More photos from the Collyer’s “Designing for the Future” Prize Giving

Last week we announced the winners of our latest “Designing for the Future“ competition at Collyer’s Sixth Form College in Horsham, West Sussex.

This popular competition, which is now in its second year, encourages young designers to think about the challenges that an ageing population presents – and to create innovative, attractive and aspirational designs that allow people to continue to live enjoyable, active and independent lives as they get older.

The winning design by Collyer’s AS level student, Alex Francis is an ergonomic handle designed to hold a number of shopping bags with a unique reminder ring which makes sure you never leave your bags behind again. 

The runners up were no less ingenious. Mike Davies designed a vibrating pillow alarm clock ideal for deaf people and also considerate spouses not wanting to wake their partner; Isabelle Parker devised an elegant heated back support and Sam Hammant came up with toast tweezers – perfect for extracting annoying pieces of toast stuck in the toaster.  Aston Cheesman’s design was a clever chair port with adjustable tray table and Ben Palmer took the idea of long handled back brushes a stage further with his shower aid which is pre-loaded with shower gel. 

We were delighted to be joined at the prize giving not only by the Principal Dr Jackie Johnston, staff, students and parents but also Sean McCrumlish, Chief Officer of Age UK Horsham who came to look at the projects and speak to the students about their designs for older people.

This competition is a group effort and a big thank you goes to  Kate Sharp (Faculty leader – Arts and Communications) and Hari Atkins (Subject Leader – Product Design, Materials) who skillfully steered an impressive 85 students through the project and selected the final 20 who presented their designs to the judging panel.

It has not been a great week for education in the UK, with the integrity of our public examination systems being called into question, but occasions like this remind us of  the talent and creativity amongst our young people and also the passion and determination of those who teach them.

West Sussex County Times features our student design competition

Nice coverage here of our “Designing for the Future” design competition with Collyer’s Sixth Form College from West Sussex County Times who have supported us since we launched. Horsham in Sussex is one of the fastest ageing populations in the UK with the number of people over 65 set to increase by an astonishing 60% between now and 2026.

Our winner, Alex Francis designed an ergonomic shopping bag handle with a clever reminder ring which ensures you never lose your shopping!

More details of the competition HERE.

Ergonomic shopping bag handle with reminder ring wins this year’s Collyer’s ‘Designing for the Future’ competition

An ergonomic shopping bag handle which stops you forgetting your shopping has won first prize in this year’s “Designing for the Future” competition run by The Future Perfect Company and The College of Richard Collyer in Horsham, Sussex.

This popular competition, which is now in its second year, encourages young designers to think about the challenges that an ageing population presents – and to create innovative, attractive and aspirational designs that allow people to continue to live enjoyable, active and independent lives as they get older.

The winning design by Collyer’s AS level student, Alex Francis is an ergonomic handle designed to hold a number of shopping bags with a unique reminder ring which makes sure you never leave your bags behind again. 

The runners up were no less ingenious. Mike Davies designed a vibrating pillow alarm clock ideal for deaf people and also considerate spouses not wanting to wake their partner; Isabelle Parker devised an elegant heated back support and Sam Hammant came up with toast tweezers – perfect for extracting annoying pieces of toast stuck in the toaster.  Aston Cheesman’s design was a clever chair port with adjustable tray table and Ben Palmer took the idea of long handled back brushes a stage further with his shower aid which is pre-loaded with shower gel. 

Says Philippa Aldrich, founder of The Future Perfect Company :” We are delighted to be running this competition for a second year with Collyer’s and their excellent Arts faculty.  With design education under threat, we think it is very important to be supporting young designers in this way, particularly when their creativity and skills will be essential to us all as we get older. The Horsham district has one of the fastest ageing populations in the UK and there is a real need for designers to think about the challenges that will bring.  Alex’s shopping bag handle allows you to carry more than one shopping bag comfortably. And the reminder ring makes sure you never leave your shopping behind. Although designed with older people in mind, this product has universal appeal and would be really useful for Christmas shopping!”

Judge Craig Barrow commented “The students showed a high quality of research and development within their chosen areas of work producing a wide range of ideas and interesting concepts. Congratulations to the winners.” 

The competition was open to Collyer’s students on the GCE Advanced Subsidiary Product Design course and is integrated into that course. Last year the exam board congratulated the College on using this live brief.

The judges included Denise Stephens (co-founder of online design community Enabled by Design), Craig Barrow (former winner of the “Designing for the Future” competition at University of Brighton), and Philippa Aldrich (founder of The Future Perfect Company). Tutors Kate Sharp (Faculty leader – Arts and Communications) and Hari Atkins (Subject Leader – Product Design, Materials) acted as advisors to the judging panel.

