1. art and entertainment
2. visual art and design
3. design

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2014-15
Higher Education
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Textile degree student Sophie
Wallis’s wall-hangings are a
combination of polyester
canvas, dye sublimation print,
copper wire – which she knits
on enormous needles – and
weatherproof tubing.
get
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to discover the connection between
thinking and making, join up here
2-31
About Plymouth College of Art
33
Course index
34
Undergraduate courses
118
Postgraduate courses
130
How it all works
132
Finding your course
134
How to apply
136
Financial information
138
Living in Plymouth
140
How to find and contact us
connected
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make your move
Plymouth College of Art is a vibrant art, craft, design and media
laboratory growing in the middle of an ambitious ocean city. If
you want to start making your mark as an expert creative
innovator, conditions here are perfect.
Ours is an independent specialist art, design and digital media
college, run by artists for artists and combining over 150 years of
tradition with cutting-edge technology. From the moment you
step inside, you’ll feel the energy of our shared sense of purpose.
Society needs the problem-solving insights of artists, makers
and designers. Concerns about sustainability, exciting
connections between the arts and science, ideas emerging from
the marriage of the new media to the handmade, and our
interest in the health of society as a whole will give everything
you study here urgency and relevance.
all about the College : art, design and digital media
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making is a kind of thinking
What makes art colleges different is a belief in the power of
visual thinking and in the social value of learning by making.
Making has tended to fade into the background of art and
design education; the ‘concept’ has rather taken over. Here,
because of our investment in crafts skills, we can help you to
develop the quicksilver thread of expertise that connects eye to
hand, and close observation to marvellous originality.
Among the best artists and craftspeople it is hard to distinguish
the tools of their trade – the scissors of the fabric cutter, the
digital stylus of the games designer, the lens of the photographer – from the body using them. We’ll equip you with that
practical know-how, and encourage you to make your mark.
New processes, the latest media and exquisite raw materials
are here for you to explore in purpose-designed buildings
shared by a community of practising artists.
An art college education produces a collaborative spirit that
crosses subject boundaries, generates spontaneous creative
networks and helps to shape the highly qualified, highly
versatile design industry.
all about the College : what makes us different
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International students discuss contact
sheets in the photography darkrooms:
Monika Heizer (right) and fellow
Hungarian, visiting exchange student
Balazs Turos.
making it together
A good education is one that listens to you, works with you and
encourages you.
The students whose voices you’ll hear and whose projects are
illustrated in these pages all speak about the pleasures of
belonging to an intimate, energetic, co-operative community
of makers.
Each year the independent mindedness and sense of purpose
shine through the work of our students. That’s because our
lecturers work in the tradition of individually-focused teaching
and take a personal interest in the progress of every student.
We’ll always ‘go the extra mile’ to meet your learning needs
from your first day until long after you graduate and establish
yourself as a professional maker. Above all, we’ll listen to you –
because we’re all in the same creative boat.
all about the College : ours is an active, purposeful community
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Plymouth College of Art’s new art, craft
and digital design centre taking shape
against a clear blue Plymouth sky in the
late winter of 2012. The first of the new
studios opened the same autumn.
Photo: Resources and Photographic
Manager, Luke Broadway.
making all the pieces fit
Some universities have been closing their craft-based design
programmes, putting all of their eggs in one digital basket. We’re
convinced that it’s a mistake to separate old and new
technologies, and so we’ve invested nearly £8 million in a new
art, craft and digital design centre. It puts us in the vanguard of
contemporary craft and design practice in the UK, from where
we’ve begun to shape the aspirations of the coming generation
of thinkers and makers.
The new building houses over 3,500 square metres of high
quality industry-standard craft, design and manufacturing
workshops, and studios in glass, ceramics, jewellery and fine
metals, printmaking, textiles and textile print. Specialist crafts
and digital design facilities include the latest 3D printing, milling
and laser cutting for rapid prototyping. We’re also investing in
the all important collaborative spark by creating new communal
hubs and display areas.
There are also new studios for painting, drawing and
printmaking. It’s the ‘dream environment’ for creative thinkers
and makers, hard-wired into creative industry and the
international market.
all about the College : investing in your future
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A computer-generated impression of
communal space inside the new Plymouth
School of Creative Arts building.
we’re making a school
Hailed by Tate as a groundbreaking project of potentially
national significance, Plymouth School of Creative Arts is a 4-16
mainstream city-centre school that puts creativity at the heart of
learning in all subjects, and creative arts subjects at the heart of
the curriculum. We opened Key Stage 1 in September 2013, and
we’ll be opening a brand new building in September 2014.
Our school is a place for making – ideas, technology, as well as
art – and for discovering how knowledge, values and language,
identity and experience combine in a healthy culture.
The school ethos grows directly out of our established art college
principles, in response to the erosion of the arts and creativity in
schools. It means we can offer a continuum of creative learning
and practice from age 4 to Masters level, and beyond, into
employment in the creative economy.
So it’s more than a school; it’s an important aspect of our higher
education portfolio. We see it as the dynamic catalyst for cultural
and social transformation, addressing urgent needs and
priorities across the domains of education, culture, community
and health – creating in the process huge potential for live arts
projects, internships and research enquiry.
all about the College : creative lifelong learning
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BA (Hons) Fine Art student Deirdre
Dowley, whose installation is shown here,
was one of six undergraduates chosen for a
group show at the Karst Galley. Karst was
set up by alumni with Arts Council support
in the historically rich quarter of Plymouth
Stonehouse. Read more on page 98.
preparing you for success
Design quality is one of the few things that still gives UK
manufacturing the edge in world markets. That means that
graduates from art, design and media colleges like ours are
supremely employable and in high demand. To make that
proposition even more real we provide professional training
and support for creative practice after graduation. We offer
expert, custom-made advice, a pool of resources to support
collaboration, and a channel for information, partnership and
knowledge exchange.
We make no distinction between education and professional
development, which means there is a natural two-way traffic
between studio time, work-based learning and work
experience. Visiting lecturers, exhibitions and the live briefs we
receive from industry will ensure you are part of the creative
business community. We offer Masterclasses, short courses,
business courses, careers advice and resources across the entire
arts spectrum, from traditional silversmithing to illustration,
digital photography, ceramics and textiles.
all about the College : we connect education with employment
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when it’s show time
Our annual BA (Hons) Fashion Show during graduate Fashion
Week is a showcase of technical skill, high quality making
and inspirational design that draws a wide ranging audience
from industry and the local community. One of the highlights
of the year, it’s the culmination of months of hard work.
Students design and make the range, select professional
models, agree the theme as a group and decide how the main
messages will be communicated. They liaise with designers
to develop marketing materials, collaborate with
photographers on publicity and documentary shoots, and
negotiate with city businesses for hair, make-up and
sponsorship. In 2013 the whole event was staged at the heart
of the city centre.
all about the College : stepping out into the city spotlight
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The Fashion Department’s annual
undergraduate runway show.
Photo: Jamie Sweetlove.
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designing for social change
By the time they graduate, our students are already
beginning to make a mark in their chosen world by
exploiting the connections and possibilities we open up
for them. Third-year BA (Hons) Graphic Design student
Matt Wilson had great success by holding a mirror up to
the digital world with a campaign to raise awareness of
the problem of ‘conflict minerals’. His visual explanations
focused on the injustices surrounding the mining of raw
materials for micro-electronics in strife-torn areas such
as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
When he showed his campaign at the New Designers
show in London, a charity liked what it saw and
negotiated permission to use his artwork. Matt also won
a Design Council award. The Council’s Future Pioneers
scheme supports emerging talent and highlights Design
for Social Change.
all about the College : our outstanding students
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The Design Council commended Matt Wilson’s
campaign, saying that it used simple vector
graphics to illustrate a powerful story to convince
people to support charities and demand a stop to
conflict minerals being used in electronics. Mat
Hunter, chief design officer at the Design Council
and Future Pioneers judge, commented: ‘We were
deeply impressed by the sophistication of the
thinking, the quality of the making, and the
diversity of needs catered for by these talented
and inspiring young designers. Design is finding
ever more ingenious ways to affect the world in a
positive way, and with such capable and creative
graduates the UK can be proud of its global
standing.’
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looking at both sides
Suki Dhanda successfully combines a career as a
newspaper photographer with gallery and installation
commissions showing work alongside the likes of
Rankin and Turner prize winner Gillian Wearing.
Suki graduated with an HND in the late 1980s, coming
to the College from Slough. She was an advertising
photographer’s assistant for the next three years and in
the process assembled a portfolio by doing free shoots,
notably for the music magazine Straight No Chaser.
‘To any young photographer I’d say that it’s important to
build up connections by offering free work experience to
artists whose work you admire or whose territory you
would like to explore. Try to get work published while
you’re at college. And be ready to continue to learn
afterwards.’
Her big break came when The Observer commissioned
her to take photographs of mothers and daughters. It
brought her a freelance contract that has sustained her
wider practice for the last eight years
alumni successes : Suki Dhanda
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Pictures on this spread show the range of Suki
Dhanda’s interests: a celebrity portrait of the
singer Beth Ditto (left), and a study from a series
in which she compares the social invisibility of
‘cleaners’ and their menial work to acts of
religious observance. ‘Growing up as the
daughter of Indian parents in England, I’m aware
of how it feels not quite to fit in,’ Suki says. ‘It’s
led me to explore the lives of marginalised
people.’ Other projects include assignments for a
charity that challenges public perception of life
with HIV and involvement in a British Council
exhibition in Bangalore about ‘Homeland’.
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Plymouth College of Art staff are engaged in curatorial and
publication projects, public art commissions, arts and
industrial consultancy, and in curriculum development in
China. Recent projects include an extended journal essay on
the Bejing-based performance artist He Yunchang, a book
on Buddhism and glass in the work of the Chinese artist
Yang Hui-shan (shown here), and the catalogue to an
exhibition on new realism in Chinese painting. We also
consulted on the development of the new Shanghai
Museum of Glass, and curated the inaugural international
glass pavilion at Art Shanghai 2012.
Photo: Professor Andrew Brewerton, Principal.
using research – making futures
Our investment in the latest design and craft technologies and
in a new building is creating an exciting ‘crucible’ for artistic
research and postgraduate experiment.
