Art colleges change the world. We drive positive change through our nature to question & our freedom to challenge. We define creative identities, value experimentation, collaboration & are a community of like-minded people. Art is a career, where our graduates design the future. Swansea College of Art UWTSD
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#1 IN WALES FOR ART 5th in the UK
#1 IN WALES FOR DESIGN & CRAFTS 3rd in the UK
#1 IN WALES FOR FASHION & TEXTILES 9th in the UK Guardian League Table 2022
GET IN TOUCH Getting in touch is easy, we’d love to hear from you. We are more than happy to answer any questions you may have via any of the following: Send us an email at: artanddesign@uwtsd.ac.uk Check out our website: www.uwtsd.ac.uk/art-design
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Look us up on social media: Facebook - swanseacollegeofart Instagram - swanseacollegeofart_uwtsd Youtube - swanseacollegeofart Twitter - @ArtSwansea
Art College: builds confidence; is important to society; drives positive change; is a creative family; is a freedom to challenge; is a place to collaborate; is about seeing what happens; is digital; is social; is future facing; is challenging; is innovative; can change the world; is for thought leaders; is all about ideas; has PRIDE; is diverse; is never the same; loves students; believes in our students; cares; never stops; is a trailblazer; has attitude; has history; has influence; is transformative; is now; is alternative; is experimental; is Design College; is where you can become a designer; is part of the narrative of every great design/er; is full of designers of the future; is where designing the future begins; is where you find/define your creative identity; is where you question, create and innovate through design; is a space to draw, design and make; is a place to work on incredible live projects; is where you work with diverse design industry links; is a place to decide who you want to be, how you want to work and how you can use your creativity for common good; is where you learn to value your ideas, your materials, your craft, your contribution to our communities and impact on the world; is where you learn about designs of the past to reimagine designs for the future; is a community of like-minded people; is a place where imagination and reflection upon the world are entwined, let loose and surprise us; is a house of culture; makes images and objects that become culture; informs our humanity; is essential to a healthy and informed society; provides a space to think and to make reflections upon and responses to our world; is made up of the present, the future and the past; provides a place where the history, the politics and the passions of what it is to be human are considered and celebrated; doesn’t shy away; is politics; is life; is a creative test space, is an opportunity to engage with process; works within virtual and practical spaces; is a dynamic and exciting opportunity to discover your creative identity; offers experimentation/exploration; meet other like-minded people; encourages an exploration of new ideas/perspective; offers course specificity and specialism; offers a space to create; it’s the smell of art and its history; offers the freedom to think – find your path/direction & voice; offers location – geographically/psychologically; focuses and reclaims the territory of art as a main subject as opposed to culturally and politically being on the periphery; allows one to be happy; provides inspiration from others around you both in terms of subject and media; offers a sense of purpose and belonging; offers a wider and healthier perspective – perhaps even to help change the world; helps to develop ideas and skills; helps you feel better about yourself and helps you work through personal issues; enables you to discover yourself as an artist and a person; helps you to grow as a person; helps find your identity; gives voice to the things which often have no voice; is where people find different meanings and can change people’s lives for the better; is an escape from those who think it’s just a hobby; is where you go to enjoy ‘being there’; less judgement from outsiders asking ‘what are you doing?’; escape from the system’s expectations; to prove them wrong – even in spite of indifference; is drawing out potential, in a place of belonging; is Swansea College of Art.
QUICK JUMP TO DEGREE COURSE INFO 172
Surface Pattern & Textiles
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Graphic Design
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Illustration
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Automotive & Transport Design
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Photography
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Product & Furniture Design
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Design Crafts
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Film & TV
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Creative Music Technology
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Creative Advertising
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Fine Art
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Art & Design Foundation
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Postgraduate
CONTENTS
050 - 075
A Freedom to Challenge Selling Hope Not Products • Activists & Advocates • Learn on Location • How Do We Sit? • On Your Marks • Go Bananas • Pattern the World • Climbing the Walls • Air Racer 2030 • What is Jewellery? • Illustrated Object
076 - 113
Defining Creative Identities Telling Stories • Thought Experiment • Face to Face • Brand Identity Explore the Craft • Spaces Between • Polari Press • Drawing on Experience • The Essence • Greatest Hits • Taking Risks • Space & Place • Reality of Design • Developing Narrative • Exploring Materials
114 - 147
A Community The Aliens Have Landed • Bringing the Outside In • In Search of Ground • Memorial Project • Film Festival • Bilingual Opportunities Reimagine the Archive • Public Artworks • Summer Shows • Design Week • The Canvas
148 - 167
Design The Future Learning Through Play • New Directions • Lotus Electric Bike • Ani:Med • Transmission (Im)possible • Green Graphics in Action • A Way of Life • Childrens Books
ABOUT THIS BOOK This book is framed by a Manifesto, set out collaboratively between our staff and students, that reflects on exactly what makes Swansea College of Art such an exciting and dynamic place. Across the chapters, we lay out the fundamentals of what we consider essential to an Art College experience, and celebrate each of these points through the wonderful work of our students. Experimentation, Collaboration, Challenging Conventions and Driving Change are all at the heart of what we do. Art Colleges can change the world, and our graduates can, and do, design the future.
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There are a number of QR codes dotted around this book which link you directly to online content. Read more about some of the student projects or stories via these links.
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WHAT MAKES AN ART COLLEGE An art college education is unlike any other form of university education. Its uniqueness lies in the way in which it fosters, directs and encourages individuality, creativity and innovation. The UK has an amazingly rich and diverse range of art colleges with a distinguished heritage of producing globally recognised artists, designers, animators, filmmakers and performers. Swansea College of Art, as the oldest and most established art college in Wales is part of that respected tradition. Although we place great importance on developing employability skills, we also recognise that an art and design education is a voyage of self-discovery. We believe passionately in allowing our students time and space to explore and find their own direction and it really is amazing what evolves. 8
Maintaining currency in the world of art, design and media is vital. Most of our lecturers maintain their own active practice and exhibit at national and international venues. This ensures that all our students benefit from working with leading artists and designers either based at the College or visiting as part of a live project team or residency. It’s good to have traditions but it’s even more important to be innovative, creative and forward-looking. An example of that visionary thinking can be seen in the partnerships we have forged with universities across Europe as Swansea College of Art leads the EU-funded Arts & Humanities Enterprise Hub. This type of progressive project will ensure that Swansea College of Art UWTSD continues to deliver an international art college experience in a contemporary university long into the future.
A Traditional Art College Experience, in a Contemporary University.
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Since it first opened its doors in 1853 Swansea College of Art has drawn inspiration from two worlds, a modern city on one side and the rugged beauty of the Gower Peninsula on the other. It’s this fluid and dynamic mixing of the two that has energised Swansea College of Art to become one of the UK’s leading art colleges.
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STILL LEADING THE WAY Celebrated in The Visual Culture of Wales as ‘the most successful and prestigious art school in Wales’, Swansea College of Art has a long established reputation for excellence. Our innovative academic philosophy that focuses on adaptability, project management, critical thinking, and communication skills ensure that the students’ educational experience continues to flourish. These student attributes alongside our excellent industry links produce enterprising graduates that can grasp the amazing career opportunities available throughout the creative industries.
