Easily the most eyecatching was this Triumph Twin Speed redux by Thomas Kasher and Roy Norton of Northumbria University
Graduate shows are full of lots of exciting discoveries, so assemble some of the most promising students in the country under one roof and we were presented with four days-worth of final year projects to explore.
Below is the list of some of the best efforts we found at the show – we’ve limited ourselves to what was on show on the day (usually the final year project), and in most cases the work of an individual (sorry Brunel University – your stuff was extremely cool, but it was all group work which made it hard to distinguish between what was what).
Tomorrow we’ll post our five favourites from this year’s show – which as I’m putting it together is starkly different to those that won awards during the actual show… Make of that what you will…
Take a look through this and the following blog, and feel free to leave comments which we’ll try to pass on to the respective designers.
Thomas Kasher and Roy Norton, Northumbria University [Transportation Design]
The pair’s retro motorcycle project was ably assisted by being given a fully functioning Twin Speed by Triumph with which to tinker and play around. Both Thomas and Roy didn’t really care for formalities and stripped the bike to it’s bare bones before reassembling it with a bunch of styling additions that transformed the original 1930s design into a desirable product for the youth market. A beautiful effort on a student budget.
thomas.kasher@gmail.com
roynorton.89@gmail.com
Susannah Addy, Nothumbria University [Product Design]
Susannah Addy’s rotary plough for use with a small AWD vehicle
Taking inspiration from a group of small-plot urban gardeners, this project aimed to give them the speed and efficiency of large-scale farming, but on a scale to suit. The idea is to attach it to an ATV quad bike and for it to be shared by the community.
susieaddy@hotmail.com
Steven Rowland, Sheffield Hallam
Steven Rowland’s rabbit hutch concept that can be enlarged to fit in a supersize rabbit community
Complete with small, fluffy, toy rabbit – it’s glassy stare peering out at the attendees of the exhibition – this fun idea for a rabbit hutch with the possibilities of expansion (both horizontally and vertically) means that the consumer can have a whole flurry of rabbits living in expanded comfort, or even one rabbit living like a king.
stevenrowlands@hotmail.com
Scott Martin, De Montfort
A hand sanitiser for hospitals, designed by Scott Martin
The amount of horrible bacteria creeping around our hospital wards is obviously a great worry, hence Scott came up with this concept for a hand sanitising gel dispenser – but there’s more to it than that. Having taken into account that staff on the wards must comply with set guidelines about how often they must cleanse, this dispenser works in coordination with a nurse’s fob watch (not shown) to alert them when to clean and keep a record for their superiors to monitor.
ScottMartinPD@live.co.uk
Jeevan Jandu, Leeds
Some nice motion built into Jeevan Jandu’s sports shoe design
By giving the wearer an extra 5 degrees of travel, Jeevan’s sneaker design decreases the chances of painful injuries in the lower extremity of the human body by creating a controlled oscillatory sliding motion within the sole. This helps align the foot and the leg more vertically, giving more leverage for the ankle to rock before it rolls over or ligaments are torn/fractured.
jeevan_jandu@hotmail.co.uk
Daniel Robert Yates, UCLAN
Updating the 50 year-old school chair design, Daniel Robert Yates aims to keep brain activity high and health issues down
Pupils have the tendency to seat themselves in unsuitable positions which often leads to repetitive stain injuries and other heath issues. Slouching also reduces levels of brain activity and concentration while the current chairs used in schools are based on a 50 year old design. Daniel scrapped the old ideas and came up with the Poschair to combat other problems such as the variation in pupil height and, ahem, weight.
DRYates@uclan.ac.uk
Daniel McKenzie, Sheffield Hallam
Ideal for keeping an eye on rental properties or when you’re away from home – I’m sure Daniel McKenzie has other, more voyeuristic ideas too for his concept
EyeSpy is an easy to use, plug-and-go home surveillance system. The standard set comprises of two plug-in components which communicate through your existing home mains wiring. Isolating the recording device from the storage device makes the footage much more secure whilst the plug-in system means no unsightly wires. Programming is simple, and the system requires no permanent fixings making it suitable for rental properties.
danjmckenz@gmail.com
Michael Day, London South Bank
Michael Day hopes to keep children safe while offering the pond owner benefits in return
The Pond Sentry aims to warn those nearby if a child falls into a garden pond – something that sadly seems to make the news every summer – however, Michael’s device also has benefits for the pond’s owner, acting as an aerator, antifreeze device and heron deterrent to keep pet fish healthy.
info@michaeldaydesign.com
Gemma Hayhurst, UWE
By maintaining the herd, Gemma Hayhurst’s design should help reduce costs in small scale dairy farming
Back on the farm, Gemma has designed a device for inspecting and aiding the treatment of bovine hoof ailments. Cows are sturdy units and typically it takes three burly country gents plus an expensive vet to treat the large mammal. This way farmers (who normally let the cows go untreated before ‘losing’ them) are able to keep their herds at full strength without having to cough-up for a vet.
gemhayhurst@gmail.com
Thomas Theakston, Loughborough
Thomas Theakston’s alarm clock design helps monitor your sleep patterns, helping you nod off at night and wake up smoothly in the morning
Aura is an a multi sensory alarm clock, designed to create a custom atmosphere to optimise the user’s sleep. Working with a bio aromatherapy system the product is capable of reading and analysing the user’s sleep cycles with it’s attachable accelerometer (you stop moving = you’re asleep).
To help relax the user when they are going to sleep, the warm glow of the light will dim down to simulate a sunset when the alarm is set. The light will also progressively brighten, simulating a sunrise in the morning helping the user to wake up in a natural and gentle way. This function means that Aura can be used to help sufferers of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).
ttdesign@live.co.uk
