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Kitchen Contours
Teacher Mike Jackson has been doing two major design projects with his Year 13 Graphics students for a number of years, both using industry links. In one, students find a client and work to design a new kitchen for them. For the last three years Mike has refined this unit by linking with David Mackay, Managing Director of Kitchen Contours, a well-established kitchen design and manufacturing company with a showroom and factory close to the school.
After David had supplied and installed a kitchen for him, Mike asked him if he could provide technical expertise and design input into individual students project work. After ascertaining the nature of the help required and the time commitment, David was more than willing to become involved.
The project begins with the girls chosing their client and exploring the environment they are working with and considered some initial design concepts. The class then visits David at Kitchen Contours showroom and factory.
Students visit Kitchen Contours
"Before the visit, we get them to draw a plan of their client's existing space and investigate the potential for change and discover the problems associated with these changes,” says Mike. "The visit then becomes significant in terms of the link between design and manufacture. You can't have a fantasy kitchen – everything has got to be able to be manufactured.”
During the visit David discusses design considerations and the importance of working within a budget, and then takes them through the design and manufacturing process that his company uses.
"The girls are invariably impressed by the design process, the machinery and the range and quality of the products we can make. I point out that there are a lot of female designers out there and that kitchen design is a good thing to get into if you're keen and have a flair for it. I can honestly tell them that it's a good challenging career, and that gets some of them thinking a bit. ”
"They're always surprised at how computerised things are and how quickly we can do things– they still think of kitchen manufacture as hammer and chisel stuff and the good old sandpaper block. They quickly realise that you need a sophisticated set up if you're going to compete.”
Students find out how kitchens are put together and the things to consider when designing that will become important in their own project – such as standard dimensions of cupboards, where doors will go when you open and close them, standard bench depths to accommodate appliances.
Students visit Kitchen Contours
David is keen to ensure that every student is interested in what's going on, "and that they have all taken something away with them from the experience.”
As they work through their designs with their clients, students can consult David for advice on design issues, materials and manufacture, and keeping to their budgets. While this involves the commitment of valuable worktime – "We're not a big business, and because of that we can't afford downtime – every hour counts to us.” – David is more than happy to keep it going for as long as its useful to the school. "If I can't do it there's always someone else here who can provide a bit of time. I think its important that teachers and students are keeping up with what's going on outside the school and seeing a range of ways of doing things.”
This client-based project with early industry input makes a big difference to the approach the students take to their work, says Mike. "With the regular client interaction, each girl is strongly motivated to extend their graphic skills so they can present their ideas in the best possible way. It's a level of motivation they don't have in the junior school, for instance,where they'll take what I say as gospel off the board and reproduce it and make a nice neat drawing.”