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SPACE TO MAKE Our friendly campuses are a great place to study. We invite our students to make themselves at home, and provide the studio space needed to really dive in and get to grips with their discipline. We encourage students to make full use of our wonderful facilities, so no matter which course you are on, you can utilise our portfolio of contemporary digital and traditional practice workshops throughout your time with us.
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MAKE YOUR MARK Painting and drawing are core skills for many of our creative disciplines. Traditional life-drawing and sketching sessions take place frequently on campus, as well as collaborative drawing events and digital mark-making workshops. We often get asked if being able to draw is an essential skill for an Art and Design student, and the answer is no! There are lots of other ways you can create imagery - but you may well surprise yourself in one of these workshops.
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INK, PRINT & REPEAT Our print rooms are a real hive of activity. With a wide range of processes for you to explore, whether you are interested in image making through etching, relief or silkscreen - or diving into our 150+ cases of lead and wood type in our letterpress room, we have you covered. Both traditional and digital approaches are offered and workshops are available to students on all courses. There is a real sense of reflection in these spaces, and the opportunity to explore the time it takes to perfect a craft.
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FORGE & CUT From delicate ornamental jewellery to largescale material sculpting our practical workshops offer students a variety of ways to shape, cut and construct their creative artefacts. The metal and wood workshops provide a traditional space for making which are complimented by the precision laser and water-jet cutting facilities. These production workshops are a place to engage with materials, a space where our students bring their concepts to tangible life.
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CAPTURE & DEVELOP The photographic workshop facilities offer our students the chance to explore the exciting breadth of chemical and digital learning experiences. With access to a selection of analogue and digital cameras provided by our photography stores students can develop their imagistic identity using specialised studio and location lighting techniques. The historical print process workshops alongside our processing and print darkrooms allow students to creatively explore the chemical photographic process and our digital photography suite offers film-scanning and large-format printing for the various exhibition opportunities throughout the year.
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THROW, PRINT & FIRE Our ceramics workshops provide an open space to learn about the tactile qualities of making; from throwing a pot, glazing a cast, to firing artefacts and ceramic printing it’s a place to engage in messy creativity. With expert tuition and a diverse set of facilities our students have the time and space to refine their craft skills and to formulate their practical projects into finished pieces of art.
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COMPOSE, CREATE & COLLABORATE We operate the “connected campus studios” where students and staff can collaborate, record, and perform High-Definition audio exchange between studios, at home or on campus, in real-time through a combination of remote login and cloud-based audio-packet streaming.
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THE LATEST SPEC TECH Digital technological innovation is constantly developing the ways that creatives push the boundaries of their disciplines. Our suites of printers for textiles, ceramics and 3-D modelling allow the students to produce their work to contemporary commercial frameworks. Equally, paper-based printing facilities utilised by all students, but photography and visual communication students in particular, enables an understanding of professional reproduction methods as well as the opportunity to showcase their work.
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HONE YOUR CRAFT We believe that understanding form through the use of Automotive clay is crucial in the learning process of any aspiring designer. That’s why our state-of-the-art clay studio is equipped with industry standard tools and will give our students the opportunity to learn this fantastic hands-on process. Many of our course areas benefit from specialist facilities like these, ranging from our unique stained glass studios through to our state of the art CAD suites.
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4°W 33
FOUR DEGREES WEST
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Swansea is a seaside city, a great place to live and study: big enough to offer you the space you need; small enough to make you feel that you belong, it’s full of possibilities and like-minded people.
3.9007° West Swansea Bay
3.9367° W Maritime Quarter
The nearest beach to our campus - this five-mile stretch links the Maritime Quarter to Mumbles via a promenade. Pay per hour bikes available for hire.
The former docklands district, full of waterside eateries and bars, as well as Museums and an independent Art Gallery.
15 mins walk from the campus
15 mins walk from the campus
3.95° West City Centre Swansea is Wales’ second largest city. Its bustling centre is home to a number of independent creative studios, theatres, shops and bars.
5 mins walk from the campus 35
4° West
Swansea College of Art 36
Dynevor Centre for Art & Design
Alexandra Road Campus
The SA1 Waterfront Campus
The BBC Studios
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3.99° West Mumbles Voted one of the best places to live in the UK, Mumbles is a village thats easily accessible from the campus and home to excellent ice cream and pubs.
1hr Walk / 30mins Cycle 20 mins by bus or car from the campus 38
4.169° West The Gower This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty links 30 beaches along a 19 mile peninsula. Excellent for days out to get creative inspiration.
30 mins - 1hr by bus or car from the campus. 39
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1 min walk from the campus
10 mins walk from the campus
Glynn Vivian Gallery
Mission Gallery
Positioned directly across the road from our Alex building, this gallery hosts major exhibitions as well as supporting emerging talents from the local area.
Housed in the Maritime Quarter, this beautiful little Gallery continues to support our students & graduates.
Shifting Lines by Justine Allison. Part of 'The Language of Clay' initiative, curated by Ceri Jones. A Mission Gallery National Touring exhibition series, funded by the Arts Council of Wales. Image taken by Matthew Otten.
SWANSEA: A CREATIVE CITY 42
High Street Our High Street is home to a wide range of independent bars and creative spaces such as The Elysium, artist-led Gallery, Studios and Club & Volcano Arts Theatre.
5 mins walk from the campus 43
Coffees & Clubs Within a short walk, bustling areas such as Wind Street & Uplands offer a number of coffee shops, bars and independent music venues.
10 - 20 mins walk from the campus 44
The Inspirational Outdoors Swansea offers a huge range of outdoor activities. Whether Surfing, SUP-ing or Kayaking are your thing, or simply walking around our stunning coastlines, Swansea has it all.
30 mins - 1hr walk from the campus. 45
CITY OF SANCTUARY
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City of Sanctuary is a grassroots national movement committed to building a culture of hospitality and welcome, especially for refugees seeking sanctuary from war and persecution. Swansea was recognised as the UK’s second City of Sanctuary in May 2010, and the first in Wales. Ten years on and our students and graduates continue to work with this community, bringing their skills and enthusiasm to help make Swansea the great place that it is.
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Location Images by Grzegorz Zalewski 48
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A FREEDOM TO CHALLENGE What’s an Art College without a freedom to challenge? By looking at things differently, our students are able to encourage new and innovative ways of thinking. The following projects investigate themes such as how we can use design thinking as an agent of change, and how boundaries can be pushed within the creative process to cultivate dynamic results.
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SELLING HOPE NOT PRODUCTS Second year students are asked to step into someone else’s shoes and to consider Graphic Design as a weapon to effect change. How might it empathise, educate, motivate, shock, inform, persuade or enlighten? Perhaps Graphic Designers should be more concerned with selling hope rather than products. Maybe we could be fighting ignorance rather than fuelling greed.
Course: BA Graphic Design Year of Study: Second Year Brief: Other People’s Shoes
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“Second Home” aims to promote understanding, telling the stories of 3 of Swansea’s Asylum Seekers. This second year project is now a published book.
