When the Top Designs exhibition was closed at the Melbourne Museum due to Covid-19, we were disappointed not to be able to publicly celebrate the achievements of Miss Charlotte Zelouf (’19). Top Designs celebrates 20 years of creative problem-solving by Victorian design students in a now virtual exhibition of excellence at the Melbourne Museum. Thousands of VCE students submitted an array of design including: furniture, fashion, graphic and product design, set, prop and costume design, film, print layout, photography, animation, web design, as well as mechanical and electronic projects. Only 16 Visual Communication Design folios are selected from the field of distinction.

Charlotte’s selected Visual Communication Design portfolio consisted of a series of evocative and immediate photographic visual communication posters, and a three-dimensional educational brochure about the effects of panic attacks. 

“I chose to focus on mental health, specifically panic attacks, for my presentations as they are not talked about often. I think my work was chosen as mental health is a pressing issue which I was able to capture and explore in an emotive manner.” (Miss Charlotte Zelouf ‘19)

“Charlotte’s images captured the intense mental trauma of anxiety through her highly effective visual symbolism of drowning. The images were confronting but allowed the audience to acutely understand the often submerged emotions of those effected by anxiety.” (Mrs Ceri Lloyd, Head of English)

The shortlisting and subsequent placing in Top Designs reassured Charlotte that design was a career she could pursue, commencing in 2020, a double degree of Business and Design at Monash University. Like St Catherine’s School, Charlotte currently studies from home through video conferencing tutorials and practical sessions, with timely digital submissions. The design cohort complete briefs and assignments and present to the class via Zoom.

Charlotte believes thinking outside of the box was rewarded in Visual Communication Design and evident in her 2020 work in which she created a wearable that relates to climate change, and is a creative exploration of concepts through visual communication of ideas. Charlotte designed a filtration mask for air pollution, exploring the concept of decreasing the levels of carbon emissions by using plants to absorb the greenhouse gas.

The term ‘thinking outside the box’ resonates as we are all currently adapting to working and learning in a manner still being reimagined. ‘Thinking outside the box’ is a fine epitaph for any young person to add to their Curriculum Vitae and for Charlotte, she has been rewarded with public recognition.

Although we cannot yet visit the Melbourne Museum in person to view Charlotte’s work, we are proud of her achievements and urge the St Catherine’s School community to support her accomplishments by ‘visiting’ the virtual exhibition of excellence at the Melbourne Museum on the following link: https://museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/learning/top-designs-2020/