Art & Design

We pride ourselves on running inspiring and engaging courses which develop creative thinking as a key to the world of work. Courses are designed with employability in mind, with real-world projects, professional practice and work placements to provide you with an excellent foundation for your career.

Careers

Our practice-based teaching and learning provides you with handson experience of industry-standard technologies and software, with a focus on confidence building and personal development in art and design practice. We have strong creative partnerships with local companies and London-based art and design organisations. Working on ‘live’ projects in art and design helps us to provide an empowering and enjoyable route to your career goals.

Q&A

Viv Cherry

Principal Lecturer in Design

How do you help students get jobs after graduating?

Our courses are designed to provide students with subject knowledge, practical skills, and professional experiences. We have placement options and internships integrated into the courses, and our equipment is matched to industry. Graduates join our ‘Alexon Agency’, providing membership that allows them to have continued access to facilities, job opportunities, and workshops in applying for funding, awards, and competitions, or developing a business.

Did you know?

A wide range of creatives will visit you on the course and you will have the opportunity to visit practising artists in their studios. You can also showcase your work to talent scouts online and at a graduate exhibition in London, as well as at our very own Art and Design Degree show.

Courses

Animation BA (Hons) Art & Design BA (Hons) Fashion Design BA (Hons) Graphic Design BA (Hons) Illustration BA (Hons) Interior Architecture BA (Hons) Interior Design BA (Hons) Photography BA (Hons) 36 37 38 39 39 40 40

41

Related foundation degrees: 195

Have You Also Considered...?

Advertising & Marketing Communications BSc (Hons) 46 Computer Animation & Visual Effects BSc (Hons) 74

For more information on any of the courses visit: beds.ac.uk/courses For up-to-date information on part-time study options see: beds.ac.uk/parttime

Art & Design

Key facts

UCAS Course Code: W615 With Professional Practice Year: W618 With Foundation Year: W6FY  September  Alexon building, Luton campus  3 years full-time (options available: part-time), alternatively 4 years with a Professional Practice (UK/EU) or Foundation Year  UK/EU/International students  UCAS Tariff 80-96 points. Portfolio interview – see website for more information

Animation is based on narrative and storytelling for short form film, the moving image industry and for communication design. The course combines the fundamental skills of visual thinking, model-making, 3D design, digital illustration and time-based media to give you the confidence you need to respond to briefs, independent projects and to work collaboratively in the creative industries. You will work on individual and group projects, live briefs and national competitions and have the opportunity to collaborate with students from Illustration, Graphic Design and Advertising and Branding Design.

Key features

• Learn how animation’s origins are rooted in the disciplines of art and design • Study the fundamental principles of your art through drawing and story-telling narratives • Develop a range of personal and practice-based skills that relate to specific areas of contemporary animation

Career opportunities

This course prepares you for a variety of roles including: animator; film and television; advertising; music videos; interactive digital design; and games design.

Areas of study may include:

• Life drawing and observational drawing • 2D and computer-generated animation, stop motion and experimental techniques • Software: Maya (3D); Toon Boom studio (2D); Photoshop • Narrative creative and analytical writing • Production design

Key facts

UCAS Course Code: W201 With Professional Practice Year: W208 With Foundation Year: W1FY  September, February  Alexon building, Luton campus  3 years full-time (options available: part-time), alternatively 4 years with a Professional Practice (UK/EU) or Foundation Year  UK/EU/International students  UCAS Tariff 80-96 points. Portfolio interview – see website for more information

This course is for students interested in community arts, public projects, arts advocacy and further study towards a career working in art and design education. The course offers students the opportunity to develop the necessary skills to become art and design practitioners in a community environment, working with public projects, and will help you to develop a range of visual and creative skills in art and design as well as interdisciplinary skills in digital media and participatory arts. To support your creative practice in art and design you will gain insights into art and design critical theory. You will also come into contact with a number of professionals involved in community arts agencies, public projects and organisations.

Key features

• Learn traditional disciplines such as drawing, painting and printmaking, alongside digital and interactive media, video and photography • Challenge the artistic, critical and cultural contexts associated with art and design • Develop and use academic enquiry skills from a range of key art and design ideas and contexts to support your work

Career opportunities

You could go on to various roles including: community artist; curator; picture editor; studio manager; arts management; arts consultancy; multi-media/web design; magazine and book publishing; public or community arts participation; museum and exhibition work; arts education; freelance creative practice; and teaching.

