SP w5 Creative jam for students

Yesterday I was at an Adobe creative jam session with my students. This is a kind of competition. The place where it took place was Eindhoven during the Dutch Design Week. Tis was for the 6th time that we took our students there. And we did creative jams in other places as well.

The students together listening to the brief (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

This time 15 teams of students were made. The students of the different schools were mixed for the first time. That was because the 2 levels of education that were present and we had a school from Belgium, Austria and Sweden present and otherwise the students wouldn't het to know each other.

The client (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

The problem (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

Group of students got a problem and in 3 hours time they have to present a 2 minutes pitch with a solution. The problem was the Philips hue lights. You buy 3 (expensive) lights in one “startersbox". To have the experience Philips likes you to have you have to use the 3 lights in the same room. You can change the mood of the room by combining the colors of the lampen by using the app. But people who buy the box instal the lamps in different rooms. hat way they get one color in one room. They don’t read the text on and in the box.

Listening to the briefing with collegues from Sweden and the school where I teach (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

For the students (from 15 different schools and 4 countries in mixed teams) to come with a solution. The briefing was clear. We were told what the client already tried but didm't work using the app and planning a announcement in the box.

One of the teams working together (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

Brainstorm (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

Comparing ideas (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

About 8 agencies where present to help the group of students during their process (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

The client was present and their to answer questions (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

Talk with the client (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

Make illustrations for the presentation (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

Drawing (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

Every team had a "corner" (Photo@Joost van der Hoeven)

The idea of the winning team; you instal the lamp(in the different rooms) and it works fine but after a month the lamps start flickering. You go to the app because that is where you already change the color and you get the announcements that "nothing is really wrong but...." that to get the complete experience you have to install the lamps in the same room. You are asked to make a photo of your room and place the lamps virtual. You can than play with the colors of the different lamps to see what the possibilities are that you can get with the three lamps in the same room. The winning team were presenting their idea later that day again on a big stage at the Dutch Design Week event.

I thought the idee to be very clever. Almost all the croups had something with virtual reality. Most group came with changes for the box. Almost all the groups played with names. Combinations like "I wish hue a merry Christmas", "The experience for hue". "Single room kit", "the livingroom kit", "the bathroom kid".

About the presentations: all the groups had about 15 slides for the 2 minicues pitch. Often with one sentence. The next with one illustration or movie and then again one sentence. Really clean and to the point; speaking to the public. The text had colors or the brand was in color. Some groups made it more personal and come with an assistent or an avatar.

I am a Adobe Education Leader (AEL) and the teachers from the organising school ara also. The teachers from the Swedish, Austia and Belgium schools are AEL's. For us it is a great way to meet and we had dinner together in the evening.

For the students it is a great oppertunity to do a real pitch, to get to know each other. Did one of our students win? No but it happend that in the winning team there was an old student of mine, who went to another school after finishing ours.

One of my students talked with an agency about doing an internship with them and the other told me that he learned a lot about the way that he works together and communicates in groups.