Joseff Williams
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Pictured: Swansea based activist D, who spent time as a human rights peace observer in Palestine
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Course: BA Documentary and Visual Activism BA Photography in the Arts Year of Study: Second Year Brief: Ways of Protest
ACTIVISTS & ADVOCATES Photography students collaborated to produce a series of portraits of local activists and advocates for the ‘Ways of Protest’ exhibition at Elysium gallery. In partnership with Swansea Museum, Swansea County Council and Fusion ‘Ways of Protest’ explored activism and social change through exhibitions and workshops. The festival was a celebration of people, movements and organisations who have fought for social equality in Swansea and the wider world.
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Course: BA Film & TV Year of Study: All Years Brief: On Location
LEARNING ON LOCATION A unique part of our Film & TV course is where classes take place. Our job is to get you thinking and doing like a professional and that means your classroom will take place not just in our new 24/7 campus, but also in cafes, abandoned buildings, theatres, beaches, and many other external locations.
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HOW DO WE SIT? With the average human spending 18 years of their life sitting down, how we sit says a lot about who we are and can also impact on our health and well-being. Designing something to sit on is a complex task, challenging our understanding from comfort verses posture to visual aesthetics verses structure. These examples show the creative and diverse thinking of our students.
Course: BA/BSc Product & Furniture Design Year of Study: Second & Third Year Brief: How do we sit?
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James Lewis
Georgia Hatton
Leon Evans
Georgia Hatton
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ON YOUR MARKS
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Foundation students are introduced to core methods within drawing, and ask what can a mark be? What method or approach can I use? What materials can be utilised? Students explore scale, light and dark, tangible and intangible, visible and hidden, scratched and scored, singular and multiple, permanent and ephemeral... and using materials from sketchbooks to smart phones, investigate processes from free hand drawing, to mono-printing, stitching and photocopying. Experimentation helps to consider what a drawing might look like and how students can further extend their visual vocabulary.
Course:
Workshop:
Foundation Art & Design
Mark-Making
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GO BANANAS The only way to discover new ideas is to recognise that it often takes unbridled experimentation to inform knowledge. Conventional thought processes are just not going to get you there. One of the first year projects, in the module Copy and Type, is to write on unconventional substrates. We do this because it changes the way you think about writing, the words you write, and the form of your letters. We literally ask our students to go bananas.
Course: BA Creative Advertising Year of Study: First Year Project: Copy & Type
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Charlotte Matthews
Sharmin Leapi Begum
Kerstin Wilson 63
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Course:
Year of Study:
Brief:
BA Surface Pattern & Textiles
Third Year
Swansea Streetwrap
PATTERN THE WORLD! The Swansea Streetwrap regeneration project invited final year students to transform dreary utility boxes of Swansea’s High Street through Swansea inspired patterns. The designs were exhibited at Volcano Gallery, and visitors voted their favourites on to the street giving democratised design power to those of us living and working in the area. The project was part of the “Pattern the world” ethos inspired by friend to the programme Mark Eley of Eley Kishimoto. Surprises of pattern and colour in the urban environment present unexpected moments of joy, a perfect way of thanking Swansea for all it gives us.
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Rose Harvey
Anna Bruce
Read more about our fantastic collaboration with Station2Sea project, the team at Volcano Theatre and Swansea Council.
Corie Beth Jones & Anna Bruce
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Course: BA Fine Art Year of Study: Second Year Project: Artlacuna Exhibition
CLIMBING UP THE WALLS Lockdown didn’t stop our students from putting on a show. Our fine art second years produced a collaborative show in London’s Artlacuna gallery. Two edits of unique footage could be seen, ebbing and flowing alongside each other, exploring layerings of experience and agency. Individual voices were heard through collaborative video collage and hand-made embellished zines that fold, jar and overlap.
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Jasmine Star
Ellis Phillips
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RED BULL AIR RACER 2030 This project investigates an aircraft concept developed for the Red Bull air racing. Aviation is the main human source of ozone, a serious respiratory health hazard that increases the likelihood of premature death. Aircrafts produce gases, noise and particulates, rising environmental concerns. The purpose of this concept is to raise environmental awareness within urban areas. During race events live data is gathered from the river and presented to the audience in real time. A portion of the funds gathered from the events would be issued to the host cities in order to clean the rivers or canals using the data gathered.
Course: BA Automotive & Transport Design Year of Study: Second Year Brief: Red Bull Air Racer 2030
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WHAT IS JEWELLERY?
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One route through design crafts is to focus on contemporary art jewellery. We constantly strive to define and redefine what jewellery actually is. Students explore this through a curiosity and questioning. Jewels are interpreted through a broad range of material, far beyond that of the usual precious metals. We break down perceptions about materiality but also scale and how the object is worn, questioning all kinds of body adornment. In our group ‘glass ring project’ students learn a range of technical techniques to produce a collection of innovative glass rings that look like beautiful blocks of ice.
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Year of Study:
BA Design Crafts
All Years
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ILLUSTRATED OBJECTS Illustration goes beyond the picture book and printed image; it also has its place within a 3 dimensional and sculptural realm. From packaging through to objects that enchant and delight, illustration challenges our preconceived ideas of how we look at, and how we produce a creative language. With an ever-increasing demand for desirable packaging and products, illustration continues to branch out into the realms of branding, graphic design, and fine art.
Course: BA Illustration Year: All Year Groups
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Emily Bruce
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DEFINING CREATIVE IDENTITIES No matter what subject you study with us, our approach is the same; it is all about you. We love taking the time to really get to know our students, and provide the space and support needed to help each person develop a portfolio that truly defines them as a creative. The following projects show the huge spectrum of styles and approaches, proving that no two student voices are the same.
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Course: BA Photography in the Arts & BA Documentary and Visual Activism Year of Study: Second Year Brief: The Photobook
TELLING STORIES In their second year, photography students are challenged with making their own photobook – an increasingly significant tool for photographers in communicating their work. Working independently to create a concept for their book, students explore notions of complex juxtaposition, rhythm and narrative. Habitat:
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Living, working & studying during the Pandemic by Laurentina Miksys
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Course: MA (All Pathways) Year of Study: First Year Project: Thought Experiment
THE THOUGHT EXPERIMENT The Thought Experiment asks postgraduate students to embark on a creative journey where they leave behind everything that is familiar, by promoting the acquisition of experiential, as well as cognitive knowledge. Synchronistically serious and light-hearted (yes, humour is actively promoted!), The Thought Experiment is undertaken to promote discovery, widen creative potential, and to generate dialogues across art and design disciplines. Success and failure are equally embraced as the focus is on the journey, rather than the end result, and as such this introductory module favours originality and bravery in the creative process.
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FACE TO FACE In this workshop for new students coming out of lockdown, the group were introduced to three methods of drawing, stitch, observation and collage. Each response was presented as a 10cm square, which were then assembled into 3D cubes creating collaborative responses to the brief.
Course: Foundation Art & Design Workshop: Face to Face
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CORPORATE & CREATIVE BRAND IDENTITY Our Graphic Designers consider company culture, personality, and values to create corporate and creative brand identity. This requires investigating, inside and out about who you are as a service, charity or as a business. Working with live client briefs, this design process develops into an overarching visual identity for application across appropriate platforms, which could include print, digital, social media, web design and motion graphics.
