Next Gen: NTU's Class of 2026
This week we hosted a group of Second year design students from Nottingham Trent University’s Design course to present their final submissions for our live brief. Our Design Director, Steph, and Senior Designer, Julia, ran the project with the University over 2 months, offering support and insider know-how along the way.
At Robot Food we place a big emphasis on our ethos, ‘Challenge by Design’ — essentially, asking questions of the brief, of the brand, and of the world around you and not taking anything as a given — it’s a big driver in creating work that works, helping us hit the sweet spot of creativity and commercial success. It’s led to long-standing internal projects, such as Project Disrupt, where we look to challenge ourselves to re-think entire categories.
With that in mind, we wanted our brief to students to help get them into the spirit of ‘challenging’ too.
The Brief
Take a dull, boring, overlooked category. Research it. Think about it. Create a new brand to reinvigorate it.
“After a review of industry briefs, we reflected on what would be most beneficial for them on their journey into industry and wanted to give a real insight into designing commercial work, thinking both strategically and creatively with consumer and wider world insights in mind.”
Steph
Design Director
We were delighted to see the students thinking and a great mix of creative ideas through multiple categories from Mushy Peas to seeds and bleach. Here’s a quick peek at our highlights from the day.
SMASH – Unapologetic Mushy Peas by Lauren De Burgh-Thomas
A huge thanks again for all who took part, and to Rob (Senior Lecturer) for our continued relationship with the University.
Flick – Lights that set the mood by Diletta Cane
With many of our team starting out from NTU, we are always keen to see what new talent emerges and welcome being part of nurturing another year of new designers.
Rite – Redefining refined flour by Miroslav Glavchev
