MAP Project Office

Collaborating with Fortnum & Mason and Wolff Olins, we created the Hamperling. This quirky and innovative take on the traditional hamper was successfully designed to boost summer sales for Fortnum & Mason at events such as the Serpentine Pavilion cafe. A smaller Hamperling is also being used at the new St Pancras station Tea Salon.

We created a distinctive cardboard wrap containing simple re-usable stacking trays to carry drinks, lunch or afternoon tea for one or two. The large Hamperling also includes metal cutlery and a bespoke waterproof table cloth.

We designed the industrial design look and feel of all the interactive experiments in Chrome Web Lab, a unique year-long exhibition that existed simultaneously online and at the Science Museum, London. Web Lab gave over 570,000 visitors the opportunity to learn how the web works through playing with physical experiments demonstrating its key principles.

This ground breaking project was a multi-agency collaboration with our friends at Google Creative Lab, Tellart, Universal Design Studio, B-reel and Bibliothèque.

We worked with Made by Many on Hackaball, a smart and expressive ball. It’s aimed at 6-10 year olds who can program it using a companion iPad app, invent whatever games they can imagine and upload them wirelessly to the ball to play with. The ball can sense motions like being dropped, bounced, kicked, shaken or left perfectly still.

Children get to hack the ball on a free iPad app that lets them program different colourful lighting effects, sound effects or the rumble pattern of the vibration motor - seeing their creativity come to life instantly. Our challenge was to design a form that was not only robust, flexible and accessible but also tactile and beautiful. Hackaball introduces children to technology in a way that stimulates their creativity and encourages physical play. Kickstarter

We worked with London Tech City company Kano to design a hands-on computer and coding kit that you can make yourself. Our approach was to make the product intuitive and accessible for children, as well as being small enough to post through a letter box.

We developed the kit as a complete experience, with customised components, and packaging designed to be kept for storage. We designed a unique wireless keyboard with built-in touchpad and colour-coded mouse buttons making it easier for children to use.

We were approached by Sabi to find product opportunities that would extend their brand into home accessories. Through research we identified the problems that users commonly faced, particularly in rented accommodation, and how better design could meet their needs.

Sabi Space is a family of bathroom products that could be installed by anyone, on any wall surface. The core product is a universal peg, which attaches to any surface with high strength 3M adhesive. A range of 11 accessories including, mirrors, shelves, shower caddy, toiler roll holder, hanging rail, towel rail and coat hanger can all be mounted from the universal peg.

We used design thinking to recreate the entrance environment for visitors at the London Science Museum, and to encourage higher donations. We analysed the flow of visitors on arrival, and observed that visitors simply walked past existing donation boxes.

We created two pieces of bespoke furniture. A transversal reception desk funnels visitor flow, allowing staff to greet visitors and take donations. A second circular desk provides information. The new design immediately increased donations and guidebook sales year-on-year.

We collaborated with the Virgin Atlantic Design team to create a new Economy meal service. Our research-based approach improved the passenger experience, saved space and weight, and reduced emissions.

We reduced the tray size by a third, introduced a non-slip tray surface that keeps items in place and negates the need for a paper liner. We designed bespoke crockery and cutlery and a new drinking glass.

We worked with the Virgin Atlantic Design team to add some British-themed luxury to the Upper Class meal service. Our design strategy was to improve the serving process for crew and passengers, and to design products that reinforced the Virgin brand.

We designed a new tea and coffee pot, focusing on ergonomics: a stable grip, smooth pouring action and a lid that identifies the contents. We created a bespoke cake stand to serve traditional English afternoon tea for each passenger. The cake stand can be quickly assembled, and stored away easily.

We were approached by Japan Creative to develop a design strategy and design a prototype to showcase Yamaha’s thin, light and flexible speaker technology, TLF; a 1.5 mm thick lightweight panel with very directional sound. We developed an installation for experiencing sound in a new way.

Our prototype design was an array of TLF panels hanging from a very thin metal frame. Each panel plays a recording of synthetic singing voice using Yamaha’s VOCALOID technology, which mix together into a complete choir at a focal point, marked on the floor.