Course: BA Graphic Design Year of Study: Second & Third Year Brief: Brand Identity
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Chance Dufty 85
EXPOSE THE CRAFT Wet Plate Collodion is an early Photographic process dating back to mid-1800’s of producing Photographic images on aluminium (Tintype) or glass (Ambrotype) plates. Collodion is poured on to a clean plate, then sensitised in a Silver Nitrate solution, before being loaded in to a large format camera, and a photograph is taken. All is done fairly quickly and while the plate is still wet, hence the given name Wet Plate Collodion.
Course: BA Photography in the Arts & BA Documentary and Visual Activism Year of Study: All Years Workshop: The Collodion Process
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THE SPACES BETWEEN Samina’s body of work for her final major project called ‘connection’ is made using complex cast glass techniques which fit areas of the body. These tactile objects are formed from the act of touch and connection from one hand to another. The inspiration for this project stemmed from the lack of touch and comfort one would receive from their loved ones throughout these last 18 months. They are a reminder that the current state of the world is not permanent, but a hardship that will pass. Samina was recently nominated as a finalist for the Arts Thread Global Graduate Design Show in collaboration with Gucci.
Course: BA Design Crafts Year of Study: Third Year Project: Niyyah / Intention
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THE POLARI PRESS The Polari Press is a body of work that celebrates the spoken language of Polari which was used in the gay communities around London during the 1950s and 60s. Being a secretive method of communication it was never extensively committed to print. Cameron draws his influences from the pop culture styles of the time to create his typefaces, posters, and flamboyant character designs.
Course: MA Graphic Design Student: Cameron Ridgway
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Course:
Year of Study:
Project:
BA Fine Art
First Year
Drawing Week
DRAWING ON EXPERIENCE Each year the first year Fine Art students spend a week working with Professor Sue Williams on the expansive experience of drawing. They work with the small intense scale eventually developing their confidence to experiment with the large scale. The course has a strong belief that all students need to understand the value of drawing and how it supports good art practice.
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THE ESSENCE An indulgent display of hand painted florals, foliage and fragrant ingredients, curated to illustrate personality driven, visualised scents. Each design is inspired by a different heroine’s narrative extracted from mythology, portraying a strong feminine persona, for all women. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, characterised by a hand drawn signature, the textiles are digital and screen printed, creating a variety of textures and surface treatments. The Essence promotes inclusivity and female empowerment, devised as a pre-season activist collection of textiles for fashion. All women deserve to be reminded of their incredible uniqueness, the strength of self-acceptance and what we can overcome when united.
Course: BA Surface Pattern & Textiles Student: Rebecca Davies
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Chaos to Serenity by Alef Matthews
THE GREATEST HITS Trapped by Kane Lister Here are some featured works from our Second Year Creative Music Technology students. This studio brief provides an opportunity for students to create a portfolio of original compositions that explores a variety of compositional approaches and recording techniques.
Course: BA Creative Music Technology Brief: Studio Recording
Whiplash by Dan Gower 98
Carpark by Rod Thomas
Retro Synthwave by Richard Jenkins
Bubbles by Marissa Collins
Project Apollo 11 by Katie Waters
STFD and Quantize by Alef Matthews
Sakamoto by Rod Thomas 99
Course:
Year of Study:
Brief:
BA Creative Advertising
All Years
Ideation
TAKING RISKS Originality is essential. We expect the unexpected. We ask our students to challenge themselves and escape habitual ways of thinking. To get there you need to be brave and take risks. Expect to rewrite the rule book, reimagine the playing field, and throw caution to the wind. Revolutionaries, rebels, mavericks and free spirits are welcome.
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Klaudia Mroz
Rebecca101 Davies
I owe my entire career to Swansea College of Art, they offer the ideal creative environment to thrive in. Support and guidance from my tutors was bespoke to my needs, they treat each person as an individual. GARETH WINTER Graphic Design Graduate
Gareth’s journey so far:
Graduated
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Graphic Designer for Alex Oliver Associates
Broadcast Designer for Sky News
Creative for Sky
Senior Creative for Sky
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Project:
Foundation Art & Design
Psychogeography
SPACE & PLACE Foundation students are encouraged to work collaboratively as well as independently, to engage with and to respond to space and place in its broadest sense. This includes developing writing samples as forms of creative and visual expression as well as other modes of production, including, but not limited to drawing, photography, sound and visual recordings, instillations, encounters and events. This combines process with socially engaged practice, broadening the students understanding of arts practice and its place within culture.
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THE REALITY OF DESIGN A simple project with a twist, introducing first year students to the fact of reality that your outcome must work! The project was to design and build a stool to survive an impact loading of 100kg. It challenges the understanding of material properties and the architecture and assembly of the design without dismissing the styling aesthetics. Not all stools survived, enjoyed by all despite some tears.
Course: BA/BSc Product & Furniture Design Year of Study: First Year Brief: Learning Reality
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DEVELOPING NARRATIVE Second year students are tasked with interpreting or writing a picture book or graphic novel and creating a pitch ready for publishers. This is divided into three parts: designing the style of illustration, devising a dummy book, and creating the illustrated spreads. Throughout this module we wear many hats, working as concept artists in developing the designs, a set designer in devising the setting, and as a director as we curate the narrative before embarking on the final illustrations.
Course: BA Illustration Year of Study: Second Year Brief: Narrative Illustration
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Tilly Griffiths 111
Course: BA Design Crafts Year of Study: All Years
EXPLORING MATERIALS Design Crafts is a family of making and materiality at its heart. Our three main specialisms are ceramics, glass and jewellery. These 3 core elements frequently cross over and fuse together, students are encouraged to traverse the lines and be as experimental and innovative with materials as possible. Beyond ceramics, glass and metal students have explored wood, concrete, resin, pewter, slate, and digital processes to enhance their making skills.
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Juliette Zelleke
Alyson Williams
Heidi Walton 113
COMMUNITY Swansea College of Art has a real sense of community. We encourage collaboration within, and across our disciplines, and bring people together in our annual events and festivals. As a city-centre campus, we also look to the wider community of Swansea, and students often offer their skills to collaborative opportunities locally.
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THE ALIENS HAVE LANDED
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As part of induction week, a number of our courses hop onto some beautiful vintage double decker buses and head off to the nearby Gower beaches. The students are invited to pick up their rakes and spades, and make a collaborative artwork in the sand. At the end of the day, we all climb the cliffs for the big reveal.
When:
Who:
Where:
Induction Week
Visual Communcation
Gower
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Course: BA Surface Pattern & Textiles Year of Study: Third & Fourth Year Live Brief: Y Bywthyn, Willis Newson
BRINGING THE OUTSIDE IN Many at UWTSD have been supported by Y Bwythyn and Macmillan, so the call to pitch for a design commission to be installed alongside the work of practicing artists and designers for the new palliative care centre at The Royal Glamorgan Hospital was taken up with great enthusiasm. Willis Newson’s ethos to involve local emerging talent gives graduates like our winner Anna Bruce an early career boost. This project resulted in a significant growth of student interest in the relationship between design and wellbeing; a legacy that has had such an important impact on graduate portfolios recently.
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Course: BA Photography in the Arts & BA Documentary and Visual Activism Year of Study: Third Year Brief: Final Exhibition Promotion
IN SEARCH OF GROUND This wonderful promotion pack was a collaborative project undertaken by our Photography third year 2021 - who chose to push the boundaries of the standard ‘book’, to promote their show ‘In Search of Ground’. Our students come together as a group each year, and collaborate in the design, curation, and promotion of their graduate show.
