At Toru, we believe the best way to learn design is to live it. That’s why we partnered with the University of Northampton to give first-year Graphic Communication students a real agency brief, created and supported by our team.
The Challenge?
Create a bold, health-first meal subscription brand from the ground up. It had to be original, purposeful, and built to sit confidently alongside names like HelloFresh and Mindful Chef.
From positioning and identity to homepage and campaign visuals, students developed complete brand concepts tailored to real audiences like busy professionals, young couples, wellness-first families. Smart, stylish and human.
Once complete, each team presented their work back to us, walking through their thinking, creative decisions and design process.
Our Role: Mentors
This was a first in more ways than one. For these first-year students, it marked their first experience working directly with an outside agency. We didn’t just set the task and leave. We were there guiding, supporting and challenging them. Our team introduced the foundations of UX and UI, shared design thinking principles, and brought tools like Figma into focus. But more importantly, we opened the door to what working in a real agency feels like. How strategy drives design. How storytelling shapes experience. And how the best creative ideas come from asking the right questions.
This project was really important for us and for the students. It was our first time working with the Graphic Communication students, and their first time working on a real brief from someone in the industry. The work they came back with was seriously impressive, really thoughtful and well put together. I'm already looking forward to the next time we get to work together.
Toru Digital's Senior Designer
Why It Mattered: Real Pressure, Real Progress
For the students, this was a real test of collaboration, adaptability and communication. Working in groups, they developed ideas together, tackled challenges in real time and presented their thinking with clarity and confidence. And they delivered. With sharp insights, thoughtful interfaces and bold ideas that wouldn’t look out of place in a live pitch.
For us, it was a powerful reminder of what happens when you trust emerging talent. The outcomes are richer. The perspective, sharper. And the energy they bring? Completely contagious.
This Is Just The Beginning
Design education needs more of this: ambition, context, and collaboration. We’re proud to help make that happen, and we’re just getting started.
If you’re an educator, student or institution looking to bring bold ideas to life, we’d love to collaborate. Let’s talk.