Presenting to product design students at the University of Sussex

Following on from exhibiting at Generation Expo last weekend, I was asked to talk to product design students at the University of Sussex about The Future Perfect Company and our design ethos.

The students are about to start their third year projects and are looking for inspiration and ideas.

Other speakers included a charity wanting to redesign their communcation switches, a commercial kitchen supplier looking for ways to improve some of their products and a government- sponsored intermediary wanting to puts students in touch with SMEs with design challenges. It struck me as a win win situation for both students and design companies. Students get experience of working on real life design problems and SMEs get the chance to engage some of the most creative brains in the country.

I shared my experience of working on the “Designing for the Future” competition with the University of  Brighton and Collyer’s Sixth Form College.

The University of Sussex is itself a baby boomer, celebrating its 50th birthday this year and I hope that at least some of the audience will think about designing products which meet the challenges we all face as we get older.

West Sussex County Times features launch of student competition

Nice piece in today’s West Sussex County Times about the launch of our second student design competition at the College of Richard Collyers in Horsham, West Sussex.

We had a fantastic time at Collyer’s last year and are really looking forward to seeing what designs this year’s intake come up with.

Kate Sharp, Faculty Leader, Art & Communications at Collyer’s, commented: “We are delighted to be able to run this innovative competition again and to give the students the opportunity to think about real-life design challenges. We have imbedded the competition into the AS level courses and have been commended by the exam boards for using this “live” brief”.

Designing for the Future competition launches again at Collyer’s Sixth Form College

Following last year’s successful collaboration, we are delighted to be launching our second student design competition with the College of Richard Collyer in Horsham, West Sussex. 

The UK is going through an enormous demographic transition.  The first ‘baby boomers’ born after the Second World War are now drawing their pensions and the number of people over pension age is overtaking the number of children.  However, research released from charity Age UK revealed that the majority of people over 50 feel that businesses in the UK ignore them, instead focusing the majority of their attentions on the ‘youth’ market.  

The aim of the “Designing for the Future” competition is to encourage young designers to think about the challenges of getting older and produce designs which are usefuland attractive to everyone.  

Kate Sharp, Faculty Leader, Art & Communications at Collyer’s, commented: “We are delighted to be able to run this innovative competition again and to give the students the opportunity to think about real-life design challenges. We have imbedded the competition into the AS level courses and have been commended by the exam boards for using this “live” brief”.

 The competition is open to Collyer’s students on the GCE Advanced Subsidiary Product Design course and will be judged by Denise Stephens (co-founder of online design community Enabled by Design), Craig Barrow (former winner of the “Designing for the Future” Competition at University of Brighton, final year 3D Design student), and Philippa Aldrich (founder of The Future Perfect Company).

Tutors Kate Sharp and Hari Atkins (Subject Leader – Product Design, Materials) will act as advisors to the judging panel. The results will be announced in December 2011.

Image: Boiling mug designed by James Delve ; “Designing for the Future” competition, Collyer’s 2010

Design adds value – just ask Tesco’s

Tesco’s new Chief Executive Phil Clarke is quoted today as saying that the world’s third-biggest retailer needs to come up with new products and services and improve general merchandise ranges after falling short of its own expectations in a tough British market. At the same time, it is being reported that art and design is at risk of disappearing from timetables in many state schools as the national curriculum is slimmed down to focus on “core” academic subjects.

Rather than charging our schools and colleges to produce the next generation of product designers, education in the arts is in danger of being restricted to children at high-performing schools or with parents who can afford private lessons or clubs.

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary seems to think arts and design education is a “nice to have” rather than an essential like English and Maths. But the creative industries are, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCM&S), “an important growth area in rebalancing the economy… Creative employment provides around two million jobs, in the creative sector itself and in creative roles in other sectors. Employment in the sector has grown at double the rate of the economy as a whole”.

Moreover as funding is redirected towards science and technology, it must not be forgotten that design plays an essential role in the realisation of many technological advances and scientific breakthroughs. When presenting our Designing for the Future Competition awards Kate Sharp, Faculty leader at Collyers Sixth Form College explained this relationship as follows :  “James Dyson famously said  “The teaching of quality design and technology is a vital requirement for the country’s future in the 21st century” …… “There is no division between the designers and the engineers. I couldn’t agree more. Without Design and Technology in the national curriculum and its progression to Product Design at A level our students experience at school and college would be a lot less enriching. As a subject Product Design is the perfect bridge between science and creative, innovative, design.  It is applied science in the design and development of the products that we need to live our everyday lives.  It’s no good just understanding how things work if you can’t then use that knowledge to innovate and create”.