The powerful chemistry between our developing research
programme and our studio and workshop teaching is enabling
us to translate our research findings into new practice-based
knowledge and skills. At the same time, we intend to
demonstrate that the arts are an essential facet of community
welfare, capable of promoting intercultural dialogue and
individual and social well being.
Current projects include: Making Futures, an international
conference and journal platform for investigating crafts-based
media, materials and processes in relation to sustainability
and ethical agendas; and Making the Desirable Irresistible, an
exploration of the use of styling and retail visual
merchandising techniques in contemporary craft exhibitions.
Plymouth College of Art is also a partner in Crysalis, a European
partnership textiles project.
Our work so far has benefited local, regional and international
communities from schools in the South West to craftspeople in
Shanghai and Beijing.
all about the College : our research activity is practice-led
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the hallmark of living by the sea
If you would like easy access to sea, surf and unspoiled open
countryside, if you want to be able to catch a high-speed train to
London as easily as you can hop on a ferry to France, and if you
want to be part of an exciting student subculture that’s
transforming the character of a regional capital city, then
Plymouth is the answer.
Compared to many cities, the living here is good; the quality of
accommodation is better and the supply is more abundant.
Among our most precious attributes are our extensive specialist
workshops and studios and a city centre location, all just a short
stroll from the fresh sea air and open space.
The sea on one side and Dartmoor national park on the other
adds another dimension to the recreational and sporting
possibilities: sailing, swimming, surfing, sea fishing, water skiing, kite surfing, climbing, and much more.
The cultural and sporting calendar includes annual events such
as the National Powerboat Racing Championship, the British
Fireworks Championships, and we’re well placed for events at
the Eden Project and Tate St Ives.
all about the College : we’re well placed to welcome you
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First Year BA (Hons) Photography
students Ashley Moyden (standing)
and Tim Bray on an underwater shoot
at Wembury, a Marine Conservation
Area just a short bus ride from
Plymouth city centre.
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Third-year BA (Hons) Fine Art student
Siobhan Fedden’s placement as an
assistant in the gallery involved her in
hanging an exhibition of photographs by
the late Corinne Day. Working alongside
is Equipment Resource Centre manager
and photographer Luke Broadway.
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our designs on a city-wide culture
Plymouth College of Art is a key player in a number of
partnerships that are transforming the cultural life of the city.
Our gallery was a main venue for The British Art Show when it
made its first visit to the South West, and the following year
Sinopticon, an investigation of the historical influence of China
on British arts and crafts, included the College gallery in an
equivalent cluster of city centre showplaces.
We have a busy year-round exhibition programme, which in
summer 2013 included the 4th Marmite Painting Prize – the
winning selection from an influential international open
competition founded by the painters Stephanie Moran and
Marcus Cope (nothing to do with the food spread!). In 2012/13 we
also ran: photographic exhibitions by Martin Parr and the late
Corinne Day, reflections on the modern history of Plymouth by
Ballet Rambert artist-in-residence Abigail Reynolds, textinspired work by Hannah James, and paintings by Chris Appleby.
Partners in our wider cultural initiatives include the Real Ideas
Organisation, Plymouth Arts Centre, the Centre for Contemporary
Art and the Natural World and Plymouth Visual Arts Consortium,
as well as Arts Council England and the Crafts Council.
all about the College : our cultural connections
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BA (Hons) Photography third-year
student Nick White has documented
Plymouth’s historic seaport.
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international horizons? look no further!
No ocean city knows more than Plymouth about the value of an
international perspective. Its history has been all about reaching
out across the world in a spirit of adventure and discovery.
Modern Plymouth has become a centre for international
scholarship, with a student population approaching 60,000.
Put the two dimensions together and it means that Plymouth
College of Art is dynamic, forward thinking – and altruistic, with a
specialist international admissions team and an appetite for
cross-cultural influences of every kind.
If you are visiting from abroad, we are here to help you prepare
for your stay and give you practical advice about living in the UK.
We publish a guide for international students that highlights
practical issues and lists organisations to contact for more help.
All international applications for undergraduate degree
programmes need to be made through the University and
Colleges Admission Service (UCAS). Please see page 136 and refer
to our website for more information about fees, English
language requirements, student visas and how to apply:
www.plymouthart.ac.uk
For more information on international admissions please email
[email protected] .
all about the College : our spirit of adventure
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College Exhibitions and Events officer Hannah
Jones sets up a College screening of Fairytale by
the artist, architect, curator and documentary
film maker Ai Weiwei. He invited 1,001 Chinese
citizens of different ages and from various
backgrounds to Kassel in Germany for the
Documenta 12 exhibition in 2007. The film deals
with the difficulties of leaving China and the
effect on ordinary people of the journey to and
encounter with a Western democracy.
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our ambitious international network
Wherever you travel from you’ll find that a global view is at the
heart of our teaching. We celebrate the value of visual culture
and visual thinking that transcends nationality and language.
International links across the spectrum of our projects include:
Shanghai University, DadaPost Gallery (Berlin), Tsinghua
University (Beijing), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San
Francisco), Institute of New Media (Frankfurt), Beijing Film
Academy New Media Art Lab, Liuli China Museum (Shanghai),
Vitamin Creative Space (Guangzhou), Escuela Superior de Aragon
(Zaragoza), International Research Centre for Cultural Studies
(Vienna), Central Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing), FORM (Perth,
Australia) and Tshwane University of Technology (Pretoria).
The College is a partner in Crysalis, an ambitious European
project that aims to revive interest in textiles by improving
knowledge and entrepreneurship in the industry. In 2013 and
2014 we’ll share an exhibition called Moving Textiles with
partner sites at UCA Rochester, Calais Lace Museum and the
Textiles Open Innovation Centre in Ronse (more on page 68).
The Comenius Project has brought us friendships in Greece,
France, Spain, and Poland. Past students have taken part in an
International Exchange project with Ghana, and the Leonardo da
Vinci project also cultivates exchanges of staff and students.
all about the College : mixing societies and artistic languages
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A detail of Albert Irvin’s Tideway (2009)
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the bond between the arts and society
Two of the many ways the arts enrich and help to civilise society
were celebrated at our 2012 graduation ceremony when we
awarded honorary fellowships to Jeremiah’s Journey, a Plymouth
charity that supports bereaved children and their families, and to
Albert Irvin, whose long painting career has since been
acknowledged with the award of an OBE.
Our fellowship was for his outstanding contribution to painting
over seven decades and especially for his achievement as a
colourist. Bestowed on him in his 91st year, it was also an
acknowledgement of a vital component of his work – the energy
of the inextinguishable ‘life-force’.
In August 2013 an exhibition in our gallery explored Irvin’s
relationship with the birth of abstraction in Britain in the mid1950s when he was among the generation of painters
influenced by an exhibition of American Expressionism at the
Tate Gallery. From that point he was convinced, he says, that
abstract art could stand in meaningful relation to your own
perception. ‘You could move across a canvas in a way that you
move through the spaces of the world.’
all about the College : recognising the social context of art
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Transformation is the key ingredient.
We put the creative aspirations and
the support needs of every student at
the heart of everything we do.
Professor Andrew Brewerton, Principal
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all about the College (pages 1-32)
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Course index
all about the courses (pages 33-129)
how we’ll support you (pages 130-141)
‘Finding your way’ courses
34 Foundation Diploma in Art & Design
38 Level 0 Extended Degree
Undergraduate courses
42 Animation (BA, BA Top up)
46 Design for Games (FD, BA, BA Top up)
50 Contemporary Crafts (FD, BA, BA Top up)
54 Ceramics (BA, BA Top up)
58 Glass (BA, BA Top up)
62 Jewellery and Silversmithing (BA, BA Top up)
66 Printed Textile Design and Surface Pattern* (BA, BA Top up)
70 Fashion (FD, BA, BA Top up)
74 Fashion Media and Marketing* (BA)
78 Costume Production and Associated Crafts (BA)
82 Film (BA, BA top up)
86 Film and Media Production (FD)
90 Fine Art (BA, BA top up)
94 Fine Art: Critical and Curatorial Practices (BA, BA Top up)
98 Graphic Design (FD, BA, BA Top up)
102 Illustration (FD, BA, BA Top up)
106 Painting, Drawing and Printmaking (BA)
110 Photography (BA, BA Top up)
114 Commercial Photography (FD)
*Subject to validation
FD - Foundation Degree; BA - BA (Hons); BA Top up - BA (Hons) final year
Postgraduate courses
118 Introduction to postgraduate study
120 MA Contemporary Crafts
122 MA Creative Practices for Sustainability
124 MA Critical Curatorial Practices
126 MA Entrepreneurship for Creative Practice
128 MA Photography
Help to make it happen
130 How it all works
132 Finding your course
134 How to apply
136 Financial information
138 Living in Plymouth and student support
140 How to find and contact us
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Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
This intensive one-year programme will inspire and motivate
you to learn through discovery, experimentation and exploration.
It will give you the freedom to try out new ideas and introduce
you to a range of media, materials, resources and equipment. We
will help you to become creative, confident, independent and
successful – and prepare you for progression to BA (Hons) or a
Foundation Degree.
We provide an exciting, challenging environment where you
may cultivate your intellectual curiosity and creative thinking.
We’ll encourage you to work beyond your comfort zone and
develop an individual approach to problem-solving, giving you
the confidence to discuss your work formally or informally in
large or small group situations.
This programme strikes a balance between taught sessions and
your independent personal learning and development. During
stage one you will experience a variety of disciplines, allowing
you to find the most appropriate pathway and eventually the
perfect undergraduate programme. Stage two is about
narrowing the field of your enquiry and selecting a way forward,
for example in fine art, design, the contemporary crafts, visual
communication, fashion and textiles or lens-based media.
Stage three is a self-initiated project and is externally assessed. It
is the culmination of the knowledge, technical and creative skills
developed during the programme. This work becomes your end
of year Summer Exhibition.
The programme is demanding, experimental and fun and is
staffed by a team with a great deal of experience and knowledge.
We love everything about it and hope you will too.
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Entry requirements
We offer places to students who have a
GCSE profile of at least 5 A*-C grades and
a combination of AS and A-level
qualifications. We also welcome
applications from mature students who
may not have the qualification profile –
but who have other experience and
knowledge.
Validated by University of the Arts,
London
Portfolio requirements
All applicants need to show a portfolio of
creative work that reflects their passion,
enthusiasm and commitment for art,
design and media.
