The 10 Commandments according to Steve Jobs

All my pupils know how much of a fan I am of Apple products, Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive.  Here Is Steve Jobs advice in how to succeed.

Year 8 Steady Hand Games.

The Year 8 pupils have just completed their steady hand games.  They have worked really hard and have made great progress.  I have made some alterations to this project.  The packaging has developed and as a result the pupils have achieved higher levels than the previous format.  I am now looking to develop the game product further. Any suggestions?

Jellyfish lamp

A pupil and I have been working on creating a Jellyfish head for his controlled assessment. We have now completed the head. I like the way it twists slightly but this is wrong.  The cross-halving joint is loose and the centre disk will need to be recut a fraction smaller. the light coming out of this is very impressive and will look great in a living room somewhere.

iPod Docking station research

Yr 10 have homework set this week. They have to visit an electronics store and investigate existing iPod docking stations currently available on the market.  They have to take pictures and also find out if there are any similarities in the products, which is the biggest seller and price points for different consumer groups.

3.2 million dots

I saw this video and was amazed.  The quality of the image is fantastic and the quality of the graphics is also great.  The illustrator showed great focus in creating this. He must have the patience of a saint.

Where do good ideas come from?

I saw this on another schools blog and thought it was a interesting way of sharing information. I hope you find it interesting.

D&T at the NEC

Once a year I head down to the NEC to take a look at the Design and Technology show. Its great for picking up new ideas and getting inspiration for new projects. In these collages there are ideas for Yr 9 clocks, Yr 10 ipod Docks and Yr 11 lamps for controlled assessment. I hope they give you ideas.

Past Successes

Today I realised that we have been very successful as a department at nurturing talent and helping students achieve the very best.  Some students have truly excelled.  Here are our winners in the North West's Young Designer of the year Competition.

2008- Rachel Lightfoot (First)
Yasmin Jones (Did not place).

2010- Nicole Rouke (First)
Gemma Kettle (Third).

2011- Patricia Escano (Second)
Hollie Clarke (Did not place).

2008

2010

2011

Well done to all those who have competed.

GCSE Lighthouse prototype.

This pupil is creating a side lamp influenced by a lighthouse.  It will use polypropylene as the main body, this will have an advantage of being able to flat pack.  The pupil has chosen to create a hardwood oak base which will be turned on the lathe.

Complete Clocks

Year 9 have just completed a Design and make project creating clocks.  They were inspired by the Memphis design group.  Pupils created card prototypes and developed them into a acrylic final outcomes.  Pupils developed several hand tool workshop skills and were introduced to some GCSe processes such as routing.

GCSE pupil Achieving

This pupil is creating a lamp based on a cube design. It will be finger jointed together and lasercut to achieve an accurate and high quality finish.  The pupil has been inspired by circuit boards and the movie TRON. The pupil first created a card template to test the finger joints then cut his design out.  He plans to insert a yellow acrylic in the circuit gaps and place the design on a hardwood base.

First Post

Hi, My name is Mr Jones and welcome to the UCAN Product Design Blog. I will be posting photos of students work, inspiring videos and imagery and also asking questions of design.

Please enjoy what you see.  If you have any questions please contact me at
UCAN (University of Chester Academy Northwich). or email me at
rjones@rudheathhs.cheshire.sch.uk