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By Zach28105 | 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.

Design Brief:
Designer(s): Zach McKinstry and Christian Davenport
Client(s): David W. Butler High School, Students
Problem Statement: Lockers aren't designed for students today, and they haven't changed in decades
Design Statement: Design, Build, and Test a innovative Locker that will be effective, and interest students today
Constraints: Prototype must be made by cardboard, Due by 10/30/15

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?

Zach28105's work for the Collect Information step:

Summary
We went to my locker and measured it. We discussed what we disliked about the locker, and initiated an idea that would make the locker better.
Most of these lockers are written on or dirty thanks to previous owners. As a locker owner, I do...
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Here is another example of a dirty, written-on locker. These lockers are 13 inches in depth, 2 feet...
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There are around 300 lockers in each hallway, which amounts to 1500 in the school.
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Over 50% of all lockers are not used, which means we can cut these lockers out and get more space...
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This is the only filter for bad smells in the entire locker. This means that if you leave your gym...
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The slanted tops to these lockers give the illusion that the lockers are bigger than they actually...
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Parts of the lockers are broken, and they are never fixed or checked. In this locker, 2 of the...
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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?

Zach28105's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:

Summary
We discussed the negative things about our locker and what we could do to make them more interesting to students. This approach was the optimist/pessimist method, and it seemed to have worked well.
These locks are outdated and old. To get in touch with new technology, we think that each locker...
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We think that it is too easy to write on lockers and make it permanent, so we thought it would be a...
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Since so many lockers are absent, we can expand the size of the locker, in width, to give it more...
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Since this is the only filter, we though that we would have a separate storage department for bad...
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Since lockers now break easily, we would make our lockers more sturdy, and efficient.
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We decided that we would remove hooks in all lockers, because no one really uses them. Instead, we...
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Our locker will also be bigger in size and won't be as easy to dent, as you see in this...
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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.

Zach28105's work for the Develop Solutions step:

Summary
We debated about what are best brainstorm ideas were, and used the best ideas for our locker.
We started with a large cardboard box. This box was perfect size for the locker we want to build...
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This box is also perfect size to fit a bookbag, because of the expanded width
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There is enough room in the box to fit a shelf that could fit all of your classes books and such.
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We changed our original design to one taped together door, that was more locker appropriate.
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We colored the locker to the more appealing colors of red and blue.
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We added the colorless lock which unlocks with student ID badges to update lockers with the modern...
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We added filters at the top shelf along with a heater and cooler to keep your food and beverages...
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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!

Zach28105's work for the Final Design step:

Summary
We finally came up with a locker consisting of most of our brainstorming ideas for the best possible outcome
Our final product is red and blue because these are popular colors
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We used half size for our prototype, so it will be bigger in real life.
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Our shelf can fit all of your classes, and seperate them for quick access.
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Our top shelf and cooling and heating provides warmth or coolness for food.
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The removable part of the shelf allows vast space
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Our ID badge lock is new and modernized.
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Our final product is successful.
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