Introduce your students to the power and potential of a career in design.
The Design= Curriculum Kit helps you bring design to your student group through interactive lessons. Plan your program today.
Get access to the Design= Curriculum Kit!
📬 Know someone who could use the kit? Share with our email template or social media kit.
Build the critical skills your students need for the 21st century.
Design skills like creativity, innovation, complex problem-solving, and critical thinking are top skills for the future according to the World Economic Forum. Take your students on a creative problem solving journey to help them build those skills and explore creative careers that will help them learn to create the things around them.
Problem Identification
Critical Thinking
Benchmarking
Sketching
Careers
Interviewing
Ideation
Reflection
Reflection
Analysis
Portfolios
Prototyping
Research
Testing
Question Identifcation
Storyboarding
Professional Skills
Presentation Skills
Idea Refinement
Inspiration Searching
Feedback
Synthesis
Creativity
Design Process
Group Discussion
Exploration
Teach design alongside what you DO today.
No Design Experience Required
Whether you teach 10th grade English, run an after school STEM program, or help students explore careers over the summer, the Design= Curriculum Kit can help your students build relevant skills and explore creative career paths.
Everything you need to help your students explore design.
Lesson Plans
Step-by-step guidance to help you deliver the lessons, including facilitation instructions and tips.
Slides
Google Slide decks that include visual instructions that make it easier for you to get started with the lesson.
Videos
Curated videos of professional designers speaking about their careers, pathways to design, and advice for students.
Worksheets
Editable, printable activities designed to help engage your students and guide their work.
Watch this 4-minute walkthrough!
Seamus | Cleveland Metro Schools
Morgyn | Sunrise of Philadelphia
Cherilyn | Harper Woods High School
Kenyatta | Grand Rapids Public Schools
Erica | Art House Cleveland
LeShone | 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Cherise | Cleveland Botanical Garden’s Green Corps
Kristal | Intergenerational School
Take your students on a journey that starts with a challenge and ends with creative confidence.
During the 9-lesson program, students take on a design challenge and learn skills like brainstorming, creative problem solving, prototyping, interviewing, and more. The lessons scaffold their learning to help them explore the ways designers work in an approachable way.
In this lesson, students meet the mentor they will work with during the program during a live Q&A.
Note: This lesson is optional and may be skipped if you do not have a Design Mentor joining your group.
In this lesson, students explore the many design disciplines and begin work on their challenge by selecting the audience they plan to work with.
In this lesson students research their challenge to uncover existing solutions and better understand the needs of the people they are designing for. Students will gather visual inspiration, conduct interviews and look at secondary sources to find inspiration for their ideas.
In this lesson, students brainstorm ideas to solve their challenge, exploring many options in order to get to a great solution. Students will also work together to select the solution they want to move forward with.
In this lesson, students will build a prototype that helps them to share and test their idea with others. Prototyping will help them work out details for their solution.
In this lesson, students test their prototypes with peers to learn more about their solution. They will discuss what they learned and make improvements to their prototype.
In this lesson, students will build a storyboard that helps them explain how their solution works and what makes it great.
In this lesson, students will reflect on what they have learned so far and consider how they might use things going forward.
In this lesson, students will present their solutions and celebrate each other's hard work during the program. In addition, they will share feedback about their experience.
Note: This lesson is optional but highly encouraged!
Fall 2023 Challenges
UX/UI Design
Service Design
Industrial Design
Interior Design/Architecture
Fashion Design
Visual Design
Supercharge your teaching with robust support for educators.
Join an engaged community of educators.
We’re excited to introduce you to the other educators and program leaders working with youth. Our online community is a space for tactical support, community building, and joy.
Match your group with a design mentor.
If you’d like one, we’ll do our best to find a professional designer who can join your group for some or all of your program and bring their expertise to your students.
Get training that helps you feel like an expert.
Through video lessons full of tips and lesson walkthroughs, we’ll share everything you need to know to facilitate lessons with confidence.
Use materials designed with educators like you.
We’ve worked with educators through the curriculum development process to make sure materials, lesson plans, and activities work both for students and the educators like you that lead them.
Meet the coalition powering the Design= Curriculum Kit.
Diversify by Design (D×D) is working to build a diverse and inclusive design profession, which requires support along a designer's journey—including at the very beginning. We know a critical inroad can be made by introducing historically excluded youth to design.
Design Mentors ENRICH THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE.
We work to match professional designers with student groups around the country to join in person or virtually (based on what works best for your group!).
Chantel P., Designer at Amazon
Alex M., Designer at Amazon
Become a Design Mentor and help students on their design journey.
We help match professional designers to educators and their student groups around the country. Become a mentor in your own community or join a classroom remotely.
We CAN HELP you make a plan for your students.
Schedule a call with us to talk about how to get started.
Like the curriculum kit, it's free!
📬 Know someone who could use the kit? Share with our email template or social media kit.
