Thinking Outside the Box

Thinking Outside the Box

...and Inside the Box... and About the Box... and About the People Who Receive the Box...

Eighth-grade Innovation+Design student designers took on a project to design custom gift boxes for the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce’s high-end investors. In the process, students developed their skills in design thinking and earned real-world experience.

When students in Makerspace Coordinator Robby Stanley’s Innovation + Design class received the challenge criteria and constraints from their teacher, they were excited by the possibilities, despite how daunting the project seemed. Students were tasked with design custom gift boxes for the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce’s high-end investors. Along the way, students not only learned how to design for a laser cutter using a professional quality vector graphics software, but also honed their skills of time-management, problem-solving, and collaboration.

“It’s more than just a school project —it’s so much bigger than that. To get to produce something for a real client and learn computer software while we’redesigning something completely new was really exciting for us.”

—Molly Rivas Eighth Grader

The assignment challenged students to think critically and collaboratively about the client’s needs and constraints of time, budget, dimensions, and audience while flexing their creative muscles.

The Chamber requested their signature marketing material be able to fit inside the boxes, so it was critical the finished piece be approximately 250 mm x 300 mm x 130 mm. The Chamber staff also requested that the final design incorporate sustainable wood and possibly acrylic or metal accents. In addition, the class was to create 3.75" round leather coasters with a custom design incorporating the Chamber’s branding laser cut on the surface. The student-designed coasters were to be nestled in the boxes among the Chamber’s other promotional gifts.

With the design constraints and client wishes in mind, students went to work designing the boxes and creating their first prototypes. Once the prototypes were complete, students prepared a threeto five-minute presentation for the client.

The Jefferson Chamber’s Director of Investor Relations & Special Events Alex Zaroukian, Director of Membership Amanda Hoerner, and Director of Communications Emily Anderson listened to each team’s pitch, assessed all the designs, provided feedback on the prototypes, and made a final decision as to the design that best fit their vision.

Finally, the winning team was announced — Jenna DeLatte, Zoe Tatum, Caroline Spiers, and Molly Rivas — and informed that they would take the lead and guide the rest of the class through the production of the final product for the Chamber.

“When we first got together as a group, and when I saw how well we worked together, I had a feeling that we could be the winning team,” said DeLatte. “We were so honored that we had the opportunity to work together for a real-life client and to take the lead on producing our design.”

The team says they feel privileged to have been a part of this project.

“The Jefferson Chamber is so well known and so professional,” said Tatum. “We are so grateful that the Chamber chose to work with students and trust us to design and create these boxes for them.”

After the pitches were complete, the Chamber representantives met with the winning team to discuss the design and give feedback so the team could produce another iteration of the gift box.

“When they walked out with the box — with the way the hinges were designed — to see it come to fruition almost exactly the way we envisioned it, we were just blown away,” said Hoerner. “Their maturity level was incredible. I can’t believe they’re just in eighth grade.”

The winning team then took the lead and directed the rest of the design class through the production phase of the gift boxes. Due to their interest in leatherworking, Kiley Salge and Timothy Roberts stepped into the lead to produce the 200 laser cut leather coasters that feature the Chamber’s logo.

The students moved into the manufacturing stage, working diligently to finalize the design, laser cut the pieces, assemble, and perform quality control — turning The Gibbs Family Center for Innovation + Design into a mini-factory. They delivered their first batch of 10 boxes during the first week of November and produced the remainder in late November.

“We were learning a computer software program as we were working on this project, so there was a lot of trial and error and we stayed after school many days to get it all done,” said Spiers. “We had to focus and really pay attention to the details, even down to the millimeter.”

The team discovered just how important every millimeter is when the students had trouble assembling some of the early prototypes of the boxes.

“When we first started producing the boxes, some of the measurements were off by less than a centimeter and it affected about 10 of the final pieces,” said Spiers. “We had to figure out the issue and re-make all those boxes. It was in some of those mistakes where we learned some important lessons.”

Stanley says he is proud of how the students handled themselves throughout the process.

“Our students aregetting a glimpseof what it takes todevelop a productand bring it tomarket. I’m reallyproud of their efforts.”

—Robby Stanley Makerspace Coordinator

Overall, the team says, the project gave them a glimpse into the working world and helped them practice time-management.

“We spent a lot of time inside and outside of class working on this project,” said DeLatte. “We treated it like we were working for a business and this project was our job. It was difficult balancing our other school work and extracurricular activities while trying to produce the boxes, but we knew we had to work hard and be professional. I’m proud of how we worked together as a group. We learned so much through this process.”

For the Chamber’s part, they said they enjoyed working with St. Martin’s.

“I was impressed with this entire process... It is great real-world experience for these students.”

—Alex Zaroukian Jefferson Chamber of Commerce Director of Investor Relations & Special Events

DESIGN CHALLENGE

• How might we use the resources of our Center for Innovation + Design to custom design and produce original gift boxes for the Jefferson Chamber’s high-end donors?

• How might each design team satisfy the client’s needs, wants, and constraints both practically and creatively?

• How might we incorporate the Chamber’s signature marketing materials within our original designs?

• How might we deliver the product on time and within budget?

BUDGET $1,500

MATERIALS Sustainable wood, acrylic or metal accents, leather

PITCH DAY October 10, 2018

FINAL APPROVAL OF DESIGN October 12, 2018

DELIVERY OF MATERIALS Late Winter 2018