Design Studio

Playing with Design

Seventh graders in Melissa Brady's Home and Careers class have been ideating items like shoes with removable heels so that Super Girl can run, a portable battery pack so that a robot can keep going, and mitt restraints for a werewolf who doesn't want to hurt people. Teams used paper, felt, glue, and scissors, as well as empathy, self-expression, and collaboration to come up with their inventions and prototype them.  

"Students did a wonderful job learning and applying design thinking to develop solutions based on user’s needs," said Brady. "They practiced observation and empathy to learn about their clients and constructed prototypes to communicate their ideas."

They shared the project with the school community this spring. 

Design Studio Showcase

The design process

innovative creations for extraordinary clients

Riley and Elizabeth selected Super Girl as their assignment. They knew that she cared about saving people and that she wore a red cape. Their ah-ha moment was this: while her cape is eye-catching, this girl is most likely cold. They developed a detachable warm vest for her to wear under her cape.

Kayla and Julia considered the dwarf and his unique needs. They saw from his picture that he had many tools which he used to help people. Because they knew firsthand what it was like when things fell out of their pockets, they designed a vest with expandable pockets just for him.

Maclain and Alec thought about the time traveler. They intuited that he couldn’t resist taking items from each moment he visited throughout history. He needed a two-tiered top hat in which to hide his contraband.