Areas of study may include:

• Key ideas in art and design: modernism • Developing skills sets • Professional studio practice: art and design • Key ideas in art and design: globalisation • Creative enterprise

Key facts

UCAS Course Code: W231 With Professional Practice Year: W238 With Foundation Year: W2FY  September, February  Alexon building, Luton campus  3 years full-time (options available: part-time), alternatively 4 years with a Professional Practice (UK/EU) or Foundation Year  UK/EU/International students  UCAS Tariff 80-96 points. Portfolio interview – see website for more information

This course focuses on creativity and contemporary fashion design practices, which are underpinned by cultural, social, commercial, environmental, political, and conceptual ideas. Graduating with a professional portfolio ready for industry, you will develop your own fashion practice using our fashion studio in the historic Alexon House, the previous home to the Alexon fashion company. You will create fashion collections using our industry-standard manufacturing facilities, as well as digital textile printing, laser cutting and 3D printing. As part of our industry speaker series, you will meet designers, artist, editors, curators and recruiters on a weekly basis.

Key features

• Through our close links with industry you will work on live briefs and competitions • Learn the specialised design and craft skills you will need to make your mark in the domestic or international fashion industry • Study in a dedicated, stimulating and lively studio environment with a sewing machine for every student • Challenge established designers as you prepare a garment collection and showcase your work on the runway at our Graduate Fashion Show

Career opportunities

After graduation you might pursue careers such as: direct work within contemporary fashion and textile design; fashion designer; fashion stylist; textile developer and selector; and pattern cutters.

Areas of study may include:

• Key ideas in art and design: globalisation • Creative enterprise • Thinking through making • Fashion Design: exploring materials and methods • Creative futures

Key facts

UCAS Course Code: W211 With Professional Practice Year: W218 With Foundation Year: W4FY  September, February  Alexon building, Luton campus  3 years full-time (options available: part-time), alternatively 4 years with a Professional Practice (UK/EU) or Foundation Year  UK/EU/International students  UCAS Tariff 80-96 points. Portfolio interview – see website for more information

Graphic Design is a practical study of contemporary forms of visual communication. Taught in a cluster of design courses including Illustration, Animation, and Advertising and Branding Design, it combines practical design skills with a reflective and outward looking emphasis on how design affects change, through creative problem solving, collaboration and entrepreneurship. This course examines and designs for a wide range of contexts, including digital content, interface design, web and social media, editorial design, print and publishing, moving image, visual identity, typography and graphic illustration.

Key features

• Learn to engage in analytical, reflective and creative thinking as you consider the artistic and cultural contexts associated with graphic design • Study in small, lively and committed groups, in spacious well-equipped studios • Develop a fresh understanding of how social media and increasing information flows have transformed the role of the graphic designer

Career opportunities

You will be equipped for various roles within the creative industry including: graphic design; digital and interactive design; advertising; editorial and book publishing; animation; television and video; public or community arts participation; museum and exhibition work; arts education; freelance creative practice; and teaching.

Areas of study may include:

• Cultural design context • Creative typography drawing • Editorial design and art direction • Printmaking and bookbinding • Design for communication technologies including app design and viral marketing • Working with animation and stop-motion software • Narrative and sequential-based storytelling

Key facts

UCAS Course Code: W220 With Professional Practice Year: W228 With Foundation Year: W7FY  September  Alexon building, Luton campus  3 years full-time (options available: part-time), alternatively 4 years with a Professional Practice (UK/EU) or Foundation Year  UK/EU/International students  UCAS Tariff 80-96 points. Portfolio interview – see website for more information

This course combines an innovative, experimental and critical approach to the practice of illustration. It supports the full scope of contemporary illustration practice, from craft-based techniques and drawing through to digital and sequential moving image-based work. The course also explores how the explosion of possibilities that digital media have created for producing, distributing and publishing graphic work, are changing the role of the designer and design in society through critical engagement with different forms of contemporary design practice and cultural history. Taught in a cluster of design courses including Animation and Graphic Design, it combines narrative and documentary drawing with a reflective and outward looking emphasis on how storytelling affects change, through creative problem solving, collaboration and entrepreneurship.

Key features

• Study in small, lively and committed groups, in spacious, well-equipped studios • Challenge current thinking about the social, political and environmental contexts of design in contemporary society • Benefit from well equipped facilities in digital media, motion graphics, book making, stop motion, risograph and screen printing

Career opportunities

After completion of your degree you might find a career in any of the following areas: illustration; graphic design; editorial and book publishing; advertising; digital and interactive design; animation; television and video; public or community arts participation; museum and exhibition work; arts education; freelance creative practice; and teaching.

