The winner of Design Ventura, the Design Museum’s competition for schools to create a real product to be sold, has been announced, with the 2020 title going to students from Heckmondwike Grammar School in West Yorkshire.
The winning design, named as Sow Beautiful, is a seed launcher which aims to bring the ‘buzz’ back to Britain using a seed launcher to grow wild flowers and combat the decline in British wild bees.
Sow Beautiful will now be sold in the Design Museum Shop from autumn, with all sale proceeds going to a charity of the student’s choice.
More than 270 schools participated in the programme and over 15,600 students between the ages of 13 and 16 took part.
The overall winner was selected from a shortlist of seven schools, who pitched their ideas to a panel of leading design and business experts including, critic, broadcaster and professor of fashion cultures and histories at London College of Fashion, Shahidha Bar.
Fiona MacDonald, head of learning at the Design Museum, said: “Sow Beautiful is a playful and appealing product for families that tackles the real-world problem of bee population decline.
“It will make a wonderful addition to the Design Museum Shop in autumn, during our Waste Age exhibition, where we will be showcasing the importance of design for a sustainable planet.”
The team of judges was impressed with the pupils’ pitch for Sow Beautiful, the rationale behind the product being to bring the ‘buzz’ back to Britain using a seed launcher to grow wild flowers and combat the decline in British wild bees and other pollinators.
There are a variety of workshops available on-site at the museum which support the National Curriculum for Design and Technology and are tailored for Key Stages 2, 3, 4 and 5. You can find out more information here.
