We’re delighted to announce that Rhianna Pratchett will be a judge for our V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge 2026 – 27.
Rhianna has shaped many of gaming’s best-known world including Tomb Raider, Mirror’s Edge, Overlord just to name a few. She started out serving as a story editor for role playing game beyond divinity, and then built on that break securing herself a BAFTA nomination for her creative contribution to adventure game Heavenly Sword in 2007, before claiming a Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Best Videogame Script award the following year for her involvement with the spirited action-RPG Overlord. Rhianna has also worked on projects with Film 4, 03 Productions and the Jim Henson Company.
We spoke to Rhianna about being on the panel and why design is important to her.
- What are you most looking forward to as a V&A Innovate judge, and why?
I’m really looking forward to seeing the students’ ideas and the different ways they approach real-world problems. I am often astonished by young people’s creativity as they tend to see the possibilities that adults overlook.
- What do this year’s themes of ‘Simplify, Empower, Nurture’ mean to you?
To me, they’re about making things easier to understand and use, giving people the confidence and tools to make a difference, and designing with care for people and the world around us.
- Why is design important to you?
Good design can change how we see and experience the world. It can solve problems, open up possibilities and make everyday things work better for everyone.
- What invention or innovation could you not live without?
I’d have to say my contact lenses. I first got them when I was eight, after a lifetime of wearing NHS ‘bottle-bottom’ glasses, and I was the youngest person at Bristol Eye Hospital to have them. My mum had to put them in for me at first, which traumatised both of us. Learning to put them in myself felt like liberation for me, and an enormous relief for Mum!
- Can you share any top tips for the students taking part in V&A Innovate this year?
Don’t be afraid of ideas that seem a little strange at first, innovation often comes from exploring concepts others might have dismissed as ‘too odd!’, or ‘impossible!’. Listen to each other, keep asking “what if?”, and remember that the best solution might not be the most obvious one, and ‘impossible’ might actually be quite simple if you approach the problem in a surprising way.
REGISTER TO TAKE PART
The 2026-27 Innovate National Schools Challenge is now open for registration and entry submissions from student groups in years 7, 8 and 9 from state schools in England. This year’s themes are Simplify, Empower and Nurture, and a theme inspiration pack as well as Teacher and Student Toolkits to help with the design journey and submitting entries are now on the V&A website.
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