Design students rise to the challenge of creating wooden toys for Areaware

Another year, another edition of Metaproject. The brainchild of designer and Rochester Institute of Technology professor Josh Owen, the annual student challenge lands hopeful industrial designers an actual project with a real client. For Metaproject 03, the client in question was Areaware, the NYC-based producer of everyday objects which we've featured prominently in our Shop. The brief? Create contemporary wooden toys for an adult audience.

Areaware Creative Director Laura Young supervised the students throughout the course of the semester. "I visited with the class several times over the course of the semester, which included a rigorous concept critique where I reviewed collections of drawings and models from each student and addressed the students as a whole on what worked, what didn’t and why."

The resulting objects display some real creativity, showing the interesting things that can be done with a simple material. The winner was James Paulius, whose "Blockitecture" design (above, first photos) features hexagonal blocks that nest together in various formations, allowing users to enhance their understanding of physical laws by using their creative and imaginative processes.

View a selection of the rest of the Metaproject 03 entries above. Credits below:

1. James Paulius (first place)

2. Jay Liu (second place)

3. Aaron Jackendoff

4. Blair Prietz

5. David Buchanan

6. Kevin D'Amico

7. Paula Garcia

(via Design Milk)