Designing for the Future is an initiative run by The Future Perfect Company and invites students from the University of Brighton’s College of Arts & Humanities to take part in a competition to develop innovative new products and design concepts to benefit our ageing population, and to create innovative and attractive designs which allow older people to continue to live meaningful, enjoyable, active and independent lives.
Chair of the South East England Forum on Ageing, Peter Dale, believes that the competition is an important tool in bridging the gap between young and old: “Ageing needs to be better understood by younger people and the Designing for the Future Competition is a real example of how this can be achieved. The innovation demonstrated by the entrants is always impressive, but most of all their designs reflected a sense of understanding about what their own futures may hold. Ageing is the future for all of us and for these students, as a result of this competition, it will hold much less fear than for many of their contemporaries.”
Students that have taken part in the competition have come from Design & Craft BA and MA, Product Design and the School of Computing Engineering and Mathematics studying BSCs in product design engineering.
Previous Designing for the Future participants have gone on to win further awards and establish their own design studios and workshops. Former student Chloe Meineck won a residency at the Design Museum for her Musical Memory Box first developed as part of the Designing for the Future brief. Joshua Barnes, another alumni, won the prestigious Design Council Future Pioneer Award for his augmented reality communication quilt, which had its origins in his from the project.
The winners receive a package of mentoring and support to help them to develop their products and ideas further and emulate the success of previous Designing for the Future alumni. The network also aims to create opportunities to DFF alumni.
The Future Perfect Company website
