Literature pockets: challenge accepted

Last year, Estonian Academy of Art turned to MAC Aero Interiors to select a product, which students could develop further during the fall semester of 2020. Literature pocket turned out to fit exactly this purpose – and students had a unique opportunity to learn more about specifics of aviation interior design.

Pärtel-Peeter Kruuv, our Interior project manager, was behind this practice and not only had a chance to evaluate proposed designs but also took the role of guest lecturer and shared his experience with students.

 What were the main challenges in interior production addressed in this competition? What were the ways students suggested to tackle those challenges? The main intent of the exercise was to give students a real-life industrial product to re-invent or develop further while following a given set of rules. MAC Aero Interior’s goal more specifically was to see how the young designers with a fresh look would approach the basic function of the pocket. It became clear very quickly that the solutions were radically different between the students and many of the presented designs had very solid ideas behind them. A lot of emphases was put on the fact that the end product has to survive daily use in what is essentially a public transport, should also be light and incorporate some new feature element. What were the key takeaways from students? It was very pleasing to see that the complexity of the chosen product in its essence was just about right - being simple enough to understand and be creative about while combining materials and requirements which all created their own little challenges. The key takeaway for us would be that more often than we, people within the industry,  may realize, the fresh look at something should be a necessity rather than an oddity. Do we have plans for similar projects with students in the future? Absolutely! The next product-development course outline is already in development and, as the reception of the previous one was so good by both students and the school, then we aim to include students from more curriculums to tackle more complex product.