Parents often ask me: So what will my daughter study if she chooses Design & Technology or Textiles & Design for the HSC? A simple question, with a myriad of possible answers. Study in a creative subject will open doors to many areas it encourages personal exploration, investigation and invention. A student undertaking these subjects will need to operate in a multidisciplinary space, where problem solving is married with technical skill, creativity and the commercial realities of designing for market.
Yet perhaps most importantly, a student undertaking study in these disciplines will have to learn how to fail, do so repeatedly, and become comfortable with that. Salvador Dali famously quipped: Have no fear of perfection…. you’ll never reach it. A perspective at odds with a broadly held social belief that success rests in the ability to avoid mistakes. But this is not so in the area of design; quite the opposite. As they explore a brief, students must become adept at failing, they must embrace it wholeheartedly. Paula Scher, graphic designer and artist, observes that it’s through mistakes that you can actually grow. You have to get bad, in order to be good. So, what do we teach in design? We teach the art of problem solving. We teach the skill of learning through robust exploration. We teach students to grow ideas based on targeted research and rigorous testing. We teach students to see a path forward when the road they were on leads to an impasse.
When students undertake their Year 12 studies, we all look forward to the annual exhibition, where their creativity is showcased and their technical skill in a range of technologies is highlighted. What most don’t see is the hours spent toiling to turn pattern pieces into a gown crafted from bias cut silk, or the multiple prototypes supporting the development of a seed bank able to be distributed to Year 7 students across the country. We can teach anyone to laser cut, use CAD, 3D print or draft patterns, but to harness their creativity, girls themselves must develop essential skills in problem solving, project management and most importantly the ability to build success from failure. Only a handful of the students exhibting work this year will pursue a creative career, but all of them have learnt invaluable lessons. In completing their projects, the girls have spent a year learning from their mistakes, building resilience as they develop their craft. The ability to embrace challenge, to research, to collaborate, to reflect, to learn from mistakes: these are transferable skills.
This year, more than any other, our girls have had to be resilient and adaptable. Producing a major project in Design & Technology or Textiles & Design is no easy feat. Producing a major project in lockdown…. well that takes a special type of character – a young woman with grit, determination and a sense of humour. As they reflect on the year that was, it would be possible for students to do so with a sense of lost opportunity, however, I’m pleased to say that the Queenwood Art, Design and Textiles students can look back with a sense of pride in all that they have accomplished.
As you view the works in the 2021 Year 12 Major Works Exhibition, look beyond the image and see the many hours spent, the detail that only patience and commitment can achieve, and the unbridled creativity that make teaching in this area such a joy. I hope you also appreciate the failures that preceded the success, without which, these exceptional works would not be. To the Art, Design & Textiles students of 2021 we say well done – in the face of adversity you have shone. To the parents who have supported the girls in navigating their major projects during home learning – we commend you.