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Sophie Taschner-Baldwin visited
several colleges in different corners of
the UK before deciding on Plymouth
College of Art for her Foundation
studies. ‘When I arrived to look around
I just thought, “this is it, I’ve found
what I want”. I feel completely at home
here.’ For her final show Sophie
invented an imaginary interplanetary
substance, Proteg-1 (above), by
experimenting with the ‘chemistry’ of
boiled sweets. ‘I enjoy turning any
material into something that looks
unearthly and bizarre.’
Ruby Revell (right), whose
disconcerting ivy-leaf sandwich is
shown top right, talks about the
different way of thinking she found at
the College after a disappointing start
to AS-levels elsewhere. ‘I can see a
huge development in my work over the
year. I have a much improved process,’
she says.
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Callum Charman and Leah Hodges
discuss Leah’s Foundation Diploma
project work. ‘We have total access,’
Callum says. ‘If you want something,
you can just go and find it. Illustration
is the direction I’m heading in.’
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Level O Extended Degree
Do you want to pursue a specialist degree programme? Do you
have the required AS or equivalent A-level qualifications, but lack
experience of hands-on making? Our Level 0 Extended Degree
programme will prepare you for entry to our BA (Hons) Degrees.
This programme is intended for students who have finished their
school or college education, or have been out of education for a
while, or are an international applicant. It doesn’t lead to a
qualification in its own right, but by providing you with a range
of art design and media skills it will guarantee your progress to
our undergraduate programme.
You’ll soon become more confident in your use of drawing, visual
research, contextual studies, digital imaging and design
methods, and you’ll learn how to use a range of materials,
equipment and software. As the year goes by you will specialise
in your chosen subject. The aim is to become creative, confident
and independent.
Entry requirements
We offer places to students who have a
GCSE profile of at least 5 A*-C grades and
a combination of AS and A-level
qualifications.
We also welcome applications from
mature students who may not have the
qualification profile – but who have other
experience and knowledge.
As this programme forms part of a degree
programme, all applications need to be
made through UCAS. Please visit
www.ucas.com for further information.
UCAS codes for all the separate Level O
programmes can be found on our website.
As this is an undergraduate programme
you will be eligible for a student loan and
you may be entitled to a grant towards
living costs, such as food, accommodation and travel.
Extended Degree students have access to all of Plymouth College
of Art’s facilities, including our 3D studios, north light drawing
spaces, photographic facilities and the region’s most extensive
and comprehensively stocked moving image resources.
Opposite: glaze tests from our
ceramics workshops and a reminder of
the range of digital drawing and
making equipment that all students
have access to.
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making memory laser sharp
I live in Plymouth and I have three children.
I always wanted to do something with art after I
left school but I was dissuaded and instead
trained as a hairdresser - a job I did for ten years.
After having my children I was a full-time mother
for another ten but as I started to have more time
I wanted to do something just for me.
I used to walk past the College and I visited
exhibitions here but I never had the nerve to
apply. I was mostly worried about being among a
predominantly youthful culture, but as soon as I
started, my fears about being older dissolved.
I realised that age is irrelevant. We were all new
to the experience and we all wanted to create and
make. Coming here has changed my life and how
I view the world. I’m very excited to have been
accepted on to the new BA (Hons) Painting,
Drawing and Printmaking programme. I feel like
a pioneer. Beyond my degree I hope to combine
the knowledge I’ve acquired through motherhood
with my art expertise to work in art therapy or
run workshops for children.
Julie Ellis : Level 0
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Opposite: Julie laser cutting text from
her mother’s typewritten journal on to
glass. ‘My mum was born in 1943 and
experienced a very difficult and violent
childhood in a large family of nine
children plus extended family
members who all shared a threebedroom Victorian terrace in the
Stonehouse and Devil’s Point area of
Plymouth. I’ve been looking at the
period which took her to her early
teens in 1956. My interest is in
personal experience and memories.
Mum’s journals are extremely precious
to me. I recognise her pain but they
also represent her triumph over
adversity. I feel that I’m preserving the
sense of her life, endowing it with the
strength and beauty. The use of etched
glass is integral. It provides a lens – a
further layer, linking together the
elements.’
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Animation
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W61M
Animators are masters of illusion. Our craft was born as we
played with shadows and light. We honed our skills, breathing
life into the drawn line. Now, in the midst of the digital
revolution, the scope for the imagination of the animation artist
is limitless.
Our BA (Hons) programme embraces all forms of animation, and
attracts students with diverse interests and cultural backgrounds.
Productions range from cartoons for entertainment to
documentaries exploring social issues through to interactive
multiscreen installations and projections for performance.
The programme is based on learning through making. You’ll
take on production roles on live projects and learn the essential
skills of creative collaboration and professional practice.
Workshops run by professional animators will give you the
technical and creative skills to succeed in a highly competitive
industry. A wide range of visiting artists augments the
knowledge of the staff team.
Our aim is for you to find your own creative voice. The emphasis
in the first year is on fundamentals such as animated
performance, drawing skills, storyboarding, compositing, CGI
and interdisciplinary experimentation. During the second year
you’ll extend your knowledge in your chosen vocational
pathway, developing skills in producing and becoming a creative
entrepreneur. In your final year you’ll consolidate your
professional portfolio by completing your own animation
production. We’ll have enabled you not only to make great work
but also to distribute it effectively.
The range of skills you’ll acquire is sought after by the
entertainment industry, documentary makers, in scientific and
architectural visualisation, projection for performance, games,
education and fine art practice.
42
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W616
Our graduates become:
animators
installation artists
moving image artists
documentary makers
art directors
game designers
3D artists
character designers
facial animator/riggers
motion editors
visual effects artists
3D modeller/texturers
environment artists
compositors
title sequence designers
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Second-year BA (Hons) student Faye Elliott’s
work (above) proves that every craft – sewing and
embroidery included – can be useful to an
animator. ‘This project is about an owl character
that will move through an environment,’ she
says. ‘I’ll be using stop frame right here in my
workspace. We bring in lighting and equipment
and set everything up here, and have no problems
booking studio space. I can work until 8pm and
on Saturdays, too, if I want to. And don’t think
you can’t do this because you don’t have the
skills! You just need enthusiasm and you’ll get
plenty of support.’
Top right: Second-year Animation student Kerry
Whitehead models characters for her film and
game projects and Alex Stewart (below) builds
characters and sets for stop frame animation.
First-year computer animator Andrew Msemburi
(right) is impressed by the Plymouth lifestyle as
well as by the course. ‘For the first time I’m in an
environment where everything is focused on
animation. If you’re looking for a place to express
yourself as an artist, this is the place for you. The
pace of learning is good. The tutors tell us not to
worry, to have fun, but learn as much as we can.
Plymouth is a friendly city, and it’s a new
experience for me being near to the sea – it’s
been special!’
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the magic of automation
After A-levels I’d had enough of exams so I did a
couple of bar jobs and some cleaning work. Then I
made a last minute decision to come back into
education. My portfolio was slim, but I convinced
my tutors with my enthusiasm! We’ve had a
series of professional workshops and I’ve loved
them and done every one. The automata
workshop was about exploring animation as an
interactive experience. We had Keith Newstead, a
top automata maker, visit. Then Suzie Templeton
did a workshop showing us her techniques for
making models and I came out so inspired. I was
worried at the beginning because there’s so much
to learn, but there’s always someone to help you.
Sofia Beale : Animation
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The expert maker of automata, Keith
Newstead, has been among visiting
specialists who have been widening
the range of skills available to students
on the animation programmes. Keith
is one of a small group of makers
associated with the Cabaret
Mechanical Theatre, centre of the
English ‘school’ of modern automata.
‘I never aim my work at a particular
age group, and it makes me happy that
both children and adults enjoy it,’ he
says.
Below: BAFTA-winning writer and
director Suzie Templeton explains
stop-motion animation techniques to
students.
Workshop photos by photography
student Shelley Barlow.
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Design for Games
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W281
Design for Games at Plymouth College of Art is much more than
learning how to create yet another point and shoot game,
although to be able to do that calls for a tremendous range of
skills. You’ll learn about the commercial entertainment industry
and we’ll equip you to find career openings, but the programme
takes a much wider cultural view. We recognise that gaming
technology is being put to a huge range of purposes, for example
in education, medical simulation and architecture. It’s also
informing the spread of new ideas about social and democratic
design. The meaning and value of games and play are changing
and deepening.
We teach the complete design process from drawing on paper
and developing in Photoshop, to making 3D models, texturing,
UV unwrapping, rigging and animating. You’ll also learn sound
production, how to structure narrative and develop characters.
You’ll explore how digital games have evolved in genre and
design to become complex experiential-narrational texts with
the power to influence how we understand stories and
information. And just as the industry relies on teamwork among
specialists we will encourage you to collaborate. We teach all this
through lectures, studio-based activities and online through a
virtual learning environment. You’ll be encouraged to meet
practising designers and to participate in study visits, external
commissions, national competitions and exhibitions. The reality
of the games-making world is built into everything we do.
46
Foundation Degree
2 years full-time; 4 years part-time
UCAS: WG26
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W280
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1
2
Designing a final piece for our summer show
means creating everything from the storyline to
the soundtrack and the packaging to the
technical manual. Frederic Fitzpatrick’s
interactive discovery game, Molly, was based on
the story of the Marie Celeste, a ship found
abandoned in impenetrably mysterious
circumstances – breakfast on the table, no sign
of struggle. In these example frames, from top
to bottom, 1. the player awakes in zero gravity to
find a crashed capsule embedded in the hull,
restores gravity and begins to explore; 2. signs
of recent departure are evident; 3. after restoring
power to the reactor it becomes clear there are
far worse problems! 4. the hangar bay is almost
empty and logs of the crew struggling to make
ends meet can be found dotted around. And so
on … until it emerges that the spaceship has
been set to autodestruct and the significance of
a Purcell Funeral March soundtrack is clear.
3
4
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specialists in serious games
First-year Design for Games student Laura Varga
has come to the programme via an Economics
degree in her home country of Romania and work
in England in floristry. ‘Now that my daughter is at
nursery, I have a chance to study character design
for games,’ she says. ‘I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it
from the very beginning. We draw and do digital
3D modelling from day one. As a mature student
I’ve made lovely friendships with younger students
– it’s a nice mixture and people are open-minded.
