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Design A Locker

By jasontola | S Design a new school locker

Overview Instructions

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That thin metal box at school where you cram all your stuff? Lockers aren't designed for students today. In fact, the design of lockers hasn't changed since the days of your great grandparents!

But in the School of the Future things could be different. Reimagine the design of a 21st century locker you would need as a Maker. A locker you could use to keep all of your stuff for making!

Let's get started on the challenge to redesign your school locker.

Lockers are no longer functional in today's world

Collect Instructions

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Gather more information about your existing school lockers by taking photos, sketching, conducting interviews, or doing additional research.

Think About

  • What is the purpose of a school locker?
  • How has the way you use a locker changed since you first started school in kindergarten, for example?
  • How many times do you visit and open your locker each day?
  • Do teachers or school administrators have any safety or security concerns about lockers?  What are they?
  • What types of materials is your locker constructed from?

Try This

  • Take photos of a row of your school's lockers.  Open your own locker and take a photo of what's stored inside.
  • Make a list of all the features your locker currently has. (Examples: hooks, air slots, etc.)
  • Make a list of all the items you currently keep in your locker on a typical day.
  • Next to each item, make notes about what 'needs' that item has.  (Examples: my sweaty gym clothes need to kept away from my other things; my iPod needs electricity to be charged; my winter boots need a place to drip dry)
  • Make a list of all the items you wish you could store in your locker, but don’t have room for.
  • Measure the length, height, and depth of your current locker.
  • Measure the length, height, and depth of your backpack, books, coat / shoes, and other large objects you typically keep inside your locker.
  • Measure the width of your school's hallway.  How much of this width is taken up on both sides of the hallway when students stand in front of their open lockers?
  • Read this Washington Post article to learn more about some of the complaints students have with their lockers today.
  • Visit the websites of a few manufacturers to see various types of lockers currently made.  What do you like or dislike about these examples?

jasontola's work for the Collect Information step:

Summary
Think About: *What is the purpose of a school locker?
Try This: List of Features: 4 hooks, 3 number combination lock, a spot to put a regular...
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Some items stored in a locker.
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A locker with no items in it.
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A row of the larger lockers in the 900 building.
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Brainstorm Instructions

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Develop sketches or models to help you puzzle through new ideas and solutions.

Think About

  • Make a list of all the things you like about your current locker.  Ask several friends for their opinions.
  • Make a list of all the things you dislike about your current locker.  Ask several friends for their opinions.
  • Think about your locker not just as a metal box, but as another type of container.  What other types of containers do you use each day to store stuff?  (Examples: containers for food, clothing, household items)
  • Many animals, insects, and plants use containers to store things (Example: bees use honeycombs).  Check out some of the images in the Inspiration Gallery for other ideas of strorage units.
  • Keep in mind that your newly-designed locker will be one of many along the hallway.  How will these individual units all fit together?  How will several students use their lockers at the same time without bumping into each other?

Try This

  • Based on the information you collected above, brainstorm a list of special features you’d like your new locker to have.
  • Make lots of sketches to get your early ideas down on paper.  Learn from each different idea. 
  • Consider what materials the locker will be made from.  What materials will be durable against the wear and tear of student use over the years?

jasontola's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:

Summary
Things to Like: The hooks are a good feature, and the size of the lockers in the 900 building are fair, but the lockers in the Main Building are smaller. There are no other outstanding features.
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Not Just a Metal Box..... The backpack is the most common container used by students. Another...
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Some Locker Inspiration: I see that lockers don't have to be a square shape, and they can...
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List of special features we have come up with: Minifridge(optional) Safe inside 2 Shelves on...
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How Will Students Use the Locker? We have decided that square/rectangular lockers are still the...
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Develop Instructions

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Now's the time to take what you've learned from the steps above and develop your own solution for a new locker.

Try This

  • Use recycled cardboard to make a full-scale or half-scale prototype model of your locker.  You can't really understand if the locker will hold all your stuff, until you make a quick study model.  Don't worry about making a fancy finished model at this time. Instead, use cardstock, scissors, and tape to quickly create the large 3D form. See how it looks. Break off different sections, add new pieces, and try new ideas. Take photos of your model.
  • Sketch or use software such as Google SketchUp, AutoCAD, or Revit to put your ideas on paper.

jasontola's work for the Develop Solutions step:

Summary
We pulled ideas from our braingstorming, and came up with some new ones along the way. After that, I provided the cardboard for us to build the locker and we designed the locker in
Electronic Copy of our locker.
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Our locker consists of many accessories that a normal high school student would need. Some features...
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Front face view.
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Double inside view of locker.
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Inside box portion of locker.
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Inside door view.
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Final Instructions

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The final step of the design process is to create a more finished model that communicates your ideas to others.

Try This

  • What color or colors will your locker be? What colors have inspired you?  Add colors to the digital model of your locker.
  • What materials will your locker be made of?  Choose materials and details to add to your digital model.
  • Include a human figure in your final locker model, so we can see how big your locker really is.
  • Upload additional images of your finished locker model to the slides for your project.  Write short captions explaining your ideas.
  • Congratulations on solving this design challenge!

jasontola's work for the Final Design step:

Summary
The Final Step.
Colors are a representation of who we are. That's why, as mentioned earlier, the lockers are...
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The lockers will be made of mild cold rolled steel, while the hinges are made of stainless steel,...
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View of both the inside and inside door.
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View of the inside storage area with items stored inside. The WiFi node can be seen at the top.
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View of the inside of the door.
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Chad the Model posing with the Almighty Locker.
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