    NAOMI CLEAVER

    Naomi is an interior architect and designer specialising in homes, from private residences to student accommodation, hostels to holiday villas. Naomi is also a writer and broadcaster dedicated to promoting the good news of good design.

    REBECCA HOSSAIN

    Rebecca, Head of Retail at the Design Museum, has 15 years’ experience in retail management including working for BRAC the largest NGO in Bangladesh, running her own fair trade retail partnership, and management roles at Tate Modern, Farrow & Ball and the National Portrait Gallery.

    SEBASTIAN CONRAN

    Acting as our head judge Sebastian studied Industrial Design Engineering at Central St. Martins, where he gave the Sex Pistols their first booking and designed the record sleeves and posters for The Clash. After working at corporate identity consultancy Wolff Olins and leading hard-goods development at Mothercare, he founded Sebastian Conran Associates design studio in 1986, which he continues to lead.

    Sebastian has taught furniture design at the Royal College of Art, lectures frequently and judges many international design awards.

  • Design Ventura Shortlist 2016

    Congratulations and thank you to all Design Ventura schools that have completed the project by submitting an entry and participating in the project’s evaluation.

    Our panel of shortlisting judges have selected the top entries from the 240 schools who registered to take part, the shortlisted schools will be invited to pitch their idea to a panel of judges here at the new Design Museum in mid December.

    All schools that have submitted an entry will receive participation certificates in the post. The shortlisted schools will be contacted separately by email and letter with details of the pitching event.

    DESIGN VENTURA SHORTLIST 2016

    The Design Ventura top ten shortlisted schools for 2016 are…..
    (in alphabetical order)

     

    Alexandra Park School, London

    Grow up
    A flat packed plant holder that encourages the reuse of containers.

    Chancellors School, Hertfordshire

    Light up your life
    A DIY lamp kit with bendy legs to adapt to many terrains and uses.

    Dame Alice Owens School, Hertfordshire

    Forest Fits
    A unique set of seasonal themed coasters which fit together to create new shapes.

    Endon High School, Staffordshire

    Skyline Solvers
    A tactile, changeable puzzle with images of London’s most popular landmarks.

    Harrogate Grammar School, Harrogate

    Aqua Hook
    A water bottle hook that can be clipped to any loop outside of a bag to carry a bottle.

    Invicta Grammar, Maidstone

    Eazy Squeezy
    A device that can help you to make a cup of tea safely and without mess.

    Reepham High School & College, Norfolk

    Bluprint
    An interactive toy with pop out shapes that can be combined in different ways to create imaginative, fun characters.

    St Marylebone School, London

    Geompot
    A biodegradable plant pot which changes colour when moist to reveal an image inspired by the Design Museum and to indicate when you need to water the plant.

    St Olave’s Grammar School, Kent

    Marble blocks
    A puzzle game which fits together to make a course for a marble to run through.

    Woking High School, Surrey

    Shift
    A colour changing t-shirt to encourage young people to embrace each person’s individuality.

    INDEPENDENT AND OVERSEAS SCHOOLS

    Schools in this category will be contacted separately.
    The shortlist for this category is…..
    (in alphabetical order)

     

    Chigwell School, Essex

    Shadow stories
    A bedtime story aid that allows a scene or character to be projected onto a wall or ceiling with the use of a light or torch.

    Mill Hill School Foundation, London

    Flip Switch
    A product that allows children to expand their imagination by creating scenarios for their characters in iconic landmarks backdrops.

    Royal Grammar School, Newcastle

    Kit Control
    A visual checklist enabling the user to physically and mentally check off items of sporting clothing as they pack their sports bag.

     

  • Wheelys Product Development

    Students from Finchley Catholic High School had their first meeting with Kin Design Studio, who they will be working with to develop their Design Ventura 2015 product Wheelys to get it ready for sale in the Design Museum shop.

    Students had an opportunity to feedback on three design path options Kin had developed. With the students’ input, Kin are now working on developing the chosen design route further. Watch this space as students and Kin work in partnership to get Wheelys ready for sale in the Design Museum shop.

  • Winning Product 2014 – Kard’lapse

    Our Winners from the 2014 Design Ventura competition were Burnage Academy for Boys in Manchester, with their product Kard’lapse. The Burnage team followed the 2014 brief “connect” to design a new construction game with connecting pieces.

    Kard’lapse are fun coloured acrylic discs that allow you to connect playing cards together to create connected sculptural structures. The only limit to what you can create is your imagination!

    Here is their competition entry, including their entry form:

    and 3 x A3 design sheets:

      

    On the strength of this entry, the team were shortlisted to attend a pitching event at the Design Museum with 9 other top teams from around the UK. Below is their prototype for Kard’lapse and a short film about the pitching day, where students pitched their ideas to design industry experts and Design Museum staff:

    On the strength of their pitch, Burnage Academy’s idea was chosen as the Design Ventura 2014 winning product. In February 2015, the team attended a celebration event and were presented with a Design Ventura trophy.