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Image of the Sculpture Studio 1960s Swansea College of Art 124
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Course: BA Film & TV Year of Study: All Years Brief: Holocaust Memorial Day
MEMORIAL PROJECT For a number of years the BA Film & TV course have been contributing to events held on the Holocaust Memorial Day The HMD occurs every January and its aim is to act as a point of remembrance for all those who were lost in genocides. BA Film & TV students created a series of short videos entitled ‘be the light’. These short films were commissioned by Swansea Council as part of their own remembrance of the holocaust.
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COPPER COAST FILM FESTIVAL
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We have one of the few film courses in the UK and offer our students the opportunity to run an internationally recognised film festival. The festival attracts interest from around the world, giving an insight into the wider film market and an understanding of what it takes to make an award-winning film.
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I loved every minute of my time at Swansea. The thing I value the most from the course was the one-to-one tuition that I had. I really wouldn’t be where I am today without the expertise, time and effort put in by the staff on the course PATRICK CARTON Automotive Design Graduate
Patrick’s journey so far:
Graduated
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Team Winner of Westfield Potenza Design Project EVO Magazine
Salon Prive’ “Concours of the Future” Finalist
Named in Forbes 30 Under 30 List
Senior Designer at McLaren Automotive
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Caitlin Littlejohns
BILINGUAL OPPORTUNITIES We aim to embed the culture and heritage of Wales within our teaching and learning, creating the opportunity for students to interact bilingually within a local & global context. Ein nod yw mewnosod diwylliant a threftadaeth Cymru yn ein haddysgu a dysgu, gan greu’r cyfle i fyfyrwyr ryngweithio’n ddwyieithog o fewn cyddestun lleol a byd-eang.
If you are a Welsh speaker and would like to discuss the possibility of studying part of your degree through the medium of Welsh please contact: Os ydych yn siarad Cymraeg a hoffech drafod y posibilrwydd o astudio rhan o’ch gradd drwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg, cysylltwch â: g.beynon@uwtsd.ac.uk
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REIMAGINING THE ARCHIVE
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Archives are repositories of the past which contain ideas for the future. The students were challenged to deconstruct the objects they found in the archives at St Fagans through drawing and material study. They used their research to design and make for their contemporary pathway contexts. Using the broad range of materials and workshops available to them they worked closely with curators at the museum and were able to negotiate individual locations across the many houses, buildings and galleries at the site to exhibit their outcomes. This was the first collaboration of its kind between the museum and a University.
Course:
Year of Study:
Live Brief:
BA Surface Pattern & Textiles
Second & Third Year
St Fagans National Museum of History
Check out the full catalogue of work produced during this exciting collaboration here.
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PUBLIC ARTWORKS Our illustrators collaborated with First Cymru in creating a series of illustrated bus wraps for their Swansea fleet. The brief was centred around Swansea culture and the students were required to pitch their concepts to the client before embarking on their designs. Working closely with a specialised vinyl print company, students created a series of striking illustrated buses which have been well received. Make sure to keep an eye out for these when you are in Swansea!
Course: BA Illustration Year of Study: Third Year Project: First Bus Wraps
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Alice Jones
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END OF YEAR SHOWS
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For over 160 years we have exhibited the very best young talent from our range of leading art, design and media courses. Our annual summer shows promise to be a series of exciting and colourful events that showcase the very best our students have to offer. Our shows take place in various venues across the city, as well as further afield in London graduate events.
When:
Who:
Where:
Every Year in May
All Courses
On & Around Campus
Check out the latest Summer Show by scanning here.
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DESIGN WEEK FESTIVAL
‘Design week’ offers students the opportunity to engage with prestigious designers and companies. Talks are often given by our graduates working within the industry, recently these have included graduates who now work for Lego, Sky Creative, Monsoon, Tigerprint and Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness.
The events in our Design Week festivals are open to applicants. If you would like to attend one of our talks as a guest, just get in touch: donna.williams@uwtsd.ac.uk
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Course:
Year of Study:
Brief:
All Courses
All Years
The Canvas
THE CANVAS The Canvas is a public art initiative, giving all students in the Art College the opportunity to get their artwork out there in the world. A new piece is selected each term, and put up on the front of our Dynevor campus building. The aim is to both challenge and inspire passers by, as well as celebrate the great talents of our students.
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My degree taught me to research and develop collections both practically and theoretically. Most important of all was the encouragement to develop our own styles and ways of working. ROSIE COOK Surface Pattern Design Graduate
Rosie’s journey so far:
Graduated & Exhibited at New Designers
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Hallmark Internship & New Designers One Year On
‘Pattern’ Studio Internship
Made.com Cove Collection launch
Print Designer for Underwear at H&M
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DESIGN THE FUTURE The following collection of student projects look at how we use our skills as artists, designers and creative thinkers to influence the future. Students often engage with live projects, with a wide range of clients, charities, companies and well-known brands. These experiences enable our students to confidently step out into the world after their time with us, ready to make a positive impact.
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LEARNING THROUGH PLAY Today’s children, tomorrow’s adults, grow up facing rapid and challenging social change; this project teaches future generations that not everyone is the same. Whether it’s physical, emotional, sexual, racial or anything else, we are all different. The figures help educate children through play to understand that everyone is unique and different is normal.
Course: BA/BSc Product & Furniture Design Year of Study: Third Year Brief: Graduate Portfolio
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Course: BA Creative Advertising Year of Study: Second Year Brief: Art Direction
NEW DIRECTIONS A concept is central to any piece of creative, but the work really starts when realising it. Art direction is the meticulous craft of turning your ideas into a visual reality. You need to have a vision, and then think with your eyes to establish a visual language. It takes time, effort and imagination to communicate meaning through images. Considered combinations of content, composition, styling and tone are what can make your really good idea, really great.
Hannah Rees
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LOTUS ELECTRIC BIKE Lotus Design challenged our second year Automotive & Transport Design students with four briefs and one of them was “The ultimate E Bicycle” inspired by the famous 1992 Lotus Type 108 Olympic bicycle. The Live project was led by Lotus Design director Russell Carr and his team. The students responded well to the client’s inputs developing and finalising the E Bike design with incredible attention to details. A fantastic opportunity that allowed everyone within the groups to gain exposure and enhance their portfolio.
Course: BA Automotive & Transport Design Year of Study: Second Year Project: Lotus Live Project
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Course:
Year of Study:
Project:
BA/BSc Product & Furniture Design
Third Year
ani:MED
Ani:MED The aim of this project is to improve a child’s experience of visiting medical centres and hospitals. Research suggests that many children have a negative experience when undergoing examinations and procedures, due to the lack of real understanding, clarity and comfort. Using the medium of play, these 3 products inform a child on how a procedure/ examination works, creating a more positive experience.
