For the second year running, I am delighted that Designed for Life was recorded live at New Designers in London in early July.

I know some listeners won't be familiar with New Designers (https://www.newdesigners.com/), so what is it, and why is it so important?

New Designers is the UK's leading annual graduate design exhibition, showcasing the work of over 2,500 emerging designers across disciplines like product design, textiles, graphics, and contemporary crafts. Held in London every summer, it's a chance for newly graduated students to showcase their work, meet other students, and hopefully meet industry professionals who can help them enter the industry and sometimes assist with arranging interviews and work placements... It's a big deal!

This year, the quality of work demonstrated was, in my opinion, as varied across sectors and as high in quality as it has ever been (interestingly, that's not the opinion of some people online).

In this podcast, you'll hear a range of short conversations with students presenting at the show. I wandered the show, taking in all the presentations, and then went back to those that caught my eye, subjective, I know but hopefully I have managed to pick a pretty diverse group to talk to across materials and sectors.

Obviously, to gain full benefit from the pod, you also need to see the products described. We will put these on our website and add a link at the bottom of the show notes when it goes live.

Just two of the designers featured on this pod:

Freddie Bowhill
Fbowhilldesign. com

A purpose-built, fully inflatable rooftop tent for the weekend warrior to embrace the outdoors without the faff. Designed for the 17-year-old fresh from their test. The grandparents on kid duty. The full-time worker chasing two days out of seven. Structured weeks, narrow windows, every hour to count. Grab it from the closet, throw in the boot, pull over, pump it up, sleep anywhere. At 12kg and pitched in under two minutes on any roof bar, A-FRAME is the lightest, fastest, and most compact rooftop tent on the market. Built to be repaired. Built to CHASE THE FEELING.

Freja Malle Høyer

Instagram: frejamalle.embroidery .

Sit back and listen to Designed for Life, recorded live at New Designers 2026

To see some of the images mentioned on this podcast, visit Designed for Life - New Designers 2026 | D&T Association

3D printing has gone from strength to strength in recent years within UK schools and is now firmly established as one of the major tools used by students to fast prototype.

The majority of D&T departments now have at least one printer, and with the market now dominated by Bambu Lab, these new machines are making 3D printing available to all (including many students now having their own machines at home); it is clear that the use of 3D printing will continue to grow and develop within education.

Phil Cotton saw an opportunity some years ago, and, as a teacher and Head of Department, was an early adopter of 3D printing. As he used it more in his own school and shared his experiences online, he noticed other teachers reaching out for help and advice...in this way, Learn by Layers, an online 3D printing educational platform, was born.

Over the years, the platform has grown and developed into a small business supporting educational printing worldwide. A Bambu curriculum was added as Phil adapted the content to meet teachers' needs and requests.

LearnBylayers provides ready-to-teach 3D printing resources for schools and is currently taught in over 1500 schools in 33 countries.

We pick up this conversation as Phil readies himself to diversify his online offering into online revision, supporting STEM subjects with the release of the Studylayers platform (more information within the pod). As we prepare for the start of a new term, grab your earpods, grab a tea or coffee, put your feet up for 50 minutes, and listen to Designed for Life, in conversation with teacher and founder of Learn by Layers, Phil Cotton.

www.learnbylayers.com

Studylayers link

https://www.learnbylayers.com/studylayers/

In part two of this two-part mini-series, we dig deep into what system changes might be necessary to make teaching the attractive profession that it once was. One-third of all teachers who have qualified across all subjects in the last decade have already left teaching; here we ask why that might be the case and what needs to change.

We also talk to more students graduating from their PGCE qualification and find out what excites and frustrates them from their experience to this point. I have to say that, despite the worrying statistic mentioned above, I sense nothing but excitement and optimism from the students that I met on the day. I have it in mind to follow these teachers up a couple of years in and see how things panned out for them. I, for one, am excited by the quality of graduates entering D&T classrooms in September.

Goldsmiths, University of London is one of the longest-established providers of D&T teacher education in the country and, over the years, has been instrumental in helping shape the subject that we now know. In this short mini-series of two episodes, we spent a day at Goldsmiths talking with Alice Hellard, who leads the PGCE programme at the university and some of this year's graduates who, at the time of recording, were just days away from completing their course.

As you hopefully relax on your well-earned summer break, I hope you can find time to grab a cold drink, sit back and listen to Designed for life - In conversation with Alice Hellard and graduating PGCE students from Goldsmiths University London.

Alice Hellard completed her PGCE in Design & Technology at Goldsmiths, University of London almost 20 years ago before teaching in two south London schools. She is now back at Goldsmiths where she leads the PGCE D&T programme. In these podcasts we also hear from students on the programme: Josie Beardsmore, Nikki Blustin, Steve Cheung, Tyla Garrett, Rajinder Kalsi, Patrick Readings, Ed Thomas, Nick Thomas and Noah Thompson.

https://www.gold.ac.uk/pgce/secondary-design-technology/?https://www.gold.ac.uk/&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23383165810&gbraid=0AAAAADF9-XDCJh-u42U6ADj7hpY1fdMdD&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjb3SBhDgARIsAMKiWzjwgb20eW9Alyla9YqQrNCAzA1MixdXYmxs1y1djagUpKf_BuX3oNsaAg91EALw_wcB