So this was our last project of the year in Maker was what we like to call Blue Sky.

So what is blue sky?

Blue Sky is a design based project. You get an allocated amount of time to come up with a design based on a problem or query you have. This year’s driving question for the grade eights was: “what is a problem a non PLP peer of yours has? And how can you fix it?

So we had to go out to the world, out of the PLP and find who has a problem.

The first problem found was: cadets don’t know how to wear their uniforms and the solution I came up with was to create a website with tip and tricks on how to get their unfiroms right. So I pitched to the teachers and… got rejected. Like full on: nope. But I’m glad they made me come up with a second idea.

 

The second problem I found was: Students in the band program can’t fit the music binders into their bag. So how can I help with that?

The solution I came up with was: I am going to create a waterprooof bag that is going to clip onto the outside of your bag. And can carry your sheet music. I pitched this concept to the teachers and they quite liked it.

So to create our design we used the L.A.U.N.C.H. cycle. In the L.A.U.N.C.H cycle we go through 6 different steps.

L: Look Learn and Listen (observe who has a problem, how can I solve it)

A: Ask questions (find out what’s your client needs and what would be best)

U: Understand the problem (Learn more about your project and start to think of ideas on how you can fix it)

N: Navigate ideas (start creating a prototype)

H: Higlight and fix (see what you can fix in your prototype)

To demonstrate how I used this cycle while creating my Pouch for Blue Sky I created a book. As you can see below:

 

 

Setting up for the exhibition

So as we do in the PLP whenever we work on a big project we normally present. In a big way, this time we presented Blue Sky by showing it in an exhibition. Then we were asssigned groups depending on the subject matter of our project. I was assigned to quality education which was a mostly school based group. Because of the fact that my project was something that you would use at school. So we were supposed to re-decorate our room. But since the Theme of our group was education and school and we were already in a classroom we didn’t have to change much.

My thoughts on the project and the exhibition

I thought it was a very interesting project, especially when we used the L.A.U.N.C.H cycle to create our project. I think it made the final product a lot better than before. Overall the exhibition was fun if not a bit long but sharing my work was fun.