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Adam Higgins
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Course: BA Surface Pattern & Textiles Year of Study: Third & Fourth Year Live Project: Rolls Royce
TRANSMISSION (IM)POSSIBLE
We like to say we are more than just a textiles course – this is what Rolls Royce saw in us too; intrigued by our practice of combining traditional, hand-crafted processes with new, state of the art digital applications. The Rolls Royce project saw students bring materiality, patterns, textiles, engraved surfaces and innovative concepts to life mapped over dreamy, luxury vehicles and styled looks. Their Bespoke Design team have chosen a 4th Year Integrated Master of Design student as Intern for the next year. She will be part of an exclusive team of 8 designers, based between Goodwood and Munich.
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Catrin 159 Young
From being named ‘Young Photographer of the Year’ a year after graduating, to working for Time Magazine & The New York Times in New York City. It’s been a busy decade.
MIKKO TAKKUNEN Photography Graduate
Mikko’s journey so far:
Graduated
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Named ‘Young Photographer of the Year’
Associate Picture Editor with Time Magazine
International Photo Editor for Time Magazine
Photo Editor for The New York Times
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GREEN GRAPHICS IN ACTION Designing the Future is what graphic design is all about. Making a difference is a core value in our projects and in the way we support our students. Alicia, a brand-new graduate, focused her graduate portfolio on how we as designers could use our skills to help tackle the Climate Emergency. Sustainability runs through all of her work, which includes an App to track the carbon footprint of our weekly shop, and designing a pack for schools encouraging pupils to switch to alternative period protection. These projects aim to reduce environmental impact through good design.
Course: BA Graphic Design Year of Study: Third Year Brief: Graduate Portfolio
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A WAY OF LIFE
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Fine Artists explore the potential of the imagination and its ability to construct a visual language to reflect the realities of the world as we find it. Through lectures, seminars and tutorials we remind ourselves that the cultural, political and poetic worlds are not outside our studio walls but very much within them and as spaces of discourse, the past, the present and the future are fluid fields for learning, invention and context. As we create forms and images through a myriad of processes, we realise too that the thinking of art is a way of life.
Course:
Year of Study:
BA Fine Art
All Years
Check out our very own virtual platform, showcasing whats going on in our studios.
Africa Olle Marina
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Course: BA Illustration Year of Study: Third Year Brief: Graduate Portfolio
PICTURE BOOKS Our Illustration course has always maintained strong ties with the publishing industry. As an area of illustration our graduates often gravitate towards, we have a strong emphasis on storytelling and character design. With several of our alumni on their books, we have annual visits from the Bright Illustration agency to help ready our students for the industry. We also have regular visits from practicing writers and illustrators including Nicola Davies, who has commissioned a number of our students as part of our modules, allowing them to pursue a career in the industry with published books already under their belts.
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Our Courses
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Naomi Seaward
Zara James
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 172 pages: 66, 96, 118, 134, 146
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BA /MDes
SURFACE PATTERN & TEXTILES Surface Pattern and Textiles is a vibrant, multidisciplinary programme where we explore textiles, materiality, pattern and making. The portfolio gives a practice-rich experience, focused around creating exciting and innovative surfaces and structures for a breadth of contemporary design contexts. Students work towards identifying their individual niche, applying their ideas to their chosen contextual specialism - Maker, Fashion or Interiors. The programme is housed in a lively, light and airy studio that accommodates all years of study. This makes it the heartbeat of our SP&T community, offering a personal desk space for the duration of your time with us. Either side of the studio, and across our campus, are our well-equipped workshops where you can explore the unique range of materials and processes available to you. From the outset you will participate in a range of working methods and learning environments supported by a dedicated team:
study visits, research, drawing, designing, making, digital and analogue printing and cutting methods on cloth, paper and hard materials, dyeing and colouration, tutorials, contextual practice, live projects, competitions, industry experience, exhibitions, self-promotion and portfolio preparation. When you leave us, you are workplace ready! You will undertake a plethora of live project opportunities and engage with our industry links during your time with us. Companies such as H&M, Hallmark, Orangebox and Rolls Royce have worked with our students recently, and every year we seek out new live brief opportunities to ensure the spirit of challenge and creative discovery continues to characterise the programme, our students and our graduates. Graduates go on to a variety of employment roles, including working with the following; Monsoon, Accessorize, Jayne Pierson, Toast, John Lewis, Hallmark, H&M, Zara & many more.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Fashion & Textiles 9th in the UK for Fashion & Textiles
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
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BA
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Our Graphic Design course prepares students for dynamic and diverse futures in the ever-widening world of visual communication. The programme provides you with a broad education in Graphic Design and, with an inbuilt degree of flexibility, it enables you to pursue individual interests whether in the fields of corporate graphics and brand identity, publishing, design for print, packaging or interactive screen-based design. The course is delivered by a passionate staff team, nurturing students in a supportive, friendly learning environment with a professional, industry-reflective work ethic. Your personal aspirations are very important to us, and we will strive to empower you with
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a graduate portfolio bursting with the creative confidence you need to make a smooth transition into the working world of design. Links with business and industry are an essential ingredient of the programme and are maintained and developed through ‘live’ projects, work placements, visiting professionals, educational visits and an annual ‘Design Week’ event. Our graduates have an outstanding employment record with students attaining some of the most exciting national and international careers on offer, this ranges from starting a design company on the beach in Byron Bay, Australia, to Apple design in New York.
Guardian League Table 2022:
National Student Survey 2021:
1st in Wales for Design & Crafts 3rd in the UK for Design & Crafts
100% of UWTSD’s Graphic Design students were satisfied with their course
Rebecca Owen
Linh Duong
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see pages: 52, 84, 102, 142, 162 175
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 176 pages: 74, 110, 136, 166
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BA
Owen Harry
ILLUSTRATION
Our Illustration degree course offers a broad and dynamic programme designed to develop both creative and professional skills, blurring boundaries with Fine Art, Graphic Design, Animation, and other disciplines. The course reflects and embraces the diverse nature of contemporary illustration and encourages students to challenge the concept of what illustration can be while developing an understanding of the needs of this rapidly evolving and vibrant industry and enjoys a reputation for producing a diverse and eclectic range of graduating illustrators who are confident using their own creative voice.
risograph printing, laser cutters and a dedicated digital illustration suite with iMacs, Wacom tablets and Cintiq screens.
Students have access to the most up-todate equipment and facilities including dedicated studio space, printmaking studio for lino, screenprint, etching & collagraph, a letterpress studio with four Adana letterpress machines and bookmaking equipment,
Graduate employment includes Moonpig, Usborne Books, LEGO, The Great British Card Company, Tokyo Disney Sea Park, Lush & M&S. Many also become freelance illustrators represented by top London Illustration agencies.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Design & Crafts 3rd in the UK for Design & Crafts
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
‘Live’ commercial projects are a focus of the course, this experience is an important part of your final year of study. You will also have the opportunity to enter illustration competitions. Our students have enjoyed competition success, such as the Penguin Design Awards, The Great British Postcard Competition, ‘On the Cards’ greeting card design competition, Rising Stars and the Hallmark Design Award at New Designers.
