Several young designers and engineers featured in this year’s Made in Brunel showcase have focused on products intended to simplify parents' lives, and inspire children's creativity and imagination.
Products on show include a device that measures how much breast milk a baby is consuming, a set of cheeky characters to promote handwashing in schools and 3D action figures that children can design and print themselves.
The exhibition, which showcases the innovations of students from the School of Design and Engineering, opens at The Bargehouse on London's South Bank from Thursday 13 - Sunday 16 June 2013.
Barney Mason has created Robolabs – Lunar Elite, a fully 3D set of action figures that children can customise and print themselves, bucking the trend of one-size-fits-all design. The 3D files have been made available through the Thingiverse website.
OMs are a set of Character Covers developed by Nicholas Jones that fit over the top of Method® soap dispensers, making them more appealing to children. The Covers turn otherwise boring objects, into fun products that children want to interact with and encourage children to wash their hands more. The Covers are designed for the school environment, and are be accompanied by a set of activity sheets and posters, which teach children about the importance of hand hygiene and how to wash their hands.
Inclusion is a major part of this year’s Showcase and with this in mind, Jessica Fox has designed Alba an inclusive, therapeutic gardening experience. Alba is inspired by the potential for children who live with Cerebral Palsy to reach potential through therapy. Alba is a clever plant pot, which educates a child through the process of growing a plant through a light indicator, which illustrates the plant conditions.
For new parents, Pete Hunt’s Breastfeeding Monitor, is a new and exciting product, which measures how much milk a baby is consuming during breastfeeding to give the mother peace of mind and ensure that they have a healthy feeding baby. The device gives real time feedback of how much a baby is consuming without interfering with the breastfeeding, so therefore action can be taken before the baby becomes ill, saving the baby’s health, medical costs and easing the parents’ anxieties.
Equally, A Day At the Beach by Letitia Clouden is a product which simplifies the tasks and constraints a new parent has while bathing their baby. It is practical with two dispensers which are used by only the parents containing shampoo and liquid soap. With a detachable sponge for washing, there is nothing they will need to stretch for. It also entertains the infant through four friendly, magnetic animal toys, Holly the Hippo, Milo the Monkey, Zoe the Zebra and Calvin the Crocodile.
This year’s show focuses on stories of the design and engineering students and how their own personalities and experiences have shaped their innovative products.
Many of the young designers and engineers are set to become industry names of the future and a number of the designs have been developed in collaboration and at the request of leading brands including Coca-Cola, Puma and Rolls-Royce.
Around 300 innovations are expected to catch the eye of consumers, producers and service providers. Previous Made in Brunel exhibitors have landed top jobs at the likes of Jaguar Cars, Porsche Design, Dyson, Burberry and Lastminute.com.
The three day exhibition will include workshops, design forums and talks from leading figures in the design and engineering industry.
For more information about Made in Brunel 2013 please go to the Made in Brunel website, or follow the show on Twitter @madeinbrunel13.