Technology Department Apron
Fiona Lee
Gisborne Girls' High School
Year 11 Technology, half-year duration
Teacher: Heather MacIntyre
For her Year 11 project, Fiona was asked to design and produce something suitable for mass-production. As there were no smart, protective garments for students to wear in the Technology workshops, she decided that a new set of aprons would be suitable on both counts.
As her focus was on creating something that would give Technology students a more professional look, Fiona decided to purchase the aprons and concentrate on developing the corporate look she wanted. She researched materials, looking for something that would be durable, yet light and easy to wash, and would suit girls of different sizes. She looked for a classic design that students would want to wear and colour, so that the apron would be both practical and look good.
Fiona sourced the best supplier of aprons, and successfully applied for funding to purchase a bulk lot.
While planning the logo, representing the Technology department, Fiona found one she liked while researching on the internet. She was concerned that basing her work on an existing design might breach intellectual property law, so investigated how this applied. From her reading she decided that using a design for a completely different purpose was acceptable and wouldn't break any copyright.
Fiona adapted the design to better suit the department and to reflect the Technology curriculum essence statement. She then surveyed Technology students to ensure that other students liked this design as well.
Fiona screen printed her logo on to the aprons; she comments that although she had done screen printing before she really enjoyed learning a new method during this project.
"I liked the purpose of this project – to reinforce the professionalism of Technology, and loved working on something that dealt with a real need."
Teacher comment
This project gave Fiona the chance to enhance her independent work habits and her ability to organise things that needed to happen beyond the classroom. Fiona took the opportunity to join up with a Year 13 student and case study a local screen printing business, and this helped to strengthen her knowledge and awareness of that industry.
The aprons look really smart, are very functional and are also reflective of the curriculum.
