Design Challenge and Design Ideas

“The B!G Idea is a free, 15 week creative-empowered TY programme launched in Jan 2021 with 500 students, 19 teachers and 101 industry experts. The programme aligned schools in Ireland with industry experts to mentor students through active creative projects. All programme materials, class content and resources were provided for free.

Students developed innovative solutions on the Housing Crisis, Pandemics, Ageing Population, Racism and Health & Wellbeing. This diversity in briefs communicated to students the power of design and creativity to affect change across multiple sectors of society. Our strong engagement with the creative industry and the alignment of briefs into the subcategories of Spaces & Places, Product, UX/UI, Wearables and Visual Communication also built students’ awareness of the breadth and impact of the creative disciplines.

In responding to the briefs, students engaged in a learning journey which was inclusive, active, collaborative, fun and challenged their perceptions and understanding of creativity. Students learned practical creative skills, adapted from the learnings of our creative industry mentors, required to both understand a problem and identify an opportunity. They worked towards developing a creative mindset to employ creative thinking beyond their experience of The B!G Idea.

The programme and learning materials were designed to be fully inclusive for teachers and students regardless of their prior learning or experience of creativity. We welcomed teachers from all subject disciplines and encouraged them to identify transferable cross-curricular links with creative thinking and the wider curriculum.

“I fundamentally believe that The B!G Idea programme provides students with the opportunities to develop themselves while working on projects that are of the utmost importance and relevance to them.” John Cullinane, Former Deputy Principal, Presentation De la Salle College, Carlow”