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AUTOMOTIVE & TRANSPORT DESIGN BA
Our Automotive & Transport Design courses will give you the opportunity to develop the technical and intellectual abilities and knowledge to undertake the design and development of new vehicles (cars and motorcycles, boats, trucks, public transport & transport systems.) based on a clear understanding of proportion, volume and surface design principles. Industry engagement is crucial in our course which has been designed to facilitate the development of an automotive designer through the replication of a professional environment. During your second year for example, you could undertake a group live industry supported project with a major automotive manufacturer. This is a fantastic opportunity that will give you a chance to gain valuable experience and exposure. Guest lecturers and live tutorial sessions
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from Industry professionals, often former students, are another great way to gain knowledge and enhance your technical and intellectual abilities and your portfolio. Students have access to studio space and specialist workshops including dedicated clay and digital modelling studios, fibreglass layup spray facilities traditional hand tools, laser cutting, milling, turning, CNC machining & 3D printing (Ultimaker, Objet & Stratasys machines), digital scanning technologies (Artec, Roland) , Wacom Cintiq workstations and VR. Our graduates find employment with some of the world’s leading automotive design studios and design consultancies such as: Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren Automotive, Icona Design, Rolls-Royce, Westfield, Pininfarina, Kiska, Saic, Futura Design, Nissan, Envisage, Gordon Murray Design, Aston Martin, Daimler Truck USA, Renault, & Lotus.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Design & Crafts 3rd in the UK for Design & Crafts
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 179 pages: 70, 130, 154
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 180 pages: 54, 78, 86, 122, 160
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PHOTOGRAPHY BA Photography in the Arts & BA Documentary and Visual Activism
We offer two routes into Photography Photography in the Arts and Documentary Photography and Visual Activism. The Photography in the Arts degree course at Swansea College of Art UWTSD is all about exploration, self-discovery and innovation. We encourage you to experiment and challenge convention, to pursue your personal interests and develop a unique vision to take you forward into a successful career in the creative industries.
As a student you will have access to industry standard facilities and store facility. In addition to extensive traditional photography facilities and darkrooms, our digital provision includes a specialist colour-managed digital suite running the latest Adobe software. This includes high resolution Hasselblad film scanners, medium and large format portfolio and exhibition printing.
Our Documentary Photography and Visual Activism degree course at Swansea College of Art, UWTSD teaches students traditional, practical documentary and photojournalistic skills alongside contemporary strategies for becoming visual activists, who empower their subjects whilst engaging with communities and networks to raise awareness about inequality and injustice as a means for social change.
The department has excellent connections with the photographic industry, from the gallery network through to documentary and advertising agencies. Students will regularly interact with professional contacts through the exciting series of visiting lecturers, where artists, photographers, curators, editors, writers and agents present their work and talk about their professional experiences. Graduates are employed in a wide range of photographic and fine art activities, including fashion, portraiture, editorial/documentary, and gallery contexts.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Film production & photography
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
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BA /BSc
PRODUCT & FURNITURE DESIGN Product and Furniture designers by their very nature are visionaries, they define the world around us, giving it form and material quality. Our vision is to produce design professionals able to respond creatively to the changing needs of society in a commercially and environmentally sustainable manner. We can offer the best training and facilities to prepare you for the challenges within the product, furniture, industrial and engineering design industries. Both pathways are delivered together with the BA (Hons) projects focusing on the user experience, and the BSc (Hons) projects focusing on the reality of designing for today. We are proud to be able to run concentrated, small teaching groups and regular one-to-one tutorials, where, as a student, you will have the opportunity to focus on your creative development and individual professional growth.
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We have excellent facilities that integrate the traditional studio and workshop practices with state-of the-art digital and prototyping tools. These include: personal studio space, 3D printing & CNC, Wacom Cintiq workstations running the industry-standard 3D design and visualisation software (Autodesk Fusion 360, SketchBook Pro, Adobe Creative Suite). You can also access laser cutting, ceramics, screen printing and photography in our Dynevor Centre for Art, Design & Media just two minutes walk away. Throughout your studies: You will be encouraged to learn and grow the skills and knowledge to produce both digital and physical products; You will engage with industry in live projects; You will push the boundaries of your intellectual capacity; You will develop innovative product ideas and You will have fun. We see You as Individuals and help you explore ways to achieve your full creative potential.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Design & Crafts 3rd in the UK for Design & Crafts
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
Georgia Hatton
Adam Higgins
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see pages: 58, 108, 150, 156 183
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BA /MDes
DESIGN CRAFTS Design Crafts gives you the opportunity to learn the design and creative 3D making skills you need to work professionally with Glass, Ceramics and Jewellery. Allowing you to discover your creative voice whilst developing traditional hand-making skills and contemporary approaches such as laser, waterjet cutting and 3D printing. This broad programme offers the opportunity to work with specialist materials or enjoy a mixed media approach to craft. The degree offers you a host of exciting opportunities to work on live briefs and take part in placements with industry partners from the worlds of interior design, the gallery sector and architecture. Our teaching team of professional practitioners, with extensive networks of industry contacts, will support your future career and professional development beyond graduation.
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Our excellent specialist equipment and facilities for glass, ceramics and jewellery, includes glass cutting, painting and leading rooms, unique acid etching facilites, ceramics studio and kiln rooms in both glass and ceramics, throwing wheels and a fully fitted jewellery workshop. These are supported by an array of general and digital workshops, giving you the opportunity to explore, ideas through materials and making. The course also offers individual desk space in our vibrant creative studios. Graduates from our Design Craft course will develop strong creative, problem-solving, design and making skills which can be applied to a wide range of employment opportunities, from self-employment (as independent artists, designers and makers) through to working for established companies in a variety of roles.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Design & Crafts 3rd in the UK for Design & Crafts
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
Juliette Zelleke
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 185 pages: 72, 90, 112
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 186 pages: 56, 126, 128
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BA
FILM & TV
The course offers a special learning experience, with an exciting and innovative blend of taught and practical sessions that take place at a variety of venues. Our philosophy is simple - if you never leave the classroom, you will always remain a student. You will discover how to build an effective production around a core story idea whilst being taught specific job roles in technical sessions to allow you to apply for jobs within your first term.
The Copper Coast International Film Festival attracts interest from around the world, giving an insight into the wider film market and an understanding of what it takes to make an award-winning film.
The course has excellent facilities, situated in our new SA1 purpose-built waterfront campus we have a wide range of 6K, 4K and HD cameras as well as post-production facilities. You will also help run a film festival.
Our graduates have found production roles across the Film & TV industry, with recent graduates working on projects such as Mission Impossible, The Grand Tour, His Dark Materials, Paddington 2, Guardians of the Galaxy and many more. Other graduates have landed jobs with established industry heavyweights, including BBC, Sky, Amazon and Milk VFX other have found success as freelancers or creating their own production companies.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Film production & photography
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
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CREATIVE MUSIC TECHNOLOGY BA
Our Creative Music Technology programme has been designed to provide its graduates with the artistic, technical, creative, and professional skills relevant to the music industries. The programme is designed for students with a creative flair, developing competencies and confidence in working with music and technology in a wide range of contexts and settings. We encourage creativity and innovation through providing opportunities to develop artistic, technical and production skills to expert levels in preparation for employment. Students are exposed to many subject areas within the application and production of music. The project-based and practical nature of the programme allows students to tailor the assignments to their interests within the broad subject area of music technology. We pay particular attention to the development of
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listening skills which allows students to tune into their distinctive and unique sonic voice. In a very competitive industry of music production, the challenge is to maximise the student’s opportunity to develop a “unique and individual voice” through the realisation of the creative projects. The course offers access to specialist facilities including four industry-standard recording studios. One of these studios is the historic BBC Hall, which has one of the best acoustics for recording in the UK. Graduates have an excellent range of technologically advanced transferable skills that enable them to gain employment in a diverse range of contemporary media and production companies as well as becoming directly employed in the music industry.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Music
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 189 page: 98
Hannah Rees
Iwan Dawson
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 190 pages: 62, 100, 152
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BA
CREATIVE ADVERTISING
If you’re looking for an inspirational and wildly imaginative degree course where you’ll be creating a vast variety of advertising ideas, then this is for you. We attract innovative and highly original individuals who are interested in contemporary communication. We teach our students to explore the growing plethora of media channels, and our up-to-date course content is designed to help students establish successful careers in the creative industries.
