In August 2023, Grade 6 visited the Zoo Zurich to carry out primary research of the whole zoo, taking into consideration: the layout of the zoo, the animals in each zoned habitat (keeping in mind the future plans), identifying the textures in the plant life, and everything else that could inspire our project. The designs shared in this article are a result of the students creating a product that can be sold in the gift shop as a way for visitors to hold a memory of their visit to Zoo Zurich.

The time doing a project for the subject of Design can be a little overwhelming and cause some distress as each student strives to have a successful finish. Even though the students had a lot of moving parts and at times juggling these was difficult – I am really glad to say they all showed tremendous resilience and determination coming towards the end. In particular the students who used the after school catch up sessions, these can be a real game changer.

It is worth noting that all students received the same sized material, one piece beech wood and one piece acrylic plastic. Overall, I am delighted with the outcome of the project, and creativity did not shy away!

Emma has presented a wooden frame with the addition of a puzzle concept. This took a lot of preparation, with the use of Adobe Illustrator for the wood and plastic laser engraving and cutting, processing her given wood piece into thinner material, and cutting the wood to suit the size of the frame. 

Aditi shares with us her final product which is inspired by the direction signs you find when visiting Zoo Zurich. Aditi worked extremely hard on this project, and her attention to detail was very inspiring, and as a result created a great souvenir. 

Her journey involved the use of the laser engraver for embedding the font into the wood, processing the wood to make it less thick and to create more quantity of wood, chiseling a slot in the base for holding the post, and sanding the final pieces after gluing. The combination of processes has definitely prepared Aditi for more upcoming challenges in the subject of Design.

Additionally, the images above showcase the most common concept towards the product which includes laser engraving a design from Adobe Illustrator. After doing so, some students opted to fill in the engraved area with a black marker leaving a clearer image of the design. This technique is very effective with plastic, and hopefully it will be useful for future projects as this exposure is extremely useful for diversifying the skillset of our students and building their confidence when working with materials.