We get lots of support from the tutors and
technicians – they even set up extra skills
workshops when we asked for them.’
First-year experience : Design for Games
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First-year Design for Games students James Dyer
and Tom Donachie did the Interactive Media and
Game Arts Diploma to improve their digital 3D
modelling skills before embarking on the Design
for Games Degree programme. ‘You don’t get
that experience at school,’ James says. ‘It’s more
hands-on here and that helps you decide what to
specialise in. We’re learning about audio for
games, traditional and digital drawing, gaming,
and conceptual design and presentation
techniques. There are so many specialist skills
needed for Games Design that we need to
collaborate to double our expertise. Teamwork is
really important to us.’
These specialist skills are transferable across a
wide range of industries, from architecture to
animation, special effects and visualisation. Tom
says, ‘I looked around at courses nationally – the
facilities here are fantastic.’
Above: Max Johns produced this single frame for
his 3D modelled and rendered Bridge project.
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Contemporary Crafts
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W702
In the space of a few years, the relationship between the crafts
and design has progressed from one based largely on fading
tradition to being highly experimental and innovative. There is a
powerful resurgence of interest in the qualities of new, old and
retrieved materials, often used in new combinations, and there
has been a reassessment of the value of craftsmanship as the
benchmark of all good work.
Our Contemporary Crafts programme is on the pulse of all of
these dynamics, as well as encouraging practice that crosses the
interface between art and design. Its bi-annual Making Futures
conference is driving forward the new thinking, and the creation
of our £7.7 million contemporary centre for the crafts represents
confidence in their value.
The range of creative practices you’ll experience includes ceramic
manipulation, jewellery making, glassblowing and textiles, and
our taught programmes encompass a wealth of disciplines,
materials and approaches. Expect to become fully immersed in
design solutions, material qualities and digital processes from
the initial brief to the finished product.
Contemporary Crafts practitioners are not only fired by a love of
material qualities and making processes, and by the history of
their crafts, but also by drawing, narrative development and
issues such as globalisation and sustainability. These crosscutting themes are central to the programme and to the future of
international craft practice.
Our Contemporary Crafts programme forms one of four crafts
subject areas. Students benefit from the creative synergies that
emerge from working alongside students of Ceramics, Glass,
Jewellery and Silversmithing. All of our teachers and technicians
on the programme are practising makers.
50
Foundation Degree
2 years full-time; 4 years part-time.
New for 2013-2014: a part-time option to
study evenings and weekends.
UCAS: W701
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W703
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Naomi Cristofoli applied for the Contemporary
Crafts programme after doing A-level Ceramics.
She’s inspired by the endless possibilities of
materials – and tried out jelly (bottom right)
when she was working on a project about
Plymouth during the Second World War Blitz.
‘Craft doesn’t have to be strictly functional,’ she
says. ‘I’m working in resin now, exploring
connections between technology and craft. I’ve
taken my old computer apart, discovered lots of
components. I’m not sure where it’s going, but it
will be an electronic moving something.’ The
extraordinary result of that experiment is shown
bottom left.
Facing page: Rebecca Clark tackles big knitting.
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introducing conceptual crafts
A teaching residency by ceramic artist Alicia
Ongay-Perez in the spring of 2013 was an
example of our investment in the emergence of
new crafts supported by a cross-disciplinary
approach to teaching. Alicia worked intensively
with our crafts students at all levels and
encountered experiments in a wide range of
media from clay to wool and glass to electronics.
She was visiting from the prestigious Jan van
Eyck Academie in the Netherlands where she has
a fellowship supported by the Mondrian Fund.
Alicia specialises in ‘inverse forms’, slip-casting
ceramic objects inside out so that they cease to be
functional and enter a more ambiguous world of
what she suggests might be called ‘conceptual
crafts’.
Workshop : Professional Contemporary Crafts
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Pipe cleaners, Jacquard loom punch
cards, rug making techniques in the
hands of Chrissie Roberts (top right);
printing on glass by Emelia Sutherland
Netto De Oliveira (centre) and the
weaving sketchbooks of Hannah
McArthur – all examples of the
excitement around the potential of the
crafts to convey contemporary ideas.
‘We learn lots of skills and techniques
in this first year,’ Hannah says. ‘I’ve
always been better at learning in a
practical way and for the first two
months we did a carousel through all
the workshop areas in contemporary
crafts – glass, jewellery, ceramics,
silversmithing, silkscreen printing and
sublimation print.’
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Ceramics
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: J311
Some of the oldest surviving manmade artefacts are ceramic
objects – transformed by fire to make everything from cups,
plates and amphorae to the tiled skin of the space shuttle, and
from medical scalpels and musical instruments to bathroom
showers and kitchen sinks. That something so fundamental can
readily be turned into the finest decoration or the most
functional sculptural form means that the art, craft and science
of ceramics are enduringly relevant and increasingly
experimental.
We’ll encourage you to explore functional and sculptural
ceramics and introduce you to a variety of hand-building
techniques as well as to small batch production methods such
as mould-making, wheel-throwing and slip-casting. You’ll use
excellent facilities including electric and gas kilns. There is
potential for cross-disciplinary inquiry and for experiment with
digital design and 3D modelling software. The programme
concentrates on the realities of workshop practice and makes
connections with the community of professional makers
outside the campus.
Our Ceramics programme is one of four crafts subject areas.
Students benefit from the creative synergies that emerge from
working alongside students of Contemporary Crafts, Glass, and
Jewellery and Silversmithing. All who teach on the programme
are practising makers.
54
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: J310
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Third-year BA (Hons) Contemporary
Crafts student Jane Mooney did a
BTEC award here when she was 16 and
then a degree in Graphic Design in
Swindon before living in Florence for a
year. ‘I’ve combined traditional
ceramic methods with digital
technologies to create detail and
textured surfaces. I’ve made a mould
using 3D printing, slip-cast porcelain
decanters and then laser cut the
unfired clay to create a delicate layered
effect. The course has made me realise
that I want to work in a variety of ways.
I’d like my own studio, but want to
stay involved in community arts.’
Jane's third-year colleague Sharon
Howard also experimented with
distressed surfaces and ideas about
age and archaeology in her homage to
Josiah Wedgwood (left) – making
replica fragments of the pottery's blue
floral pattern domestic ware.
Opposite: austere porcelain cones by
Jessica Thorn.
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the delicacy of repetition
I’m originally from Essex where I studied for my
National Diploma in Art and Design. I was
impressed by the facilities here and started out on
the two-year Foundation Degree.
In the first year I tried out a variety of media and
techniques. After deciding to specialise in
ceramics, I had an internship with Jacob van de
Buegel who was Edmund de Waal’s assistant and
now has his own studio near Tiverton. I learned
many new skills from him and still work there
once a week.
My final year work was inspired by a project I did
in my first year called ‘repeat forms’. I’ve
experimented with building up a large-scale
piece using smaller elements. These slip-cast
vessels are covered with over a thousand circular
pieces cut with cookie cutters and individually
placed.
I want to set up my own studio and continue with
the internship. I’ve also been involved for some
time in the Saturday Arts Club working as a
Student Ambassador.
Ruth Harrison : Ceramics BA (Hons) Top up
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Glass
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W771
Transparent or translucent, crystalline or resinous, reflective or
refractive, glass has enduring qualities. Our Glass programme
will introduce you to a wide range of specialisms within glass
practice. In the hands of a new generation of experimental
makers, glass is being used in numerous unexpected ways – in
architecture, product design, craft and the fine arts. Our
programme provides opportunity to master traditional process,
to explore new digital technologies and to combine the old with
the new in original ways. You will be encouraged to explore
widely before identifying a special interest.
Plymouth is one of very few universities and colleges in the UK
with its own glass-making studio, and is able to offer expert
teaching in glass blowing, kiln forming, architectural processes
and casting. Even fewer colleges run programmes that
encourage students to develop cross-over skills, combining craft
disciplines that exploit the new media. Our programme is based
on learning-through-making, beginning in the first year with an
introduction to design for industry and studio practice, and
thereafter gradually developing and refining students’ expertise
and professionalism, through links with established artists and
industry. Glass at Plymouth College of Art has a long history of
international collaboration. Our networks include programmes
and practitioners in Korea, the USA, Shanghai, Beijing and
Pretoria.
This programme is one of four crafts subject areas, and so
students benefit from the creative synergies that emerge from
working alongside students of Contemporary Crafts, Ceramics,
Jewellery and Silversmithing. All who teach on the programme
are practising makers.
58
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W770
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Now in her second year as a BA (Hons)
Contemporary Crafts student, Emelia Sutherland
Netto De Oliveira transferred to the College from
a furniture design course. ‘It’s been tough to
catch up but I like a challenge,’ she says. ‘Not
many places still teach glass, but I searched the
ucas site and came to an Open Day here and
everything fell into place. I like the fact that it’s
quite small. You get a lot of access to facilities
and get to know people much better. Drawing
and printmaking are the basis of my work. This
wax crab I’m casting in glass will be a display for
my jewellery, and I etch my drawing and prints on
to jewellery. I’ve made some sandblasted glass
panels too. In a way I’m a printmaker looking for
the most appropriate way to make what’s in my
head. I was brought up in Brazil, playing on
beaches. The idea of lost treasure, washed up
from the sea, inspires me.’
Third-year BA (Hons) Glass student Adam John’s
experiments with method and colour (left) have
been inspired by natural forms. They have
included dipping glass to simulate the exterior
structures of cocoons and, for his graduation
show, an interest in the vibrant warning colours
that have evolved in insects and amphibians.
‘I wanted to explore how the emotions
experienced by the viewer are affected by using
certain colour combinations, shapes and
textures,’ he explains.
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making it in the furnace
I did a Foundation Diploma and originally wanted
to study blacksmithing. I also wanted to be near
the coast and chose this College because of its
location and the facilities. I like to work standing
up and moving around, to be more involved
physically. It’s exciting because of the furnace and
melting materials, and you never know what’s
going to happen – there’s always an element of
surprise. I don’t know how my pieces will turn
out! I think of myself as an artist/ designer/maker.
This project is inspired by the sea and by
Scandinavian and Swedish design, combining
form with imagery of the sea taken from my
drawing and photographs. I really like the
College. There’s a lot of freedom and help to
explore other areas. For example the jewellery
tutor invited me into her workshops and made
me feel welcome.
