The Helen Hamlyn Research Centre, founded five years ago, is all about encouraging young designers to think beyond yet another ergonomic, shiny toaster, or the lemon juicer that looks like a UFO. And there is a school bag with a cushion built into it to hook over the back of those hard school chairs, designed to make our children feel more comfortable in the classroom and - the theory goes - more able to concentrate. There's a bus that can be transformed into a post office, shop, meeting room, or crèche, aimed at rural communities that are no longer served by a local post office or corner shop. Other ideas include two new power tools for the garden, developed with older gardeners in mind.
'Design doesn't have to be a bridge or a building,' says Natascha Frensch, the 27-year-old who started researching the type face three years ago. Instead of the ds, bs and ps being the same letter reversed, or turned upside down, each letter has its own character. There's a typeface specially drawn to allow people with dyslexia to read and write more easily. This week, the work of 11 research graduates is on show at the Royal College of Art demonstrating that design is not just about making things that look good, but that actually work well for everyone - even those without a degree in engineering. And thanks to the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art, those simple things in life could be about to get a little easier for all of us. Why, you wonder, is life so difficult? Well, it needn't be, and it shouldn't be. You end up stabbing yourself with a knife trying to unpack the bacon. The ring pull is too small and stiff for your fingers. But when it comes to opening a tin of beans, or a vac-pac of bacon, you have to admit defeat.
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