Here's one we made earlier...
Blue Peter, the BBC Children's flagship programme, has long been famous for its wildly popular 'makes'. Presenters have been showing viewers how to make things with cardboard, fabric and sticky back plastic for years, and so a supply of new ideas is always sorely needed.

It all started back in 1962, when housewife Margaret Parnell sent in the very first idea for the section. To speed up segments on the show (and avoid live on-air embarrassment), some items would be pre-made - and the phrase 'here's one I made earlier' was born.

Parnell ultimately spent nearly 40 years devising more than 700 'makes' in total. Since her retirement in 2001 the Blue Peter production team have been creating their own makes, but coming up with a constant steam of ideas to capture the imagination of the target audience of 9-11 year olds is not easy.

Novel ideas by students
Flash forward to January 2009 and a visit to the Royal College of Art by Blue Peter producer Ewan Vinnicombe, arranged by RCA Business Fellow Melanie Howard. Vinnicombe met with Jeremy Myerson, head of InnovationRCA, and toured the studio environment of the College's Department of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE).

Ewan jumped at Jeremy's suggestion of RCA students coming up with some novel ideas of their own. So an IDE studio project was created to generate new makes. The opportunity to get their very own Blue Peter badge was 'even more exciting than getting my degree', as one of the students succinctly put it.

The brief to students was simple: the makes needed to be accessible and easily explained in clear, simple stages. Materials used needed to be affordable, recycled where possible, and easily found around the house. Only some items should be specially purchased for little cost.

A BBC presenter briefed the RCA designers on what was required and showed a film of some of the best - and worst - makes over the years. In particular the production team was eager to produce topical makes, so tying into news events or themed days such as Mother's Day or April Fool's Day.

IDE students are used to project briefings - they form the core of most, if not all of the projects the Department undertakes with external industry partners. Some projects are very commercial in focus, with the partner looking for immediately viable outcomes, and some are more 'blue-sky', with partners seeking an alternative design route into thinking about the future.

This, however, was something completely new - and yet very familiar indeed (to the British students at least). The designers took on the challenge with enthusiasm, and came up with some ingenious ideas, tailor-made to Ewan's requirements.

Iconic blue badges
The BBC liked six of the designs so much that they have already been, or are about to be, aired. These are: 'hideaway poo' by Pip Mothersill; 'mad eye' by Sarat Babu, Nick Reddall and Hermann Trebsche; 'doormat' by Nick Reddall; 'landspeed car' by Ross Atkin; 'money purse' by David Graham and 'catapult card' by Chris Holden.

While the seven IDE students didn't get to appear live on Blue Peter, they did get to visit BBC Television Centre in West London where the programme is based, and had an opportunity to show the presenters how their makes were, well, made. The design fee that each received from the BBC was also very much appreciated - though, unsurprisingly, not nearly as much as those iconic little blue badges.