Make 10 Marketplace Keeps Getting Bigger and Better

Student at workbench in a workshop. A batch of granite lamps are arranged on the table in front of him.
December 3, 2024

Make 10 Marketplace, the School of Industrial Design marketplace for student-designed and -manufactured products, continues to grow in size and complexity.

"Last year, we had about 22 students selling products. This year, I think we're at 34," said Stephen Chininis, professor of the practice in the School.

For 2024, Make 10 Marketplace, held Dec. 12 in the atrium of the West Architecture building, starts at 6 p.m. and continues throughout the Launchpad Design Showcase that evening. Anyone who attends has an opportunity to purchase the products directly from the students who made them.

The event is the culmination of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship class, ID 3803, in which students have to design a product and manufacture ten of them for sale. Chininis started the initiative to bring practical manufacturing concerns to the students' studio work, he said. "Time management is a big part of it, and we also get into doing a bill of materials. For example, if it's glued, which glue did you use, and how much, and how much time does it take to glue it?"

"Students quickly figure out that if you design something that takes a lot of sanding, you're in trouble, because you don't have that kind of time, right?"

These concerns have become more crucial as student projects have become more involved. "This year we've also had some additional experimentation with more complex projects," Chininis said. "Someone's doing speakers, and somebody else is doing a detachable keyboard for people with carpal tunnel issues."

"One student found a source for waste granite and figured out a way to water jet through it and make a lamp out of it. So we have a lot of people who experiment with material and somehow something new comes out of it."

Learning what it takes to bring their products to market pays off for the students. Students have taken work from Make 10 to CREATE-X, and Julia Pina's Novella Lamp, a storytelling toy for kids, went on to win the InVenture Prize. "It's like a tiny startup that teaches you how to try bigger startups," Chininis said.

Atlanta-based design firm Orange Sparkle Ball sponsors the Orange Sparkle Ball | Make 10 Award. The award, which champions hands-on learning, particularly acknowledges products demonstrating innovation, manufacturability, and marketability. Winners receive cash prizes to encourage their continued product development post-graduation.

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