Press Releases

Wyborne School New Pet Project

Students studying BA (Hons) Design (Products) and BA (Hons) Design (Interactions) were set the task of creating a product designed to assist young children in looking after their pets. To discover the ideal product, they approached their target market directly, and pitched their ideas to the toughest crowd imaginable: a classroom of 6-7 year olds.

Inspired by Omlet (http://www.omlet.co.uk), designers of easy-clean, easy-to-use animal hutches and houses, Ravensbourne course lecturers set about testing their students’ research and brainstorming abilities. Over the course of the 4-week project, students met and organised workshops with the Wyborne pupils to discover what the children found enjoyable and important about pet ownership.

Having worked with Wyborne pupils on a similar project last year, Associate Senior Lecturer Nadine Bennett knew it would be a success. Nadine said, “The students respond very well to this type of project – it takes some of the academic pressure off and really fires up their imagination. They learn much more about what is required to set up and manage a research project. In the final stages, they submitted ideas that they couldn’t have come up with without going through this process.”

A key example of this is Jamie Grater’s ‘TransPet’, a lightweight carrier which enables small pets to be easily transported to a friend’s or relative’s house. Jamie began to develop the idea after Wyborne pupils discussed the fun of taking their pet to their nan’s for Sunday lunch. Similarly, after setting up a workshop with the Wyborne pupils to allow them to roleplay as animals, Joseph Knowland was inspired to design a flexible cardboard playset to teach children about the behaviour and environments of various animals.



“The success of the project is testament to the calibre of the students we have on the course and the commitment they show to their studies,” continues Nadine. “The project provides an invaluable opportunity for our Design students to gain a real insight into the minds of a given target market.”
Before submitting their final projects, Ravensbourne students returned to Wyborne to present their ideas to the pupils. Their response was overwhelming enthusiastic.



“The experience of visiting a creative college at such an early age is, without doubt, invaluable,” says Vivienne Prince, who teaches at Wyborne School. “At Ravensbourne fifty-four Wyborne pupils had the opportunity to learn about materials, design and the machines that are used in the making process. The children were very keen to share their experiences of owning a pet, especially with their allocated Ravensbourne student with whom they quickly formed a bond – opening up with ideas, preferences and opinions more quickly than with they would with older ‘teaching’ staff. Several of them said they would like to come to Ravensbourne when they grow up, a sure sign of the great impression it has made on them.”



John Bridgend, Deputy Director of Children Services, Learning and Achievement (Greenwich Council), said: “Ravensbourne’s exciting initiative brought primary school children in direct contact with the designers of tomorrow. Students from Ravenbourne clearly fired the imagination and interest of Wybourne pupils and the students produced innovative design and technology work of a high standard.”

Michelle Douglas, Subject Leader (Design), said, “The fact this project has been so successful over the last two years, and that it has enjoyed positive feedback from visiting industry professionals as well as everyone involved, is very encouraging for our continuing plans to work with the Greenwich community on future projects next year, when we open the doors to our new premises at Greenwich Peninsula in October 2010.”