The University of Canberra and the school I work for (College in Canberra is grades 11 & 12, aka highschool everywhere else), specifically the design area, have a close relationship that I work to keep (I think it’s important to have those connections). We do a joint project with them (along with 4 other colleges) every year where 2 final year Uni students come into one of my design classes once or twice a week and work collaboratively with the students to produce a solution to a very broad design brief given by the University.
This year the brief was “Slow”. That’s it, just one word. Slow.
Now most yr 11/12 teachers will know, giving such a general brief to 16-18 year olds in this setting is not going to be very conducive to learning. They need something a bit more specific to wrap their heads around, they need an example of what they’re supposed to be producing, an example of the end product. Luckily it was up to the teachers discretion as to what exactly the students were given in terms of a brief, so I laid out these terms:
You are required to create a package design, to slow people down. This is a broad, open brief, which means you need to narrow it down to be more specific. Brainstorm answers for the following questions to form your brief.
• What are people doing that is too fast?
• What could be improved in life by slowing down?
• How can a form of packaging slow a person down?
• What is the product that you are going to package?
First you need to decide who your target market are. Be specific when determining this, don’t just lump a group of people together (ie smokers). You need to decide their age group, sex, income bracket, and interests.
From there, research all types of packaging design. Find 3 designs (of any product) that suit your target market and give a ¼ page critique of the design. Draw up 5 concept sketches of completely different designs, and from these develop 2 ideas. When you are ready to construct your prototype, choose one developed idea to produce your final design. In presenting your final design you need to create a 3d prototype to scale, a flat net version and photographs of the final constructed product.
Write a final evaluation of about half a page.
You need to submit:
- 3-dimensional package prototype, max 30cm in height and width
- A4 size booklet (professionally bound) including evidence of design process from start to finish
I thought my kids did really well. They came up with some brilliant ideas and worked really hard to produce some great prototypes of their packaging. Keeping in mind some of these kids have never done any design before this year, their concepts and ideas are very promising!
Below are photos of their designs on exhibition at the University of Canberra last week. I’m quite proud =)
Please feel free to use the assignment above if you are a teacher, contact me if you want the marking rubric =)
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