Areas of study may include:

• Sequential illustration • Creative typography • Visual communication • Contextual studies

Key facts

UCAS Course Code: K120 With Professional Practice Year: K218 With Foundation Year: K1FY  September  Alexon building, Luton campus  3 years full-time (options available: part-time), alternatively 4 years with a Professional Practice (UK/EU) or Foundation Year  UK/EU/International students  UCAS Tariff 80-96 points. Portfolio interview – see website for more information

Life is defined by the spaces in which we live, work, play and travel, and this course focuses on the spatial manipulation, conceptual, compositional and technical innovations required to create the interiors of buildings. You will study a number of areas, including refurbishment, film and exhibition design, and virtual environments, and we will also give you a grounding in anthropomorphism, ergonomics, materials, structure, environmental control and sustainability. Teaching is mainly project-based and covers 2D and 3D computer-aided design, digital image creation and video production, and by the end of the course you will have developed a creative understanding of the structure of a range of buildings. This course will fire your imagination, inspire your senses and give you a thorough grounding in every aspect of this increasingly important subject.

Key features

• Learn about the manipulation and extension of building interiors • Study the refurbishment of existing buildings, television, film and exhibition design, and virtual environments • Develop an understanding of the different ways in which people, activities and places relate to, and with, each other

Career opportunities

Upon graduation you could pursue careers in the following areas: interior design; interior architecture; architectural practice; scenographic; decoration; and styling.

Areas of study may include:

• Collaborative enterprise • Context and meaning • Developing professional practice • Spatial design: developing materials and methods

Key facts

UCAS Course Code: W299 With Professional Practice Year: W298 With Foundation Year: W29F  September  Alexon building, Luton campus  3 years full-time (options available: part-time), alternatively 4 years with a Professional Practice (UK/EU) or Foundation Year  UK/EU/International students  UCAS Tariff 80-96 points. Portfolio interview – see website for more information

The study of interior design gives you the opportunity to explore and create interior spaces for living, working and playing. It involves examining the relationships between buildings and their users, to enable the development of environmental design solutions in a creative, practical and functional way. The course shares with Interior Architecture an interest in how people, activities and places interrelate; a quest for innovative solutions to contemporary design problems; and a commitment to developing expertise in space planning, ergonomics, design composition, colour theory, building technology, environmental control and design for sustainability.

Key features

• Examine the relationship between buildings and their users, and how people, activities and places interrelate • Study the refurbishment of existing buildings, television, film and exhibition design, and virtual environments • Gain experience of the innovations currently being used to solve contemporary design problems

Career opportunities

Upon graduation you could pursue careers in the following areas: interior design; interior architecture; architectural practice; scenography; decoration; and styling.

Areas of study may include:

• Introducing studio practice • Spatial design: exploring materials and methods • Thinking through making • Collaborative enterprise

Key facts

UCAS Course Code: W500  September  Alexon building, Luton campus  3 years full-time (options available: part-time day)  UK/EU/International students  UCAS Tariff 80-96 points. Portfolio interview – see website for more information

This course encompasses a range of photographic practices; from fine art to documentary and editorial, from fashion to advertising and still life. This project-based course will allow you to follow your own passion in photography. The course develops sound practical and theoretical knowledge to enable you to enter the industry with confidence, or to carry on to postgraduate study in photography and related fields. You will be involved in projects allowing you to work in collaboration with students from other subject areas such as fashion design, advertising design and branding, and graphic design, as well as working on independent projects in the photographic studio or on location.

Key features

• Gain sound practical and theoretical knowledge of both traditional and digital photographic formats including dark room techniques, medium and large format photography, studio photography and event and location photography • Explore the ways in which the photographer works alongside other professions in the creative industries • Learn from leading professionals in photography and design who exhibit internationally and work with clients including the Sunday Times, Mack

Books, and international design publications such as Eye Magazine

Career opportunities

After completion of your degree you might find a career in any of the following areas: photography studios; agencies; film and television; multi-media; fashion; advertising; magazine and book publishing; design consultancies; museum and galleries; arts education; and freelance creative practice.

Areas of study may include:

• Develop concepts and ideas through research and practice • Advanced analogue and digital skills • Studio and location lighting • Photographic storytelling and photobook design

Beth Holden

Photography BA (Hons)

“The facilities within the art and design building can't be faulted. I would also recommend the University because of the amazing opportunities it has to offer outside of your course such as travelling, career and job opportunities, workshops in new technologies and opportunities to experience and engage in other areas of study.”