Textiles and Surface Pattern with Foundation Year

BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Pattern is assessed on 100% coursework.

The curriculum is delivered through a series of projects which will give you the opportunity to develop making and designing skills, conceptual ideas, contextual knowledge and understanding and experience of live industry briefs/ external projects in the public domain.

Studio and workshop culture is core to our courses and you will be encouraged to become part of the art and design community through time spent working in the studios, workshops and labs available to students across the week.

All courses in the School of Art are now available with a professional placement (sandwich year) option. A professional placement provides an opportunity for professional development in the work place and as such, greatly enhances the student’s prospects of finding rewarding and relevant employment at the end of their studies.

Each level of the course has been planned to ensure progressive learning. In summary:

In your first year the focus is about orientation, skill, concept and creative thinking. You will be introduced to the different aspects of textile design, through a combination of traditional and new technology. Design through process will be key.

Practice is underpinned by creative thinking, visual and theoretical research, CAD and drawing. Exploration of drawing is integral to the course informing skills and processes, transforming you from novice to expert.

Introduction to workshop practice is vital at this level and allows you to explore textile/surface processes as an important part of developing specific subject knowledge. Such as: dye, hand-screen print, digital print processes, CAD, rug tufting, creative stitch. You will explore design through material knowledge and experimentation.

You will also be introduced to a variety of textile areas through a series of projects incorporating design for wallpaper, furnishings, rug and carpet, print for fashion and innovative surfaces.

This will be further supported by a growing contextual understanding and the development of market intelligence.

In your second year the focus is on consolidation, translating ideas within creative professional contexts. You will examine textile design and the broader creative industries in detail and consider the developments and changes that impact on design in your chosen area in a global context.

Second year is diagnostic - you will now begin to develop a specialist approach dependent on which strand of textile practice you feel you have an affinity with and develop expertise in one of the following:

• Textiles for interiors encompassing design and product for wallpapers, furnishing fabrics, carpet, hand-tufted rug, and hard flooring.
• Print for fashion which covers a vast range of design outcomes and product with the emphasis on fabric, including digital and hand rendered processes such as dye, screen print, laser-cut and embellished surface.
• Surface Pattern, focusing on designing through studio practice, CAD and innovative technology leading to a variety of design answers for multiple surface applications.

Live projects are major aspects of the course and during this year you will engage in industry focused briefs, national and international competitions and have the opportunity to collaborate on projects within the course or in collaboration with other areas including Illustration, Interior Design, Furniture Design, Product Design or Fine Art.

As a practical and theoretical course, lectures, seminars and group discussion in historical and contextual studies will enable you to explore areas of textile production, innovation and global issues. This will also help you to frame your studio practice and develop your critical thinking skills.

In your final year the focus is on defining and refining individual creativity through negotiated projects.

Your year-long Major Project will allow you to research extensively and explore in depth your chosen area of specialism, refining expertise from second year, and developing a creative and individual body of work with your future career in mind.

You will also engage with industry through live projects allowing your design expertise to flourish in a focused professional manner. In your final year high levels of independence, risk taking and innovation are encouraged alongside well developed critical analysis and mature understanding of potential fashion and textile markets.

Employability is a key aspect of the course, through lectures, seminars, visits from industry experts and specialist career advisors you will develop a sound knowledge of the career opportunities within the creative industries and focused intelligence in relation to your own specialism

In support of your practice you will prepare extensive, career focused promotional material ranging from a professional promotional portfolio, website and targeted electronic presentations as well as learning about professional use of social media platforms for promotional purposes.

Why not check out what our students got up to for their final projects at our annual Degree Show 2018