McKinnonNEWS

VISUAL ARTS

GOOD DESIGN JUICER EXPERIMENT

‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!’

 

This proverbial phrase rang true for Unit 1 Visual Communication Design students earlier this term, although prior to making themselves a refreshing summer beverage they conducted a rigorous testing of handheld kitchen juicers. Ms Scott’s and Ms Rogosic’s classes collaborated to discover how each juicer performed in terms of ergonomics, functionality and ‘mess’ factor, using German industrial designer Dieter Rams ‘10 Principles of Good Design’ as a metric. 

 

Please enjoy the following student perspectives and photographs of the experience. 

Jessica Rogosic

Acting Learning Area Manager For The Visual Arts 

 

The Fluicer is the best juicer in accordance with Dieter Rams' 10 principles of good design. It is useful because it is highly functional and efficient. It is thorough down to the last detail because it separates the seeds to prevent mess.

Tilly Ashton-Rafferty, Year 11

 

The best juicer is Philippe Starck’s ‘Juicy Salif’ as it got the most juice with the least amount of effort. The regular juice press broke after light use and cannot be considered long-lasting. The most innovative juicer is the ‘Fluicer’ by Dreamfarm Studios as it is a design that has not been seen before.

Jaxx Rippon Robenn, Year 11

 

In Visual Communication of Design, students had the opportunity to explore and experiment with multiple existing designs of citrus juicers. Upon entering the classroom, citrus juicers were placed on each table. The teacher brought a generous amount of freshly picked lemons to the class, which were used for testing. All students rotated around the room, trying different juicers while squeezing lemon juice. After each test, we evaluated the juicers with Dieter Rams' ten principles of good design. Fetching some sugar, the class mixed the lemon juice, creating refreshing lemonade!

 

After the juicer experiment, students delved into research of the Fluicer, one of the juicers previously tested. Learning about the juicer’s history, we discovered that a large corporation had potentially infringed upon Dreamfarm’s Fluicer’ patent. Personally, I was bewildered to discover that such an original design, which deserved more recognition, could be copied. 

 

Students got a chance to apply their understanding of good design principles and learnt new concepts, including how intellectual property laws apply to the field of object design. 

 

Thank you to all the teachers and staff, especially Ms Rogosic and Ms Scott, for making this lesson possible and intriguing for everyone!

Skyler Chong, Year 10

Tilly
Jaxx Rippon
Skyler
Tilly
Jaxx Rippon
Skyler

 

MEET YOUR 2025 VISUAL ARTS CAPTAINS!

A huge congratulations to our 2025 Visual Arts Captains:

  • Year 7: Elijah Fernandes

  • Year 8: Jana Bryant & Zimo Deng

  • Year 9: Alexia Alexiou & Kira Barnes

  • Year 10:Charmaine Lee

  • Year 11: Anthe Limogiannis 

  • Year 12 Media: Radhe Shah

  • Year 12 Art Creative Practice: Ella Su

  • Year 12 Visual Communication Design: Delilah Vlasak Galante

 

Our Visual Arts Captains ensure our school community continues to develop and celebrate Art in all its forms. This year, they will adopt specific leadership roles within the program including organising and developing art shows, leading visual art clubs and competitions, and advocating for the Visual Arts within the college. For the first time at Year 12 level, there is a captain to represent each of our three discipline areas, making visible the different ways we apply creative thinking, technical skill and visual language in Media Studies, Art Creative Practice and Visual Communication Design. 

 

We would like to thank all students who applied for these positions and encourage all students to continue to get involved in art at McKinnon! 

 

Ms Anna Bourke

Assistant Learning Area Manager For The Visual Arts 

YEAR 8 VCD KUMMARGEE TASK: OBSERVATIONAL DRAWINGS

In Year 8 Visual Communication Design, as an introduction to the T-Shirt design for the Kummargee Challenge, students have been creating observational drawings based on a plant or animal from their allocated region or location. 

 

Students were taught what an observational drawing is and how to break a complex image down into basic shapes. They did this first on top of the printout of their image, then used that as the basis for their own drawings, starting with basic shapes and axis lines and building up the detail once the proportions had been checked against the image. They had the option of using colour or keeping it greyscale, but they had to apply the design elements (line, shape, tone, texture, colour, point), to their drawing to make it appear realistic, building on the skills from their first Learning Task. 

 

The students’ willingness to work towards developing their drawing skills by checking proportions, using axis lines to get the correct angles and symmetry in their drawings and applying their rendering skills, has been impressive. 

 

The examples below are from Year 8N and focus on flora and fauna from the Western Victorian region. 

Kristy Soos

Visual Communication Design Teacher