At first glance, the project seems pretty straightforward: seventh- and eighth-grade students are making their own sketchbooks. They’ll design the covers, cut the components on a laser cutter, assemble the books, and use them for their design work throughout the year.
But as Director of THINK Studios Gil Gallagher puts it, “The kids think it’s about learning to use a laser cutter. It’s not.”
The real work begins well before anyone turns on a machine.
Starting with interviews, students uncover something meaningful about how another person sees them—information they may not have thought to include if they simply sat down and designed a cover for themselves. Then comes the harder part: students have to use what they learned in the interview as a constraint for their design.
This project introduces students to an essential principle of human-centered design: good design begins with understanding the person you are designing for, even when that person is you.
Conducting a thoughtful interview is harder than it looks. So is translating what someone says into a visual idea and making choices within a set of parameters.
Even the paper inside the sketchbook requires a design decision. Students considered four options—grid, dots, lines, and a custom hexagonal pattern—and discussed how each might shape how they think and draw. They noticed, for example, that dotted paper offers the precision of a grid without the visual distraction of continuous lines.
Once their concept is approved and designs are drafted, students move into the technical workflow of turning an idea into a physical object. They create digital files and prepare them for the laser cutter through a process involving roughly 15 or 16 individual steps. The process is scaffolded, but precision matters. Skipping a step early on, may result in an undesired consequence later—when they have to retrace their work, identify the mistake, and restart.
That productive challenge reflects Field’s belief that students build independence by taking risks, developing new skills, and working through meaningful challenges with support. It also asks students to transfer ways of thinking across contexts, moving from interviewing to interpreting information, from interpreting to designing, and from designing to making. Field identifies the ability to apply skills to new situations and problems as one of the most powerful outcomes of learning.
By the end, students will have something tangible to show for the process: a sketchbook designed for and by them. When they run out of paper, they can make another.
Beyond the sketchbook itself, students are building a foundation in human-centered design: asking good questions, listening closely, working within constraints, choosing the right tool, following a complex process, learning from mistakes, and turning an idea into something real.
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