as TV, video, social media, digital, motion graphics, radio, posters, branding, apps and blogs. Our students do this by creating exceptional ideas informed by their very own strategic insight. You will be taught by industry-experienced practitioners and have the benefit of working on live projects. Our course enjoys a separate floor with three studios, along with access to many other facilities across the faculty.
Our course embraces digital transformation to ensure our students are thought leaders in the subject. We connect technological innovations to the traditional advertising crafts of storytelling, art direction, graphic design and copywriting. With a mix of these skills, our students achieve amazing things. By studying with us, you get to explore the growing variety of media channels such
Our course content is designed to help you establish successful careers in the creative industries in roles such as creative director, art director, copywriter, digital creative, content creator, social media manager, graphic designer and marketing manager. Our alumni now work with prestigious agencies and brands such as AMV BBDO, Saatchi and Saatchi, TBWA, 180 Kingsday, Tesco, Dyson and Brand Attic.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Design & Crafts 3rd in the UK for Design & Crafts
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
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BA
FINE ART Studio, Site & Context
Our Fine Art degree course has an established reputation of excellence in the visual arts. Experimentation, research and exploration are vital to the practice of art and to this end we encourage awareness of theoretical debates, contemporary practice and the cultural and historical contexts within which we find ourselves. As a Fine Art student you will have access to your own dedicated studio space, and our excellent workshop facilities that include inductions to the uses, processes and potential of metal, wood, resin and other sculptural practices as well as the availability of laser and water-jet cutters. There is also access to digital studios and darkrooms, life drawing classes and printmaking facilities.
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Regular one-to-one tutorials are available throughout the three years. You will be taught by internationally practising and recognised artists, which draws the professional world closer to your educational experience. This ensures that our course enjoys an excellent working relationship with local and national galleries and museums where there are opportunities to participate in residencies, internships and training and mentoring activities to help develop your career. Recent graduates from Fine Art have gone on to pursue a range of career options, including working as freelance artists, arts administrators, curators & educators as well as developing various artist-led initiatives.
Guardian League Table 2022:
WhatUni 2020:
1st in Wales for Art 5th in the UK for Art
UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
Zoe Mills
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 193 pages: 68, 94, 164
Scan to find out more & apply here.
FOUNDATION Certificate of HE Our Art & Design Foundation is an experimental, investigative and diverse learning experience that provides an introduction to study within art and design. The course is delivered through incremental modules that utilise practical workshops, contextual project introductions, group and individual tutorials, critiques, lectures and seminars. The learning focus within each module is characterised as enquiry and learning through drawing, making and process, writing, research, presentation and discussion. All modules are designed to promote progression to employment as well as further study. Our students engage with a broad introduction to art and design and go on to specialise in a wide range of disciplines including Fine Art, Visual Communication, Lens-based Media, 3D Design, Fashion & Textiles.
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The course is all about establishing a strong basis for a creative future, taught entirely at Level 4. This course represents a clear progression from A-Level whilst still permitting students the time to consider BA specialist options in the context of a full art school experience. Based in a beautiful large open plan studio in the ALEX building where the course originated over 100 years ago, students are able to access purpose-built workshops, facilities and resources. Swansea College of Art boasts some of the best facilities in the area with both traditional and state of the art equipment including, photography darkrooms printmaking, wood and metal workshops, 3D Printing, Laser-cutting, Ceramics, Glass and Digital suites.
WhatUni 2020: UWTSD ranked 1st in the UK for ‘Course & Lecturers’
Group Project
Kate Joseph
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 195 pages: 60, 82, 104
For a closer look at the great work from this course, see 196 pages: 80, 92
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POSTGRADUATE
Georgia Hatton
Sian Lester
Our MA Contemporary Dialogues Portfolio creates a unique learning platform from which students are encouraged to broaden their creative experience through experimentation, collaboration and interdisciplinary discourse. Based in our dedicated studio spaces at the ALEX Building, opposite Swansea’s Glynn Vivian Gallery, students are prompted to explore a wide range of interdisciplinary approaches and materials, via excellent workshop facilities, together with the ongoing development of theoretical understanding.
We also have an exciting research culture supported by academics who hold doctorates and associated expertise. We offer several research degree options, including the master’s by Research (MRes), a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). All students contribute to the vibrant postgraduate research forum of experimentation, philosophical enquiry and practice-based exploration. Supervision is offered for research through practice and/or via a written thesis, in a broad range of subjects.
Our Postgraduate Courses:
Our Research Courses:
MA Advertising
MA Photography
MPhil (Master of Philosophy)
MA Fine Art
MA Product Design
PhD (Doctor of Philosophy)
MA Glass
MA Sound
MRes Art & Design
MA Graphic Design
MA Surface Pattern Design
MA Illustration
MA Textiles
MSc Industrial Design
MA Transportation Design
MA Moving Image
MA Visual Communication 197
COME FOR A VISIT! We really recommend you come for a visit and get a feel for the place. Open days are held throughout the year and booking forms are available on the website. If you can’t make one of the dates available we’ll try our best to make arrangements for you to visit on a day that is suitable, just get in touch!
HOW TO APPLY Full-time undergraduate applications are made through UCAS. Swansea College of Art comes under the University of Wales Trinity Saint David code T80. www.uwtsd.ac.uk/art-design
DISCLAIMER University of Wales Trinity Saint David makes every effort to ensure that the contents and statements made in this publication are fair and accurate, and the University will use reasonable endeavours to deliver programmes and other services in accordance with the descriptions provided. The University, however, reserves the right to make variations to programme contents, entry requirements and methods of delivery, and to discontinue, merge or combine programmes, both before and after a student’s admission to the University, if such action is reasonably considered necessary by the University. We will endeavour at all times to keep any changes to a minimum and to keep prospective students informed appropriately.
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This art book illustrates how the intimate and vibrant creative community of students and staff at Swansea College of Art combines the intrinsic traditions of art practice with the academic themes of the contemporary art, design and media industries. With reference to our long tradition as an art school, dating back to 1853, we illustrate our core philosophical aims through the various facilities that are on offer to our students and through examples of how learning is inspired within our innovative student projects. As the students engage with these fundamental elements of their academic studies they gather the confidence and freedom to challenge their creative discipline as well as our cultural expectations of the world around us. We encourage our students to explore and cultivate their potential, to define their personal creative identities so that as graduates they can fully participate in helping to design the future.
An Art College Experience, In A Contemporary University
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