Top Designs 2025 Education Forums
- What
- Museum Staff-led
- When
- Terms 1 to 2, Monday to Friday
- Duration
Curriculum links & Accessibility & Access Fund- Year level
- VCE, VCE VM
- Maximum student numbers
- Maximum 150 students
- Cost
- $9 per student + education service fee
- Booking information
- Bookings 13 11 02
Join us for the 2025 Top Design Education forums, where industry experts and VCAA representatives inspire creativity and excellence in all VCE, VM & VET Designs studies showcased in Top Designs.
Learn about design areas including furniture, fashion, graphic and product design, set and costume design, film, photography, animation, web design, and technological projects.
The 1-hour education sessions complement school visits to the Top Designs exhibition and feature an exciting lineup of industry experts and VCAA representatives covering design thinking, study outcomes and creative opportunities in VCE Media, Product Design and Technologies, Systems Engineering, Theatre Studies, Visual Communication and VET design studies.
Industry speakers will appear below as they are confirmed.
Top Designs runs from Saturday 29 March – 20 July 2025 as part of the VCE Season of Excellence.
Follow the Top Designs Facebook page.
View the web hubs from previous Top Designs exhibitions.
Students will experience
- Inspiring education forums as part of the VCE Season of Excellence.
- Interactive 1 hour curriculum aligned forums.
- Work from successful designers and Top Designs alumni from various fields.
- Dynamic forums created to ignite creativity and motivate students and teachers to help them reach their potential in all VCE VM & VET Design Units.
- Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA) representatives talking about folios and best practice.
Students will learn
- The Design Thinking processes of successful designers.
- Divergent and convergent strategies used by designers.
- Best practice folio presentation from the VCAA.
- Career and tertiary pathways for design students.
- How designers work creatively, critically and speculatively to plan, produce, test and evaluate in a project management process.
- How successful designers design with the end user in mind.
Students will be provided
- Access to the Top Designs web hub
- Access to Annotated folio pages from successful Design Students
Students will need
- Mobile devices for interactive sessions if possible
- Notebook and pen
Other key information
- Teachers must book their gallery visit to the Top Designs 2025 exhibition
- Exemplar folio pages can be requested through the VCAA page
Speaker Bios
Visual Communication Design
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Monday 31 March |
9:30am: Jo Pritchard, Visual Design Manager, Museums Victoria |
|
Tuesday 22 April |
9:30am: Katherine Horseman, Exhibition & spatial designer |
| Friday 9 May |
9:30am: Jess McGeachin, Illustrator, Author & Senior communication Designer, Museums Victoria |
Product Design & Technologies
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Tuesday 1 April |
9:30am: Charlie Ranscombe, Researcher & Lecturer in Product Design & Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology |
|
Thursday 1 May |
11:15am: Leah Heiss, Human Centred Designer, Chair of Design at Monsh University |
|
Friday 2 May |
11:15am: Kristy Dickinson, Proud Wiradjuri woman, Jewellery Designer |
|
Thursday 8 May |
9:30am: TBC |
Creative Digital Media
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Tuesday 6 May |
9:30am: Zoe Hogan |
Media
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Wednesday 7 May |
9:30am: Tiffany Garvie, Photographer |
Systems Engineering
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Monday 28 April |
11:15am: Max Plumley, Senior Software engineer |
Theatre Studies Design
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 2 April |
9:30am: Tom Brayshaw, Theatre Designer & Production Management |
Design Week Special
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Thursday 15 May |
11:15am: Hailey Cooperrider, Game Designer & Collaboration Designer |
Top Designs Alumni Panels
In these dynamic alumni panels, students can engage directly with successful Top Designs exhibitors, asking their questions and hearing firsthand stories about their journeys - before, during, and after Top Designs!
Note: Panels will have 2 to 3 Top Designs alumni and one expert moderator.
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Tuesday 20 May |
11:15am: Moderated by VCAA Curriculum Manager Kathryn Hendy-Ekers. Visual Communications Top Designs Alumni - Tin Lok Zhang (2024) |
|
Wednesday 21 May |
11:15am: Product Design Top Designs Alumni - Ivy Hinkley (2022), Michael Steader (2024), Marilyn Vincent (2025) |
|
Thursday 22 May |
11:15am: Moderated by Chris Simpson, Systems Engineering State Reviewer. |
Victorian Curriculum links
The VCE Study Designs page links to all study designs as well as the administrative handbook and exam specifications.
Design Subjects represented in Top Designs
- VCE Visual Communications Designs
- VCE Product Design &Technologies
- VCE Systems Engineering
- VCE Theatre Studies Design
- VCE Media
- VCE VET Creative and Digital Media
- VCE VET Engineering
- VCE VET Music (Sound Production)
- VCE VET Furnishing
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