Name: Scott Mighall

 

Project Name: A children’s product that has the ability to create and store memories.

 

Project Info: Role-play and imaginative play are key elements to any child as they grow. Sadly, many modern toys are based from current fictional characters allowing children little creativity when it comes to play – almost defining the way in which a child is able to play.

 

Simplicity is key to allowing a child’s imagination to run free and allow the object to become what ever they wish at that moment in time. The product has a few simple components that are designed to work together to form an aesthetic appeal that is unique. This can then be used in a variety of combinations, such as a rocker, a ride on or simply as a stool. With a child’s imagination this product can become anything by utilising the surfaces to draw upon, and the hidden magnets to add on created items, allowing them to create an endless number of items of play. As they develop the product evolves, shedding a layer to become something new that they can continue to play with. This culminates in the last layer being removed at an older age and the simple object becomes a piece of furniture that can sit comfortably in any home. Naturally, simply by association the product will remind the owner of the memories they had when they played with the item as a child, and the quality of the product will make it an item that the user becomes emotionally attached to and not one that will be forgotten with time.

 

Bio: "Enjoy failure and learn from it. You can never learn from success" James Dyson

 

James Dyson has always been an inspiration to me, and this quote was pinned to the wall of the design department at my old school, Christ’s Hospital (Horsham). Having seen it constantly over the 7 years I was there, it left a significant imprint on me as a designer and is definitely something that I have bought into my own personal journey into the design world. Ten years after entering the workshop at school I still have the same passion and excitement at been able to use many practical skills to generate something that satisfies a given brief.

 

More recently, my studies at the University of Sussex have allowed me to grow my passion and develop more in-depth philosophies as a product designer some of which include simplicity and minimalism. These tend to be the core to my designs allowing the user to really define their relationship with the product.

 

It’s not what you put in, but what you leave out