Talented students who beat off competition from more than 300 secondary schools to win a national contest have seen their winning entry go on sale at the Design Museum.

Creative [Un]blocks was the idea of Amillie, Jemma, Toby and Rachael from Twynham School in Christchurch.

It was declared the winner of Design Ventura 2019, the Design Museum and Deutsche Bank’s free design and enterprise competition.

The contest challenged students in Years 9, 10 and 11 to design a new product with the winning product manufactured and sold at the Design Museum shop.

The aim was to use their creative and entrepreneurial skills by designing and developing a real product for a real target audience.

The brief specifically asked students to improve an aspect of everyday life for families, adult design enthusiasts or young people while also considering sustainability.

Addressing all of these groups Creative [Un]blocks is both a fun family game and a solution to the age old problem of creative block.

Creative [Un]blocks. Picture: Triple Double creative studio.

When rolled the resulting combination creates a design brief that players have 60 seconds to answer – kick starting the design process.

In keeping with the sustainability goals of the programme, the product includes minimal, fully recyclable packaging.

The students personally selected the Rainforest Alliance UK as the charity they wanted to benefit from sales of the game.

Creative [Un]blocks, formerly known as Design Cubes, was developed and launched during lockdown.

After pitching their idea, the team from Twynham School participated in the development process with designers from Triple Double creative studio over a series of Zoom calls and socially distanced meetings.

The product has now been launched online via the Design Museum Shop at a cost of £5.95.

Lareena Hilton, Global Head of Brand & CSR, Deutsche Bank, said: “As we find new ways to work and live, it is increasingly important to develop creative thinking and enterprise skills in future
generations.

“Developed and launched during lockdown, Creative [Un]blocks shows the adaptability, resilience and creativity of young people and the ability of the Design Ventura programme to do exactly that.

“I hope the product goes on to inspire a host of budding designers, creatives and young entrepreneurs up and down the country.”

Joseph Halligan, Co-Founder of the Turner Prize-winning design collective Assemble and one of the judges, said: “Creative [Un]blocks really stood out because it provided a simple and elegant solution to every designer’s worst nightmare, creative block.

“The students addressed all of the key elements of the brief: target audience, materials and sustainability, budgeting, branding and packaging.

Creative [Un]blocks pictured with other Design Museum merchandise.

Inspired by Creative [Un]blocks the Design Museum in collaboration with Triple Double creative studio has also launched The Idea Machine, an online learning tool for budding designers which challenges them to respond to a randomly generated creative brief in 60 seconds.

The Design Museum is the world’s leading museum devoted to contemporary architecture and design.

Its work encompasses all elements of design, including fashion, product and graphic design.

Since it opened its doors in 1989 the museum has displayed everything from an AK-47 to high heels designed by Christian Louboutin.

It has staged over 100 exhibitions, welcomed over five million visitors and showcased the work of some of the world’s most celebrated designers and architects including Paul Smith, Zaha Hadid, Jonathan Ive, Frank Gehry, Eileen Gray and Dieter Rams.