Amy Casto : Contemporary Crafts (Glass)
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First-year BA (Hons) Contemporary
Crafts (Glass) student Amy Casto is
blowing glass in our specialist glass
workshop.
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Jewellery and Silversmithing
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W722
The design and making of ‘objects of desire’ using precious
metals and precious or semi-precious stones is riding a tide of
exciting experiment that relies on new ways of retrieving,
recycling and reformulating traditional materials.
Our jewellery and silversmithing students are encouraged to be
part of the new ethically aware trend in fine metal work and
jewellery design. The College’s impressive studios that
encompass traditional making and digital design media provide
the perfect environment for invention.
This BA (Hons) programme begins with an introduction to
materials and techniques, and to design and conceptual issues,
gradually leading you towards fully developed professional
practice. Students are encouraged to explore processes and to
challenge traditions and preconceptions through their work
before specialising in one of the two areas. Steps along the way
include work placements or internships and taking part in
exhibitions such as the annual New Designers show. Our
programme has a strong relationship with national
organisations such as Goldsmiths and The Worshipful Company
of Pewterers.
The Jewellery and Silversmithing programme is one of four crafts
subject areas, and so students benefit from the creative synergies
that emerge from working alongside students of Contemporary
Crafts, Ceramics and Glass. All who teach on the programme are
practising makers.
62
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W721
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Second-year BA (Hons) student Chloe O’Brien
did a Foundation Diploma in Bristol and worked
in retail and hospitality before finding her
passion for jewellery making at our evening
classes. ‘I love it,’ she says. ‘I thought I could get
into it without going to uni but the degree course
has opened up so many new directions. I’m
specialising in narrative jewellery. My take on it is
that I can create interaction with the wearer. I’m
using old postcards and handwriting as wearable
art. I melt down jewellery to recycle the silver and
make new pieces. Working alongside
Contemporary Craft students is really beneficial. I
think of myself as a craftsperson, not just a
jeweller.’
Eniola Ajani (left) works in copper and silver to
investigate kinetic energy in the natural world –
how things move and what makes them move.
‘I've been looking at twigs and the different
arrangements they are placed in by the weather,’
she says.
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a new aesthetic for jewellery
I’ve completed the course part-time over six
years. My approach involves reusing and recycling
materials so I melted down previous work to start
my BA! Last year my pieces went to New
Designers, and I also won a Silver Bullion Award
and commission from Goldsmiths to design and
make tableware – a bowl and spoon.
This year I’ve been concentrating on jewellery. I
had pieces in silver and copper selected for the
Devon Guild of Crafts ‘Get Fresh’ show and I sold
several – it was fantastic for networking. Through
the Devon Guild I’ve also got involved with the
Refugee Centre in Plymouth, a place where
people can go for a cup of tea and to learn English.
I’m setting up a jewellery workshop there to offer
basic classes and I hope the College will show the
work that’s made.
My latest jewellery uses oxidised recycled silver
and enamel paint to explore the differences
between an accepted notion of beauty and
something else – the search for another aesthetic.
Tracey Falvey : Jewellery and Silversmithing (part-time)
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Right: developmental drawings for Tracey
Falvey’s piece ‘Yellow’ (finished left) show her
working out the engineering for the clasp, testing
colours, gathering estimates and assaying
information, and putting jewellery making
unexpectedly into the hands of Plymouth shot
blasters S L Powder Coating. Also shown: Tracey
grinding borax to make a flux paste for soldering
metal.
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Printed Textile Design and Surface Pattern*
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W231
This new programme will cultivate your entrepreneurial spirit
and equip you to be a first-class designer. As we stretch your
creative imagination, we’ll introduce you to the commercial
realities of the textile design and surface pattern industries,
encouraging you to develop your own ‘design personality’ and
helping you to realise your creative ambitions.
Project work focuses on finding new solutions to design
problems and will enable you to design for both fashion and
interiors as you deepen your insight into design, style and taste.
This programme embraces colour, drawing, design research,
design development, CAD skills, technical knowledge of printing
and professional practice. The breadth of our approach means
you will gain technical knowledge, creative sophistication and
an attitude of visual investigation.
You’ll be based in new, purpose-built studios, generously
equipped with screen printing benches and the latest digital
scanners and printers. Here you can see projects through from
research and design development through fabric production to
finished product design.
As an emerging designer you’ll be ready to start your career as an
employed designer or as the owner of your own enterprise. You’ll
have opportunities to exhibit and sell work in a number of
international trade fairs and work on commercial projects set by
manufacturing companies.
Students will benefit from the creative synergies that emerge
from working alongside students of Contemporary Crafts,
Ceramics, Glass and Jewellery and Silversmithing. All who teach
on the programme are practising makers.
66
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W233
Our graduates become:
designer/makers
textile designers
fabric technologists
public art practitioners
textile conservationists and curators
arts educators and teachers
textile stylists
fashion buyers and retailers
gallery directors
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new horizons in textiles
The College is a partner in Crysalis, an
ambitious European project that aims to revive
and revitalise the textiles industry. At the heart
of the Crysalis project are a number of crossborder activities that students and
practitioners can engage with to inspire work
and establish new business ideas. In 2013 and
2014 the four partners – the University for the
Creative Arts, Rochester, Calais Lace Museum,
the Textiles Open Innovation Centre, Ronse, and
the College – will contribute to the delivery of
exhibitions, skills tours, business workshops,
educational resources and digital archives for
the benefit of those working or studying within
the textiles industry. Our students will be able
to experience the project outcomes first-hand
through visits to partner sites. Print facilities : Printed Textile Design and Surface Pattern
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Main picture: Lecturer in Surface
Pattern and print studio coordinator
Emma Gribble fixes digital print on
fabric by steaming it.
Left: details of digital print by fashion
students – a coat lining by Rosie
Andrews and coat pocket detail by
Brooke Tippett; Technical
Demonstrator Mayada Abu-Rgheff
helps students to master our Mimaki
TX2 digital printer.
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Fashion
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W290
Great fashion design gets to the heart of the relationship
between individual creativity and the social and political
environment. It is about understanding the dynamics of social
change, setting trends and pushing back the boundaries of
design, while simultaneously drawing on exquisite traditions of
craftsmanship and on universal fascination with the qualities of
fabric, pattern, texture and colour.
Our programmes will prepare you for a competitive industry in
continuous flux. The design approach encompasses everything
from haute couture to technical apparel, from the catwalk to
making for the high street. You’ll explore and experiment with
techniques, materials and ideas before specialising. Whether
mastering the technical skills of pattern cutting, using an
industrial CAD/CAM process or organising and styling a photo
shoot, you’ll gain insight into the contextual, constructional
and marketing aspects of fashion.
Throughout the BA (Hons) programme, you’ll be able to explore
another creative practice and work on multidisciplinary projects.
The aim is to extend your understanding of the complex
relationship between the creative arts and society and develop
essential project management and communication skills. Many
modules incorporate business skills to provide an insight into the
marketing issues that affect production, design – and your own
career progress.
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BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W230
Foundation Degree
2 years full-time; 4 years part-time
UCAS: WN22
Our graduates become:
designers
merchandisers
buyers
retail managers
trend analysts
costume designers
garment technologists
visual merchandisers
retail managers
researchers and lecturers
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Left: Programme leader Alison
Braybrook gives her attention to a
student project.
Jess Vincent specialises in menswear.
‘I feel like I can draw, design and make
it. It’s really different from womenswear – which I don’t like,’ she
explains. ‘The course encourages you
to do exactly what you want. My
designs are traditional and use earthy
colours but I’ve made dissolvable
fabric – it feels papery, you stitch on to
it then put it in water and the material
dissolves. I’m also knitting garments
for my collection and making yarn out
of embroidery thread. We’re
encouraged to aim high. They believe
in us so we believe in ourselves. I’ve
got an internship at J W Anderson in
London for the whole of the summer,
but right now I’m making eight
garments for the end of year show.’
Crystal Bedia moved to the UK from
the Philippines when she was 11. ‘I
didn’t know how to draw when I came
here,’ she says, ‘but I’m determined to
learn to draw from life, and from
imagination. Working on paper first
allows me to experiment more with
textures than I could if I was working
directly on screen.’ Her latest work
(professionally modelled, far left)
translates ideas that she originally
expressed in painted wash and line.
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making more from less
I’ve been snowboarding and skateboarding
competitively for a few years and the sponsorship
helps me to finance my study here. I first studied
French and Business at uni but I wanted to do
Fashion although it seemed out of reach at the
time. When I first left school I did a Foundation
Diploma and so I applied to do Fashion here. I
haven’t looked back – but I wouldn’t recommend
it unless you’re really dedicated.
We all have different styles and we’re encouraged
to find our own direction. I’m learning to be
economical with materials as a designer because
they’re expensive, and this year I’ve been working
on recycling donated wetsuits and transforming
them with print techniques. I’ve been nominated
for a Plymouth College of Art award for my extracurricular activities like my skateboarding blogs
which are based on going to professional events
and photoshoots. My time management can be a
bit hectic but it’s a good skill to learn. You get a lot
of contact time with tutors here; you ask for it,
you get it!
Stephanie Nurding : Fashion
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Pages from Stephanie’s sketchbooks
show her sampling, scavenging and
screen printing ideas, materials and
methods; above: her clothes being
modelled during a professional
photoshoot at the Loft Studio in
London – and (opposite) her feepaying skateboarding .
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Fashion Media and Marketing*
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: NW52
If you’re fascinated by fashion and would like a career in the
industry, but you don't want to be a fashion designer, then this
may be the programme for you. You will develop the skills the
fashion industry expects from those working in promotion,
imaging, styling, management, communication and marketing.
Your assignments will see you styling for fashion shoots, and
writing features for magazines, newspapers, websites and
broadcasting, as well as planning marketing campaigns. You
will learn how to work in a team of specialists to manage events,
including runway and static shows.
In the process, you will learn about trend forecasting, market
research, journalism, critical writing and photography and film
making, and you will develop wide-ranging communication
skills. You will gain a sound knowledge of the business of
fashion, including the design and production cycle, as well as
buying. Other modules will cover responsible management,
environmental issues, ethics, sustainability and social
responsibility.