A good example of this relationship (or lack thereof) can be found in assistive products. Gretel Jones, consumer policy advisor from Age UK,  frequently makes the point that whilst there are many devices available to help older people live independent lives, some of these are so ugly or stigmatizing that people just refuse to use them. This is why we need good, attractive design.

On its website the DCMS promises to “continue to work closely with other Government departments and agencies to make sure that there is an appropriate level of support available for the creative industries”. Does that include the Education department, I wonder. I hope so.

Image : The boiling mug by James Delve, Designing for the Future Competition

Virtual Granny features student design competition

Design For The Future

Three cheers for The College of Richard Collyer and their innovative and stylish designs focused on overcoming one or more of the challenges of ageing, with pioneering, stylish and. aspirational creations.

“Designing for the Future” is a competition run by The Future Perfect Company and Richard Collyer in Horsham, for entry by AS students, who embraced the brief readily.

Philippa Aldridge, founder of The Future Perfect Company found that the most thoughtful designs came from those who had spoken with their older relatives about the realities of ageing, something which must seem almost unimaginable to this group of 16 year olds.

The winning designer Glen Crombie, made a push out plug socket, which can eject a plug from a socket at the touch of a button – a fantastic concept for people who have not so nimble fingers for any number of reasons.

Other fantastic winning designs include a very stylish self heating mug, which does away with heavy kettles by using electromagnetic induction to heat a mug of water. Not only a great energy saving idea, but ideal for people who want a quick cuppa at their desks or want to boil up a brew on holiday.

Other designs include an ingenious light bulb changer which avoids the perils of step ladders and a very funky grip glass which makes it easy for people with gripping challenges to drink with confidence and without drawing attention to their disability.

So top marks to the students and especially to Philippa Aldridge, for bringing  old and young members of the community together on a brilliant project which can only benefit both parties in the future.

For more information about the “Design for the Future” competition, which runs yearly and to peruse innovative products created especially for people who have age related challenges or general disabilities – or actually for anyone who likes funky stylish gadgets and designs, visit http://thefutureperfectcompany.com

And the final Collyer’s student designs

Joint Second: Lucy Martlew

The Light Bulb Changer is designed to help people who are less dexterous, disabled or have difficulties using a step ladder to change a light bulb. This innovative product has a silicon finger print grip on the claw providing a strong and safe way to hold the bulb; a handle moulded to the shape of a hand to aid human grip; and a light weight structure which can rotate and has integral lights. This modern yet simple design is an easy and safe way to change a light bulb.

Joint Second: Lauren Hale

This Soap Holder has been designed to help meet the needs of the older generation. The bathroom can be an unsafe environment so I have designed a product which allows older people to use soap without fear of dropping the soap, slipping over it in the shower and risking injury.

The two handles make the product easier to hold for people suffering from physical problems, such as arthritis. The soap is attached to the product by a plastic screw. The extended bar allows older people to wash their feet and backs easily without having to move too much or bend over.  

More winning designs from the Collyers student design competition

And the runners up were…

Joint Second: James Delve

The Boiling Mug is intended to challenge many of the issues associated with ageing, such as problems with manual dexterity.  Additionally the product is intended to reinvent the way in which we think about creating a hot drink, while increasing the energy efficiency of the task, and removing the possibility of the user scalding themselves.

The product is based around an aesthetically pleasing stainless steel base plate, onto which the user places their mug full of cold water. When the mug is placed onto the base plate, a charge is transmitted through electromagnetic induction into the boiling element, boiling the mug of water. This use of technology means that the base plate does not get hot to touch and is therefore safe to use.  Only the required amount of water is heated meaning that energy is not wasted through boiling unnecessary quantities of liquid.  Another advantage of this product is that there is not a transfer of hot water from different containers, but only cold water from tap to mug.

Joint Second: Jessica Chapman

The Grip Glass is an ordinary drinking glass, which has had its shape adapted to make it non-slip, easier to grip and so hold. The glass has grooves for the thumbs and fingers which enable the user to grip the glass easily.  The glass fits in with other quality kitchen products as it is aesthetically pleasing due to its colours and patterns as well as having attractive and quirky  smoothly rounded grooves for fingers and thumbs.

Joint Second: Andrew Marsh

My product is designed around the theme of reach and encompasses a wide range of everyday reaching tasks. It is mainly a long handled hairbrush, however it has interchangeable attachments consisting of a hairbrush, dresser hook and shoe horn. These attach to the handle by easily locking or screwing into place. Further attachments could be developed to increase its usability.  It is ergonomically designed using simple shapes which would appeal to a wide target audience, as well as the handle having a good grip making it comfortable to hold.  Another unique feature of this product is that the handle is able to bend into different angles and positions to help even further with the everyday tasks, making the user more independent.

Let us know what you think.