Shin Shields

As you may know, at the end of each year, PLP holds an exhibition where we, the students, showcase our Blue Sky project. The idea behind Blue Sky is to create a product that solves a problem. Our job is to come up with a question, or problem, and decide how we should go about creating g something to solve/help that problem. It’s a project where we get a lot of creative freedom so it always brings out the best in us.

This year, the problem I chose was yet again a problem to do with sports, and one that I have experienced. Instead of going right in to thinking of a product, I realized the purpose of Blue Sky was to first think of the question and then think of the product, not the other way around. Through a series or brainstorming activities and documents, I came up with a few HMW (How Might We…) questions. My questions were:

How might we make mountain bike safety more inconspicuous?
How might we make mountain bikers more inclined to wear protective clothing?
How might we create a product that provides protection while still looking ideal?

The problem I was trying to tackle was the problem of mountain bikers scarring their shins as a result of their pedals bashing and hitting them. I myself have had a pretty bloody experience and I wanted to find a practical way to solve the problem. You may be thinking, “Well Daniel, those are already a thing” and yes you’re right, but you’re also wrong. You see, there are products on the market that can solve this problem, but while doing so, they create even bigger problems.

The most common product that people buy for this issue is big bulky shin pads that make you look like a halo character while providing no mobility. I have used these in the past, but have since stopped using them for numerous reasons; they are super uncomfortable, provide no mobility, and make you look like a Joey. All these reasons have made it so that many people including myself, exchange shin pads for just a pair of knee pads, sacrificing the protection of our shins for overall practicality. The lack of interest in shin pads is so clear, I don’t know any mountain biker that wears them, and the sales of shin pads versus knee pads isn’t even a competition.

From this point on it was all bout creating the prototypes. My first prototype was a Keynote with the use of Magic Moves that basically outlined and showed what the product is. I identified the problem and through the use of Magic Moves I showed how the product would work and what it would look like. This prototype ended up being a really cool spectacle at the exhibition so I’m glad I opted for a Keynote as my first prototype.

My second prototype was the first of two physical iterations. It was a pretty basic, raw prototype to be honest. I took two random socks I had at my house and found a piece of mountain bike padding I had left over from some of my protective-wear, I then put one sock in the other, so it was like a double-lined sock, and I put the padding in between and closed the opening with hot glue. Although this prototype was really unprofessional looking and all, it served the purpose it was supposed to; being functional. After creating this prototype I realized there were many flaws such as the fact that the double lining made it pretty uncomfortable as well as the fact that the padding couldn’t come out so it would be hard to wash, take off, etc.

The third and final prototype of mine was obviously the best, as well as the most thought out. I took inspiration from products similar to mine from other sports such as soccer, and used the idea of having a removable shin pad. Instead of using two socks, I just used one and took another rectangular piece of sock and attached it inside of the main sock for it to be used as a pouch for the shin pad to slip in to. This way it could stay in place and not let other objects such as pedals change its place as well as the sock’s. To make it more personalized, I created a logo for the name of the product; Shin Shields and made a stencil of it and then painted the logo in white on the front of the sock. There are many things I would do differently if I continued to make prototypes and/or put this thing in to production. I would probably first make the padding more comfortable as well as making sure it protected all the necessary areas. Even though there are things to improve, I was very happy with the way it turned out.

Alright, now its time to discuss the exhibition! I’ll just start by saying it went great, I was really happy with how everything went, and the general level of acceptance and positive reception towards my project was definitely reassuring. I usually don’t do a poster board type project for the exhibitions because it’s not very creative, but paired with the creative uses of a mannequin leg model to display the product and Keynote Magic Move presentation integrated in to the poster made for an engaging exhibit.

I’ll be honest, going in to the exhibition I was worried my product was too similar to products that already existed in other fields, and I was expecting people to comment on that. However when it came for the exhibition, the way fellow mountain bikers spoke about the lack of product that solves the problem made it much easier to be proud of what I did. I think my peers just didn’t have a good idea of what I was trying to achieve so they just thought I ripped off another idea, but in reality I did actually create something that does not exist.

To wrap it up, Blue Sky was once again a success. I think all of us from grade 8 to 10 all did a great job of showcasing the hard work we have accomplished over the past stressful month. I’m glad I got to work on something that was special to me and something I actually cared about, it made for a greater urge to succeed.