You will be encouraged to submit your work for national and
international competitions and for publication and you will be
encouraged to undertake periods of internship and placements
at home and abroad
By the time you graduate, you will have a portfolio of highly
relevant skills and real-world examples to equip you for the next
stage in your professional career.
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Our graduates become:
merchandisers
buyers
retail managers
trend analysts
costume designers
garment technologists
visual merchandisers
retail management
postgraduate students
teachers and lecturers
HE2-AUG27_Layout 1 08/09/2013 10:26 Page 75
Brooke Tippett attended our evening
classes, studied dressmaking in Bude
and worked in stage management for
years before embarking on her BA.
‘We’ve just done a marketing and
promotion module, starting with a
research presentation about a unique
business model. I looked at Tom Kay’s
Cornish Finisterre company and
investigated local sourcing – using
Devon Merino wool – and wrote a
proposal to manufacture of longlasting
clothing in Devon – with everything
made in house. Eventually I want to set
up my own business. It would be online
retailing supported by pop-up shops in
department stores. The course has given
me a lot of confidence based on new
knowledge and skills, for example in
pattern cutting. I can look at 2D pieces
and visualise how they will look in 3D. I
really like the College atmosphere and
how people get on.’
Second-year Rosie Andrews did an
Extended Diploma in Art and Design
before deciding to specialise in the
fashion media. ‘Fashion is such a
versatile subject – it involves everyone,’
she explains. ‘I went to interviews in
London, but they were very impersonal;
here everyone is so helpful; we get
guidance and tutors are happy to spend
time with us. It’s really motivating. They
have experience in the fashion industry,
which is very important. They arranged
a professional photo shoot in London
and two of my garments were
photographed. In a marketing module
we made a proposal for our own
business idea, researching garments,
pricing, competitors and so on. I
researched a Japanese minimalist
designer, incorpo-rating print and
digital print to counterbalance the
minimalism.’
Opposite: a coat from Rosie’s collection.
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making the most of a
media opportunity
These Polaroid snapshots record a long wintry
Good Friday when second-year BA (Hons) Fashion
students spent an intense day at The Loft Studios
in London, preparing their work for professional
models and for photographs by Natalie Davis, a
Plymouth College of Art graduate, now a regular
freelance contributor to Elle magazine. Results of
the shoot were included in the end of year fashion
show ‘lookbook’ which was designed and
produced by graphic design students Jessica
Hamley and Sophie Willcox (see also page 105).
Photoshoot : Fashion Media and Marketing
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Costume Production and Associated Crafts
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: PW34
This intensive practical programme trains costume designers
and interpreters for a wide range of careers in the performance
industries. It focuses on the most sought-after crafts skills,
including strong technical competence in pattern cutting and
costume construction and being able to guarantee quality and
durability. Our programme also teaches specialist skills in dyeing
and breaking down, as well as the precision needed to design
and make small props such as masks, millinery and costume
jewellery.
The unique strength of this programme lies in its combination of
a technical focus with opportunities to experience at first-hand
all aspects of the performance industry, from the innovative
work of touring companies to the production values behind West
End shows. Live project briefs will give you a true taste of
professional experience. The programme is underpinned by the
development of strong drawing skills and an introduction to
professional practice and employability. It incorporates research
into the historical and cultural contexts of costume as well as
tuition in essential organisational and communication skills.
The range of processes and media on offer here makes it an
exciting place to study costume production. You will work
alongside students involved in fashion, film and other creative
productions, and have access to new workshop facilities
including digital printing, textile technology and 3D making.
This programme demands a high level of commitment and an
unswerving interest in the craft of making. In return, we’ll
provide a strong support network through our dedicated team of
lecturers and our links with industry.
78
Supporters of our Costume Production
programme include the Royal
Shakespeare Company’s Head of
Wardrobe, Alistair McArthur, who says:
‘Apart from good sewing and pattern
cutting skills, there’s always been a gap
for specialist areas when training for
performance, for example in costume
jewellery, dyeing and breaking down and
costume millinery. Today’s students
need to be flexible in their skills set.
This programme will give them more
employment appeal.’
Sheila Snellgrove, Company Director of
the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth, feels
the same. She says: ‘I fully support the
training of a new generation of costume
and prop practitioners, and look
forward to welcoming graduates with
fresh ideas, enthusiasm and a good
grounding in design and technical
processes to our industry.’ Her colleague
at Plymouth Theatre Royal, Head of
Wardrobe Dina Hall, says: ‘A high level
of expertise is required in the
construction of costumes and
accessories. This dedicated programme
is a crucial step in rebuilding a necessary
and valuable craft.’
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rescuing a lost stagecraft
I did a National Diploma course in Fashion and
was awarded a week’s work experience at the
Plymouth Theatre Royal Production Centre
(TR2). I also completed a Young Apprenticeship
Scheme course at the College and was invited
back to TR2 to sew costumes. I worked there for
two years altogether and have made costumes
for 20 shows – some of them are touring in
Denmark at the moment. I decided to come
back to Plymouth College of Art to get more
design experience and a degree qualification in
Costume Production to capitalise on all of my
experience. I’ve worked with a lot of designers
at TR2 and they have all been costume rather
than fashion based. There’s a lack of specialist
theatrical tailors and lots of career
opportunities.
Theatrical helmet made by professional
prop maker Mike Weir. Opposite: Jerry
brings his experience back into college to
gain more advanced skills in making
costumes such as the one shown here, part
of the Theatre Royal’s collection.
Jerry Moore : Costume Production
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Film
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W692
Film is a practice-based programme of study providing a
stimulating environment where students explore a range of
practices, processes and theoretical approaches to contemporary
film making. Our programme explores the connections between
film and other visual, narrative and performing arts and makes
the most of our unique interdisciplinary art college environment.
You’ll be encouraged to embrace the role of film artist,
investigating various production roles, with the aim of
contributing new ideas and talent to contemporary moving
image culture and the creative industries. Our aim is to support
the development of distinct voices, the creation of imaginative
and challenging personal film work, and the realisation of
individual career aspirations.
We have a comprehensively stocked film production resource,
with technologies including Super16mm and High Definition
cinematography; underwater film and video; industry standard
audio and lighting equipment; 5.1 Surround Sound; professional
post-production facilities; and software packages including Avid
Media Composers, Final Cut Pro7, and Adobe CS6.
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W620
Our graduates become:
film makers
directors/producers
production managers
location managers
assistant directors
cinematographers/ videographers
production designers
screenwriters
film editors
assistant editors
film/broadcast camera operators
lighting engineers
underwater film specialists
production assistants
production / post-production runners
In 2012/13 our students won ‘Best Undergraduate Fiction’ film at
the Royal Television Society (RTS) National Awards, screened
work at the New York Tribeca Film Festival and the Raindance
Film Festival, and exhibited at Prime Cuts , winning awards for
‘Best Production Design on Film’, ‘Best Comedy’, and ‘Best
Costume Design on Film’.
Recent graduates have joined Ridley Scott Associates, BBC Films
and Two Four Productions. Others are working as independents
and freelancers or have gone on to postgraduate study.
Opposite: Dorian Cozens in a still
from a film – about film
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in real time with film on reels
I left school at 13 and was home educated. I
travelled a lot but I wanted to study locally and
have always had an interest in art and film. I
opened a skateboarding shop and learned
about business. Eventually I came back into
education because I was ready and they offered
what I wanted. The facilities here are something
I’d never get the chance to use anywhere else.
I’ve found my direction working in 16mm
documentary and hand processing, so I really
understand the process and medium of film. It
offers ways of telling a story you can’t get with
digital, however good you are at postproduction. I work with digital film for external
work, though.
Because the College is relatively small it’s very
intimate and you have access to all its facilities.
Tutors from all subjects are happy to help
– I’ve done metalwork, silkscreen and an
interdisciplinary project that fed lots of new
ideas into my film practice.
Tom Kirkman : Film
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Tom Kirkman shot his graduation
show retro-documentary ‘Paraiso’ on
Panchromatic surveillance film with a
Bolex 16mm camera and hand
developed and edited it using the
College’s Steenbeck flat-bed bench.
‘The film itself was a meditation on
“celluloid” as a lost medium,
culminating,’ he explains, ‘in an
examination of aesthetics, tactility and
the relevance of endangered
processes.’ The stills (left) are from a
film he made for River Cottage to
celebrate local producers. Other
projects have included Streetdance
Factory, Prime Skatepark and various
mountainboard events.
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Film and Media Production
Foundation Degree
2 years full-time; 4 years part-time
UCAS: W690
Film and Media Production is a dynamic, vocationally focused
programme based on learning by doing. It immerses students in
a range of creative practices and technical processes, and in a
variety of professional roles and contexts, while providing a
thorough grounding in the history and theoretical study of film
and media production.
You’ll become a highly skilled, innovative and versatile film and
video practitioner equipped to work in appropriate professional
filmmaking contexts. You’ll develop a portfolio of technical skills
to enable you to undertake diverse external projects, work
placements and live briefs, and to contextualise the aesthetics
and technologies of film and media practice – all with the aim of
contributing new ideas and talent to contemporary moving
image industries. You will gain hands-on experience of key
production roles, become involved in critical debates to develop
your own production activities, and be given guidance on selfpromotion, marketing, distribution and exhibition.
In 2012/13, our students worked on a number of commissions
from external clients including The Prince’s Trust, Dame Hannah
Rogers Trust, Attik Dance, and Paignton Zoo.
We have a comprehensively stocked film production resource,
with technologies including Super16mm and High Definition
cinematography; underwater film and video; industry standard
audio and lighting equipment; 5.1 Surround Sound; professional
post-production facilities; and software packages including Avid
Media Composers, Final Cut Pro7, and Adobe CS6.
86
Progression is possible on to a BA (Hons)
Top up year in a related subject.
Our graduates become:
directors/producers
production managers
location managers
assistant directors
cinematographers/ videographers
production designers
screenwriters
film editors
assistant editors
film/broadcast camera operators
lighting engineers
underwater film specialists
production assistants
production / post-production runners
HE2-AUG27_Layout 1 08/09/2013 09:54 Page 87
Kan Esmer was inspired by Sergio
Leone’s film Once Upon a Time in the
West to recreate the suspense of a
Western for his film Kesinti which he
had the opportunity to shoot in
Turkey. He won Best Film Award in
the prestigious Primecuts Film
Festival.
