I’m going to chime in by saying that I don’t necessarily agree with the general feeling of this thread. There is an element of “follow your dream” for your final project that needs to be adhered to. Having a story behind the reason for designing a toilet helps. But at the end of the day, viewing the world around you and seeing the mundane and then ACTING on it, is probably the most powerful tool you can harvest as a designer.
My suggestion is to keep looking at the mundane. Look at what annoys you in your life. You have probably 3 months to get this project done (less?). Take 2 weeks to explore EVERYTHING around you. There is going to be something that is missing. Something that if you reached over right now and could grab…right now…but isn’t there…that would make what you’re doing or going to do later on easier.
Pick that thing. That thing that might already exist but is ugly. Even better, it already has an established market of high end (e.g. ridiculously priced art pieces) and cheap-ass knock-offs but nothing in between. Design something in the middle. Put it on Kickstarter. Make that process of creating and vetting in the public your project. So what if it fails? There’s lots of failed Kickstarters floating around these boards, even if they don’t/won’t admit it.
You’re graduating at the beginning of a time where ANYONE can turn an idea into a reality. The fun part is you just went through 3.5+ years of edumacation to learn how to do it better. So, do it. Don’t just do a school project. Do a YOU project.