Blue Sky 2018

Final blog post of the school year. It’s come down to it, and I’m very excited to have a break! However, I will also miss all the people I won’t see. Anyway, this blogpost is going to be about or final blue sky project. If you didn’t know, we already had a smaller exhibition earlier this year, in December. That exhibition was based around, Star Wars, because the new star wars came out at that time. Also, last year we did 2 exhibitions as well. The first one last year was about global warming, and then about a target audience. All those have led up to this exhibition. 

What is blue sky?

Blue sky is a project where you come up with, or better an already existing, product. This product must help solve and fix a problem. Usually, you are able to choose a certain area, or topic, that you would like to focus on. This year, this was our driving question:

How can you design a solution to a problem within a department/

area (e.g. kitchen, office, car)?

I decided to choose cosmetics and health. Originally, I wanted to focus in the cosmetics aspect of this category, however, I figured there was more opportunity in the health aspects. 

With this project, we followed what was called the Launch Cycle. The launch cycle is the process we use when creating the perfect project. Each letter in the word launch stands for something. 

L – Look, Listen, and Learn

To start off this project, at the very beginning, we did an exercise called the Chair Exercise. With this exercise we were challenged to think outside the box. We were to make different chairs for different peoples needs. For example, we had to make a comfortable chair for a student that sits at a desk for 6 hours a day. Or, we were to make a comfortable, sturdy, and supportive chair for an elder that might have back problems. We created these chairs with many materials, such as play-dough, straws, and toothpick. This activity was to get our creative flow going.

Then, we started to come up with our own ideas. We need to brainstorm, and then complete a project pitch form. This form is something we were to fill out, and it contained all the information about our project. For my project, I came up with the idea to create a bandage. Now, I didn’t know exactly what the bandage was going to entail, however, I knew the problem I would be tackling. 

A – Ask Tons Of Questions

The next step is to ask tons of questions. For this part of the cycle, we had to complete at least 1 interview. I decided to do 3, I would be interviewing a doctor, a nurse, and a pharmacist. Most of them said that they liked my idea for the bandage, and that all they would change is to make more sizes! Here is one of the interviews I did:

U – Understand the Problem

I also had to complete lots of research. I had to figure of what materials and tools I could use for the final product. I also had to research different ways I could package the product, as if I were going to sell it. 

N – Navigate Ideas

With this project, I had many ideas for how I could show it to people, and show the problem I was fixing. I also had to think about how i could make sure that my message came across, that I was fixing the problem of having too many unused bandages. 

C – Create a Prototype

For my first prototype, I used sticky felt as my bandage. However, I realized I couldn’t rip felt, therefore making it impossible to perforate. Instead, I found this material in my house that was clear and sticky, and I thought is was perfect. It was very easy to perforate and ripped very well. 

Now, you are probably wondering, how did I perforate the bandage? Well, I did t just poke holes in it for hours, I actually found a tool that is almost like a pizza cutter, but it was bumpy edged, do instead it poked holes into the material. 

H – Highlight and Fix

I took all of the feedback I got from my peers, and my interviewees. All the feedback made my project the best it could be!

LAUNCH!

Now, it’s the day if blue sky. Today was pretty stressful, but our setup turned out great. I was put into the physical health category. In our group, we had people doing things about sports, and others doing things for health/medical aspects of health. We split our room into two parts, the sports side and the hospital side. I was in the hospital side, and we made it as if the guests are in the sports side, and then they get injured, so they need to go to the hospital. It was a very cool concept, and it was so much fun decorating. 

And of course, i had to make my own set up for my individual project. I created a poster board and video for my project.