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an all-girl team rises above
industry expectations
We’ve been working collaboratively this year and
we’re comfortable sharing our opinions. Jemma
does pre-production and camera, Leah manages
production, camera, sound and post-production
and Lucy edits. We did a live job for a client which
taught us a lot about organisation and
communication skills and how to negotiate
timings. Even these days, an all-girl team is a bit
unusual in the male world of film production – you
can be talked down to by a bunch of guys, but
we’ve learned to toughen up. We’re going on to
the BA (Hons) Top up year next and plan to carry
on working together as well as doing individual
projects. If you’re interested in a variety of film
genres this is a good course. One of the best things
is the access to equipment. We can work with all
formats, not just digital, including 8mm and
16mm, and we’re taught how to process film
stock and use an editing bench. It brings everyone
up to a certain level, and working with such a
wide range of people with different experience is
good practice for real life.
Leah, Jemma and Lucy made a film
Resurgam to document the meaning of
the Latin word: ‘I shall rise again’ for
the people of Plymouth. It documents
the life and times of a local church.
They have formed a crew called
Tertiam Media, and have undertaken a
number of professional, externally
commissioned projects. Resurgam is
their final piece for the course.
Lucy Sutcliffe, Jemma Cleave, Leah Mead : Film and media production
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Fine Art
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W101
Fine Art continues to be the vehicle for radical argument and
originality, reverberating with all of the arts. Our twin pathway
programme will encourage you to develop an energetic, diverse
and discursive approach to your art making and to see it in a
social and cultural context. Our aim is to ensure that as a
professional fine artist you will secure yourself a viable and
visible position in the art world, drawing on the range of creative
practices, critical insights and professional skills developed on
the programme.
The emphasis of the programme is on the development of a
conceptual context and a curatorial approach. Critical thinking
and analysis are at the core.
Our team consists of a range of tutors and a programme leader
who are all practising artists and curators. We also have a
dynamic visiting lecturer programme to introduce you to
practising international artists and curators.
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BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W100
Our graduates become:
academic researchers
arts managers
community workshop leaders
creative consultants
creative events managers
curators
fine artists
marketing and promotion consultants
media and sound specialists
science and art collaborators
self-employed arts practitioners
web and interactive designers
HE3-AUG27_Layout 1 08/09/2013 10:02 Page 91
Third-year student Jess Young says,
‘I’ve been really happy on this course. I
took a module in curation and that
experience has been important, even
though I chose the Fine Art route. I’ve
come out more rounded as an artist. I
only applied for courses near the sea!
I’m working mostly in film at the
moment. I’ve always used mixed
media and performative actions, and
that has led me to film. I work very low
tech, collecting imagery and collaging
it, then running it through video,
filming it, moving into digital, back to
video. My work deals with themes of
ambiguity, obscurity and the reflection
of internal conflict on to an external
landscape.’
Below: work by Robert L Gösi in the
final 2013 Summer Degree Show in
Studio 11.
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studio 11 – the perfect space
to think and make art
I’ve lived in Plymouth all my life. I did the
Foundation Diploma here in 2002 and the
Saturday Arts Club. It was a gateway into the
art world as my family had no connection to
art. I started a BA (Hons) Fine Art here six years
ago but it didn’t work out as my children were
too young, so I came back and restarted the first
year with new tutors and I’ve gained a lot of
confidence. An environment like this has
opened my eyes to new directions. I was
thinking of going into teaching but now I’m
considering being a practising artist. I don’t feel
there’s any divide between students and tutors
– we’re equals and the student peer crits are
brilliant – you get to express yourself in a
different way. This course has helped me
develop my communication skills, talking and
writing about my ideas. I’m using photographs
of my children, my world, and work from them
to make large charcoal drawings. I’ve got so
many options now.
Danielle Pugh : Fine Art
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Fine Art: Critical and Curatorial Practices
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W101
After experimenting in a wide range of media and curation
during the first two years, you will be able to choose between
pathways in Fine Art or Fine Art: Critical and Curatorial Practices.
Both include seminars, group discussions and interdisciplinary
activity to inspire and energise your work, but there is a
variation in emphasis between individual making and project
management and curation.
Within the Critical and Curatorial Practices pathway, you can
choose a more theoretical or a more practical approach
according to your preferences and aptitudes.
Fine Art Practice integrates critical thinking and analysis with
creative work. So, for example, you’ll reconsider the stereotype
of the artist as solitary worker and will be encouraged to set up
various forms of collaboration to support professional
networking.
Critical and Curatorial Practice explores contemporary and
historical models, including collaborative practices that test
conventional relationships between the arts and their
audiences. The analytical approach is as relevant to arts
organisations and their administrators as it is to the work of
independent artists and designers.
Whatever choice you make, you’ll be able to bring your
distinctive personal creative perspective to the issues and
debates we’ll examine together.
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BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W100
Our graduates become:
academic researchers
arts managers
community workshop leaders
creative consultants
creative events managers
curators
fine artists
marketing and promotion consultants
media and sound specialists
science and art collaborators
self-employed arts practitioners
web and interactive designers
HE3-AUG27_Layout 1 08/09/2013 10:02 Page 95
Jack decided to study here because of
the broad nature of the course and the
access he’d have to facilities across the
college. ‘I looked at Studio 11 and liked
the space. I’ve found the curatorial
route very engaging. You’re making
work as well as getting the curatorial
experience. Last year I did a lot with
vinyl records and sound, and this year
I’m working with big-back TVs as
sculptural objects, and Devon is the
location and subject matter for
drawings and printmaking. Six of us
just put on a research critique of artist
as curator, called “Six empty chairs”,
at a local gallery, Karst, with a College
graduate who works there. We get a lot
of support and help in working out
what we want to achieve. We negotiate
the use of studio space amongst
ourselves and have all the resources we
want. It’s really been a defining
experience for me and I’m going on to
study MA Curatorial Practices in
London.’
Opposite: Jack's work in video and
landscape installation has taken him
to a variety of locations in the region –
including these abandoned lime kilns
on the Dartington Hall Estate.
Jack Parrott : Fine Art: Critical and Curatorial Practice
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making it and curating it
I came here to do an evening course in life
drawing. I was building a house and wanted to
keep my hand in by drawing. They suggested I
came back as a full-time student, so I did a
Foundation Diploma year first as I’d been out of
education for a while. It was a brilliant thing to do.
It gets you up to speed, prepares you to get the
best out of your degree. This course has opened
my eyes to process and to how you can have a
career in the art world, making, selling, exhibiting,
networking, going to shows – everything you need
to take your art further.
The curation side of things is as important as the
art making. You can’t create art without
considering curation – you make it to be seen and
need to consider your audience. Locating your
work is so important. My work is about the
exploration of the object in space. I make large,
monumental sculpture. I’ve just done a show with
other students at Karst. I take building materials
to other spaces.
Deirdre Dowley : Fine Art: Critical and Curatorial Practice
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Graphic Design
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W214
Graphic Design is an exciting, dynamic and expanding area of
creative practice, and programmes like ours, which set the digital
media on an equal footing with a range of experimental craft
processes and encourage designers to make and model their
ideas, are in high demand.
The graphic design industry continues to play a vital role at every
level of society, bringing clarity to the confusion of hospitals and
transport systems, and style and elegance to the surface of
ordinary things and to everyday life. Through our commitment to
setting the core skills of visual communication, such as
typography, print and hand-drawn illustration, on an equal
footing with digital media and experimentation, we will
encourage you to develop an individual style and identity. You
will investigate and practise communicating your ideas through
a range of design disciplines – from brand identity to magazine
design and information graphics, to multimedia and web-based
digital graphics.
Our programme is recognised for its creative diversity and strong
connections with industry. We promote individuality in all of our
students, but we will also help you to contextualise your work
intellectually in relation to international design history and
practice.
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Foundation Degree
2 years full-time; 4 years part-time
UCAS: W210
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W216
Our graduates become:
graphic designers
digital artists
art directors
publishing designers
website designers
multimedia designers
brand identity designers
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Third-year BA (Hons) student Sophie
Willcox did a Foundation course in
Bath before studying Graphic Design
here. ‘I started off trying to avoid
computers, but now I like to combine
a number of methods,’ she says. ‘I
make collages using textiles and
sewing, then scan them into a digital
format and work on them again using
sewing, textiles and screen printing.
The end product is a clean, flat surface
with complex layering that can be used
on paper or fabric or in publications.
My final piece is a branding project.
I’m art directing a fashion house
producing scarves, packaging and
print. I’d like to work in fashion when
I graduate and I’ve been collaborating
with fashion students to produce their
fashion lookbook.’
Third-year Graphic Design student
Matt Wilson developed a campaign to
raise awareness of ‘conflict minerals’
– of the injustices surrounding the
mining of raw materials for microelectronics in strife-torn areas such as
the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Read more about the project on page 16.
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adding a third dimension
My work is mainly print-based, editorial and
typographic design. I’m interested in grid systems
and I’ve been exploring connections between
architecture and 2D using folded paper. My thesis
was on 3D urban grids. I’ve completed several live
briefs in and out of college and at the moment I’m
designing the publication for our show at New
Designers. The course tutors are really supportive.
They push you to develop your own visual style
and allow you to experiment freely, offering
guidance when it’s needed. I get a lot of face-time
with tutors and we have our own workspace and
studio.
I started the course after spending five years in
the Army. I was born in Plymouth and wanted to
come back. The course has a good range of study
areas, not just typography. It’s very open and
there’s a good creative flow. You’re not pigeonholed. I did a Level 0 course which was helpful
and interesting, giving lots of media to explore.
Jamie Pearce : Graphic Design
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Jamie Pearce’s interest in typography,
the grid structures that underpin print
design and the relationship between the
two-dimensional space of graphic
design and the three dimensions of
architecture has drawn him into a series
of experiments with folded and modular
form, extending (opposite) to steelwork,
plastics, textiles and the unusual
qualities of watermarked and debossed
Japanese papers. Explaining progress on
his promotional ideas for their New
Designers London show catalogue to
student colleagues (above) is all part of
the job.
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Illustration
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W220
Illustrators can educate and instruct, entertain and entice – all at
the same time. Traditionally their skills have been at the service
of commissioning customers: illustrators work to a brief,
bringing to a client’s table imagination and conceptual thinking,
along with their highly developed problem-solving skills. Our
programme will introduce you to all aspects of standard
professional practice, but it also encourages self-directed and
authorial approaches to extend the boundaries of your visual
language.
