During March I travelled to London with my class for a trip to help immerse ourselves in design thinking and culture. On the trip we visited many different museums, exhibitions and studios to help us see design in motion in both past and present but also to help us see what the future could hold for us as designers.
My personal favourite moment from London was the trip to Thomas Heatherwick studio. Thomas Heatherwick is a British designer and the founder of Heatherwick Studio, a design and architecture practice based in London with another studio in Shanghai. His studio works on buildings, public spaces, and objects, focusing on how people feel when they use them. Heatherwick Studio is known for its creative, hands‑on approach and for designing places that feel more human, joyful, and inviting
The following is a link to my favourite video on the London underground tube system. (3649) The Tube Map nearly looked very different - YouTube
The video explains how the famous London Underground map almost looked very different. Early Tube maps tried to show stations in their exact real‑world locations, which made them cluttered and confusing. In the 1930s, Harry Beck introduced a bold new idea: a diagrammatic map that ignored geographical accuracy in favour of clarity, using straight lines, equal spacing, and simple angles. Although transport authorities were initially unsure, the design proved extremely popular with passengers because it made the network much easier to understand, and it went on to influence metro maps around the world.
