Art, Design and Technology

This club is for boys who are interested in design and typography, and who want to try out lots of ways of making and designing lettering. Each week we will try out a new way of making a letter, and so over the course of the two terms we will create a mix & match style alphabet.

This club is for boys who have an interest in buildings of any kind from high-rise skyscrapers to tree houses and sheds! Each term we will look at architecture movements, architects and individual buildings. You will have the chance to design/make buildings in 2D and/or 3D. There will be some structure to each session and you will need to be prepared to contribute to discussions and prepare presentations for the rest of the group.

This session is designed for those keen to extend their skills and to try something new. Boys will be free to set their own project briefs and work on collaborative ideas if they so wish. GCSE and A level students are free to develop coursework during these sessions.

If you want to improve your skills. Then this club is for you. You will learn how to paint and draw better and you will discover new printing techniques.

In this club students get to do imaginative artwork based around their favourite films. We have previously designed and built Tree Ent face masks from The Lord of the Rings. Students have also studied the work of Marvel cartoonists and action film posters and produced their own comic book front covers. The students in this particular photo are using stop frame animation to bring their own plasticine monsters to life. They have been studying the films of Nick Park.

Big Head art club is a Lower School activity where boys work in pairs or small groups to design and make huge cardboard sculptures, working using craft knives and glue guns. The finished products are wearable, and so act as an elaborate form of masks or costumes.

Come and explore the wondrous world of clay; experiment with a range of clay construction and decorating techniques and develop your creativity and innovation skills. Be inspired by traditional/functional ceramics alongside contemporary more sculptural work.

Looking at the world of Marvel and comic book illustrations we enable students to invent and design their own superhero character. Students will be using ICT and rendering their own work with professional marker pens. Over the weeks they will then produce a front cover to a new comic starring their hero.

The workshop facilities are open to offer the students to develop their design and technology skills. They can either work through some existing project briefs or even develop their own to work on.

This activity provides boys with an opportunity to learn or improve their knowledge of the Computer Aided Design programme ‘Fusion 360’. The industry standard piece of software is used by commerical designers and boys will learn to create objects and designs in 3D, working towards outputting their work using the Makerbot 3D printers.

A doodle is a drawing made while a person’s attention is otherwise occupied. This club offers a way to relax when drawing but also teaches students a lot more. Students will aim to produce detailed pen illustrations in a small handmade book. They will fill this book with images drawn around the school site. Work will include illustrations of architecture and natural forms. Students will then design an imaginary castle which will include their personal research. The castle will be built from card or foam board and it will be rendered in a doodle style.

This club is for boys who are interested in drawing, and want to try out a variety of styles, from manga to Da Vinci. Practical help will be given so you can improve your skills.

This club encourages boys to realise their imaginative designs in 3D using the Lego Architecture kits. Boys will research existing examples of interesting architecture, develop their own designs and then work with 3D CAD software to generate virtual scale models of their creations.

The great thing about Young Designers is the creativity. In many other Other Half activities, lessons and even out of school activities one must follow a set of precise, linear instructions given by a teacher or guide who is constantly trying to assess you or grade you on something. And that is wonderful – assessment is a part of life and Abingdon is one of the best places to come if one wants to learn about how to become great in life – but everyone needs time to relax and unwind, away from the stress of everyday schoolwork and study time. That’s why Young Designers is so wonderful. In Young Designers, you have the option to make whatever you want. A box? A bed? A table? A large wooden boat? Yep. Every Young Designers session, a group of lucky boys has access to the school’s state of the art DT department – complete with sanding machines, laser cutters, and even a few 3D printers! If you can think it, you can make it – all it needs is for you to select Young Designers for an other half session.