Ben Stainsby
he/him
BA
I can say with confidence that the thing I admire most about myself within the world of design is having a good grasp of what I like and what I don't. It sounds simple enough but being able to trust my eye isn't a skill I've always had or always been able to rely on the way I do now. Instead, it is something I developed through interacting with design and art that inspires me, and figuring out why I don't like certain things rather than writing them off with a simple "its just ugly". My favourite example of 'good design' is a deck of playing cards. There's almost nothing else that gives such a degree of freedom to the user. Tens of thousands of ways to use 52 cards split into 4 suits, its simple, portable and infinitely designable through beautiful graphics.
Bamboo-Bot
The Bamboo-bot is a noise control device designed for KS1 classrooms.It allows teachers to keep their class quiet or encourage noise. A bot is placed with each group of children and the stalk of bamboo grows when the kids remain at the desired noise level. For example if the teacher would like silence, the bamboo only grows when it is silent in the surrouding area. When the students are at the desired noise level, the light at the top of the stalk glows, allowing them to self-govern their own noise more effectively. The pot acts as a storage system for whatever task the kids are completing, holding paint-brushes, pencils, pens or more, making it the hub of activity.
