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, 12, 11
- Minmum student numbers
- Minimum 20 students
- 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.
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
- Request exemplar folio pages which are study-specific folio resources for both teachers and students:
Speaker Bios
Visual Communication
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Monday 25 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 & Technology
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Tuesday 1 April |
9:30am: Charlie Ranscombe, Researcher & Lecturer in Product Design & Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology |
|
Thursday 1 May |
9:30am: TBC |
|
Friday 2 May |
9:30am: TBC |
|
Thursday 15 May |
11:30am: Hailey Cooperrider, Game Designer & Collaboration Designer |
Creative Digital Media/Media
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Tuesday 6 May |
9:30am: Zoe Hogan |
|
Wednesday 7 May |
9:30am: Tiffany Garvie, Photographer |
Systems Engineering
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Monday 28 April |
9:30am: TBC |
Theatre Studies
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 2 April |
9:30am: Tom Brayshaw, Theatre Designer & Production Manager |
Design Week Special
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Thursday 8 May |
9:30am: TBC |
Teacher Only Forum
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Monday 19 May |
TBC |
Top Designs Alumni Panels
| Date | Times & Speakers |
|---|---|
|
Tuesday 20 May |
9:30am: TBC |
|
Wednesday 21 May |
9:30am: TBC |
|
Thursday 22 May |
9:30am: TBC |
|
Friday 23 May |
9:30am: TBC |
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
- VCE Product Design &Technologies
- VCE Systems Engineering
- VCE Theatre Design
- VCE Media
- VCE &VET Creative and Digital Media
- VCE & VET Integrated Technologies
- VCE & VET Music Production
- VCE & VET Furniture
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