    They went on to work with Giles Miller Studio to develop their idea into a market ready product. This involved changing the packaging and developing the name of the product to Card Cogs.

    Burnage Academy for Boys packaged their product ready for their launch at the Design Museum Shop on 3 July 2015.

    The team also had the opportunity to take their product to the Deutsche Bank Office and test their sales skills.

    Since its launch, Card Cogs has become a Design Ventura best seller. The team returned for the Celebration Event 2016 where they presented a cheque for £1,864 to their chosen charity, The Christie in Manchester, an NHS cancer centre.

  • Design Ventura Shortlisted Schools 2014

    Congratulations and thank you to all Design Ventura schools that have completed the project and submitted an entry.  Our panel of shortlisting judges have selected the top entries from the 241 schools who registered to take part, the shortlisted schools will be invited to pitch their idea to a panel of judges here at the Design Museum in early December.

    All schools that have submitted an entry will receive participation certificates in the post and also feedback from the panel. The shortlisted schools will be contacted separately with details of the pitching event.

    Here are the Design Ventura top ten shortlisted schools for 2014:

    (in alphabetical order)

    Bishop Douglass School, Finchley
    Speck Hoops
    A button on hoop for carrying spectacles on your shirt fron

    Bullers Wood School, Chislehurst
    Enviro-Card
    A modern take on the traditional postcard – using seed paper with wildflower seeds.

    Burnage Academy for Boys, Burnage
    Kard’Lapse
    Plastic elements that connect playing cards to enable users to build structures.

    Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School, Sidcup
    Bee Organised
    Bee inspired magnet organisers

    Orleans Park School, Twickenham
    Plumage
    Interchangeable light shades for casting shaped shadows in children’s rooms

    Ryedale School, Nawton
    Signal
    System for identifying different chargers and cables

    Selly Park Technology College, Birmingham
    Can Cap
    Handy lid and handle for cans

    St Laurence School, Bradford for Avon
    Socket Pocket
    A home for your phone – a pocket to hold mobile phones whilst charging them at a power socket

    The Kings’s School, Chester
    ScoffStix
    No challenge chopsticks, with an integrated fork

    Yateley School, Yateley
    Blackboard City
    Interactive magnetic game on a blackboard where players can customise their cityscape.

  • Squeezeys now available in Design Museum Shop

    Yesterday the team from Weald of Kent Grammar School came in to the museum to assemble their product and launch it in the Design Museum Shop.

    Squeezeys was the winning idea of Design Ventura 2013, answering the brief to design a product for sale at around £10, responding to the theme of ‘handy.’

    All profits from the sale of Squeezeys will go to the team’s chosen charity, The Brain Tumour Charity.

     

  • Second place St Olaves students meet designer Giles Miller

    On Monday we had a visit from the Linear team from St Olaves school in Orpington. The team came second in Design Ventura 2013 with their wooden, laser cut wallet.

    Their prize was a day with top designer Giles Miller to discuss the possible development of their product. Giles’ work focusses mainly on surface design and he brings a wealth of knowledge on design and cutting-edge production techniques.

    The judges loved the product for its attractive design, choice of material and originality, but unfortunately the design wasn’t robust enough for its purpose.  Giles and the team discussed what aspects of the design needed improving and what aspects were successful.

    The team then went to do a bit of research in the Designs of the Year exhibition, looking particularly at material qualities – surface, suitability for function and the transformation of a material making it useful for other applications.

    This was followed by a quick ideas session with the team trying to come up with as many solutions as possible in a short amount of time.

    At the end of the day the team had positive ways to take forward their fantastic wallet idea.

    Thanks to Giles for giving us his time.

  • Sliderz development

    Over 6,000 students in 150 schools across Great Britain took part in the Design Ventura 2013, the Design Museum’s flagship design and enterprise competition.

    Students were challenged to work in teams of 4-6 to answer the brief of designing a new product for the Design Museum shop to be sold for around £10.

    This is the story of the process of realising the winning concept into a real saleable product.

    It all started with the announcement of the winners, Weald of Kent Grammar School on the night of the Celebration and Awards Event.

    The team work with product designer Chris Garcin and graphic design studioMultiAdaptor to develop their product.

    The first meeting takes place at the office of MultiAdaptor.

  • Design Ventura Pitching Day 2011

    The Ventura Team were very impressed on Monday when our top ten schools came in to pitch their products to our panel of judges. Everyone looked smart and had sent in their presentations before the day, so there was time for all the teams to have a short run-through of their pitches and to get some feedback from our volunteers.

    The judges; Naomi Cleaver, designer, writer and critic, Alice Marsh from the Design Museum Shop and Christoph Woermann from Deutsche Bank had a tough job choosing which teams to award prizes to, but they have reached a decision and all the prize winners will be revealed at the Celebration Event in February.

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