Six students, from the University of Kent’s HND and BA (Hons) Top-Up courses had their designs selected from thousands of entries to make the winners’ list of 40 in the national Design Factory competition, the annual multi-disciplinary project for BA design students set by the Design Museum in London. One design, by James Li, appeared in the top 10 of all entries. The winners get to spend the day networking at a workshop and seminar held at the Design Museum, where they will benefit from collaborative experience with other winners and designers.

In previous years, the School of Music and Fine Art franchised courses, based at the Tonbridge campus of West Kent College, have also produced winners. The student classes spent a month working on the Design Factory brief: ‘Make It Different’ – rethinking the way designs are made in order to help produce a better and more sustainable future.

The three winners from the BA (Hons) Top-Up course were:

• Jonathan White designed an app that helps contact the nearest wildlife rescue centre. He consulted rescue centres and vets during his design process and hopes that the app can be made into a fully-functioning one as soon as possible.
• Kirsten Herpe, also a winner in last year’s competition, invented a game-like points system for encouraging the choosing of healthy school meals. Kirsten is going to train as a design teacher when she graduates later this year.
• Fred Sirman invented a collectible bootleg toy that is made from old Simpsons dolls mixed with superhero figures. Fred has won twice before.

There were two winners from the HND Year 2:

• Ricardo Olmos, who mocked-up a virtual reality visualiser that shows beach-goers the dangers of littering.
• James Li, who produced a design for a skin-thin smart device screen that is embedded in the hand.

Finally, the winner from HND Year 1 was Ed Clarke, who designed an eco-friendly shoe that produces energy as it is worn.

School of Music and Fine Art Lecturer and Partner College Liaison Officer Tim Meacham said, “This is a fantastic achievement, particularly as the courses are competing nationally against much larger institutions. The awards are a testament to the students, the quality  of teaching and the dedication of the staff.”