SCHOOLS PROGRAMME
Design Ventura
Design Ventura is a free, annual design challenge for students in years 9, 10 and 11, run by the Design Museum and supported by Deutsche Bank as part of its global youth engagement programme Born to Be.
Taking a competition format, students are challenged to design a new product for the Design Museum Shop. Teachers deliver the project in their schools, giving students the chance to tackle a real-world design brief and develop creative thinking, problem-solving, teamwork and enterprise skills, aligned to the national curriculum.
Each year the top ten shortlisted schools are invited to pitch their product ideas to a panel of expert judges. The winning idea is then made and sold in the Design Museum Shop, with all proceeds going to a charity of the team’s choosing.
Since Design Ventura launched in 2010, it has seen over 108,200 students from 2,400 schools participate and raised more than £14,600 for charity.
Support and benefits for registered schools
• Free teacher CPD sessions
• Free online resources, including workshop plans and films
• Free museum workshops supported by design and industry professionals for UK state schools
• Free online workshops led by museum educators for UK state schools based outside of London
• Flexible project structure that can be run in lessons, as an extra-curricular activity, a STEM/STEAM project or towards CREST award or Arts Mark
• Support from the Design Ventura team
• All participating students receive certificates
• The top ten ideas are displayed in a public exhibition at the Design Museum
• The winning team will work with professional designers to see their idea manufactured and sold in the Design Museum shop
• Separate International and Independent Schools Category
How to apply
Who can take part
• Students in years 9, 10 and 11
• Both UK secondary schools and British international schools can register for the project
• Minimum of 4 students per school, no maximum
• D&T, A&D, Business & Enterprise Students and related creative subjects
• International and Independent schools are welcome to participate but compete for a different, separate prize.
• Online Mini Challenge for students in years 7 and 8
What do teachers and students say?
‘I will be doing this project again. It gives a brilliant insight into the complexity of designing from a brief (good preparation for the NEA contextual challenges) and a wonderful opportunity for working as a group.’ Participating Teacher 2019/2020
'It made me realise that there is a lot more to designing than I originally thought and gave me a better idea of how the GCSE course work will be.' Participating Student 2019/2020
Background image: Design Ventura 21–22 winning product.