Plymouth College of Art offers a rich experience across the range
of illustration media and 2D, 3D and digital techniques. The
output targets include traditional publishing, independent
books, ‘zines and limited prints, through to the range of
emerging and new media practices.
The programme emphasises research, drawing and
experimental image-making and modelling, delivered with
excellent teaching support. We will help you to develop a
culturally curious attitude that will keep you aware of
contemporary trends and actively engaged in creative
communities as you pursue that ‘spark’ of originality that will set
you apart from the crowd.
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Foundation Degree
2 years full-time; 4 years part-time
UCAS: WW21
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: WW2C
Our graduates become:
freelance/commercial illustrators (in
publishing, editorial and advertising)
independent publishers of graphic novels
and children’s books
illustrators
printmakers
designer-illustrators
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Bénédicte Barrett was living in London and
teaching bilingual primary school children art
before she moved to Plymouth, started a life
drawing course and decided she’d like to make
children’s books. ‘It’s been a very good
experience,’ she says. I’ve learned new digital
skills, developed ideas, and become more
interested in environmental issues. I’ve been
making some children’s books on a theme called
Three Eco Cakes. They’re picture books. It’s a
way of educating parents too! I draw first then
scan. We have workshops in print and I’m really
into self-authoring and publishing. I wanted to
have the chance to develop my artistic side and I
plan to carry on teaching and creating things for
children.’
Opposite: Graduating illustrator Toby Allen
created bookplates for Carlo Collodi’s classic
children’s story Pinocchio, exploring the darker
side.
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spinning stories from Denmark
I’m from Denmark but I’ve lived in England for
twenty years. I was interested in art but I did
teacher training in Denmark. I brought up my
children and was busy with family life but always
thought I’d like to do art one day, and when my
son was looking for courses in illustration I
realised it was something I wanted to do myself,
so I did an access course and then applied here. I’m
a mature student, the oldest in the class, but the
young people have been amazing. I have to
commute from near Exeter every day, which is
manageable and actually gives me a bit of peace
and quiet. An art degree is very hard work and you
have to learn to deal with the pressure. The tutors
have high expectations and I want to be
challenged. I love contextual studies. We learned
about the history of the moving image by
researching and making a zoetrope. I didn’t even
know how to pronounce it!
Top right: All Illustration students
have the chance to investigate the
possibilities of the zoetrope and its
links with animation, photography,
film and model making. Caroline
Morgan’s zoetrope bands (opposite)
led her to experiment with jointed
models, printmaking and toy design.
Caroline Morgan : Illustration
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Painting, Drawing and Printmaking
This dynamic programme provides a contemporary learning
environment for students who are excited by the prospect of a
rigorous materials-based and process-driven education in art
practice. You’ll study painting, drawing and printmaking and its
materials and techniques, while learning the professional
strategies of the art world.
Based in new open-plan space, our studios are purpose-built
with double height and north light. You will develop an
ambitious working practice based on investigation of the
material and technical possibilities of the three disciplines,
driven by a comprehensive series of technical workshops and
underpinned throughout by the teaching of drawing as a key
component of your studio practice.
You’ll also gain a thorough understanding of the key theories in
contemporary art as they relate to your own emerging practice
and as a springboard for live exhibitions and projects that
prepare you professionally for your career.
You’ll graduate with a deep understanding of your own art
practice, its techniques and theories, and at the same time,
you’ll have developed an ability to collaborate across other
disciplines in the creative industries. We’ll teach you to reflect
critically on your own professional identity as an emerging
artist equipped to step forward into your creative future.
106
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time, with
an option to study part-time evenings and
weekends.
UCAS: WWDF
Our graduates become:
artists
designers
printmakers
painters
academic researchers
arts managers
community workshop leaders
creative consultants
creative events managers
curators
fine artists
marketing and promotion consultants
media and sound specialists
science and art collaborators
self-employed arts practitioners
web and interactive designers
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Making plans
Extended Diploma students Bradley Doyle and
Katie Shore are among students starting the new
Painting, Drawing and Printmaking course in
2013. Bradley says: ‘I thought this was a really
good opportunity to follow up my diploma
studies. You can experiment in the first year and
then choose to specialise in two areas. I’m from
Plymouth and it would be hard to leave here and
my family.’
‘I feel welcome here,’ Katie says. ‘Three of my
favourite things in one course! Everything I need
is here – brilliant teaching, excellent equipment
and freedom to do what I want to do with all the
help I need.’
Bradley Doyle and Katie Shore : Moving up
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Photography
BA (Hons)
3 years full-time; 6 years part-time
UCAS: W645
This three-year programme will enable you to explore the nature
and possibilities of photographic practice creatively and
commercially. You’ll be encouraged to expand your technical
expertise and to become familiar with larger formats and
specialised location and studio equipment. The programme
includes directed modules and assignments, but it will also help
you to nurture your individual direction and to consider
photography as a means of expression and an embodiment of
concepts
Visiting lecturers, workshops and exhibition opportunities
generate advice and guidance above and beyond the structure of
the programme and are a source of further enlightenment for
personal direction.
The BA (Hons) Top up Photography programme is for students
who have completed an HND or a Foundation Degree in
Photography. The key aims are to enable graduates who
demonstrate excellence in terms of their technical competency,
business acumen and entrepreneurialism to sustain their own
practice, create an identity, build a reputation and promote and
exhibit work in a range of contexts.
110
BA (Hons) Top up
1 year full-time; 2 years part-time
UCAS: W640
Our graduates become:
art directors
curators
education officers
film stills photographers
freelance photographers
journalists
photographic assistants
photographic technicians
picture editors
re-touchers
researchers
stock photographers
teachers
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Final-year BA (Hons) student Nick White has
been exploiting one of the College’s most
unusual natural resources – the nearby
wilderness of Dartmoor. ‘The idea has been to
unlock a relatively unexplored narrative of the
moor,’ he explains. ‘Not much is known about
the military history. The first strand of my study
looks at historic infrastructure, the second at
ground studies, picturing one metre squares of
earth, live bullets under ice, boot prints. It’s a
nod to environmental conflicts. I make colour
prints using a large format camera and film. It
puts the viewer back in the realm of considered
photography, it slows everything down.’ Below:
his wintry study of Wickhams Target Shed
SX5927591100 was picked up by Aesthetica
magazine to showcase ‘10 of the Best’ UK 2013
Graduate Degree Shows.
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Top: Felicity Bell’s discovery of a Magritte-like
puzzle on a Dartmoor roadside
Eileen Long’s final year practice has taken her
into some demanding situations and complex
relationship with her subjects. After first-year
work at an equine-assisted therapy centre, where
she had to tackle her own fear of horses, she has
been collaborating with an artist in Liskeard with
breast cancer who wanted to have her treatment
documented to highlight the need for greater
pastoral support in Cornwall. ‘I photographed
21 women for the project,’ she explains. ‘I visited
them at home and gave them complete freedom
as to how they wanted to present themselves.
Most chose to show their scars. It has been a
genuine collaboration and has given me the
opportunity to understand and explore the effects
of illness through art and photography.’
Right: A detail from one of Matt Elliott’s studies
of military training.
Eileen Long : Photography
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Commercial Photography
Whether it’s capturing the news in pictures or framing a
dramatic fashion shot, commercial photography has the power
to move people. This programme has been designed for the next
generation of visually expressive commercial photographer.
You’ll learn about fundamental photographic theory and practice
as we guide you towards your career.
You will be working with and alongside the staff team and
members of the photographic industry. They’ll help you to
develop the skills and the gain the confidence you will need to
respond to client needs, while demonstrating excellent technical
and professional competence.
Our photographic resources, darkrooms, studios and digital suite
give you access to industrial-standard specialist resources. You’ll
work with real clients to build a strong, professional portfolio
and develop the business acumen to survive in a fast-paced
competitive industry.
Foundation Degree
2 years full-time; 4 years part-time, with
an option to study part-time evenings and
weekends.
UCAS: W643
Progression is possible on to a BA (Hons)
Top up year in a related subject.
Our graduates become:
art directors
artist/exhibitions curators
education officers
film stills photographers
freelance photographers
journalists
photographic assistants
photographic technicians
picture editors
retouchers
researchers
stock photographers
teachers
Christopher Sutherland (top left,
opposite) studied Photography A-level
in Sussex and heard about the College
courses through a friend who
enthused about the darkroom
facilities. ‘I’ve become particularly
interested in food photography, he
says. ‘I've been encouraged to make
contact with clients, taught how to
approach a brief and to promote
myself and I’ve put together a range of
skills including typography and
design. I hope to go on to the BA
(Hons) Top up year and to continue
working with food and building up a
client base. I came here as quite a
timid student but now really enjoy
meeting the challenge of dealing with
clients and promoting my business.’
(Top right) a portrait study
Christopher made as part of a project
about the Devon fish industry.
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One of Andy Ford’s prize-winning
band studies shows Josh Scogin of
The Chariot in flight (more from Andy
Ford over the page).
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Second-year student Andy Ford has had a
glittering two years at the College, winning
the runners-up prize in the Guardian Student
Photographer of the Year award and being
voted Live Photographer of the Year by the
NME. ‘That exposure has helped me build a
reputation and I’ve just been to South Africa to
photograph Bring Me The Horizon on the road
for the NME,’ he says. ‘I want to develop some
large format portrait work alongside my
commercial work and be more experimental.
My direction is in editorial photography and it
offers lots of opportunities.’ On this page,
another of his prize winning pictures – his
painterly study of the band Rat Pack.
Andy Ford : Commercial Photography
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MA Gallery space and research activity create a
rich and diverse postgraduate community, with
visiting artists and public lectures in addition to
MA seminar series thinking. All Were Welcome?,
a characteristically wry gouache by Chris Appleby,
was included in a major exhibition of his work
shown in the College Gallery in 2013.
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Postgraduate courses
We know that the arts, design and media generate significant cultural and
social change out of the artefacts, experiences and services they create. Our
postgraduate programme will give you profound insight into the
contemporary creative landscape and empower you to work effectively from
your carefully chosen place within it
Our Masters programmes are structured to encourage debate, exchange and
interdisciplinary collaboration. This is achieved through a combination of
generic and specialist modules and a dedicated postgraduate suite used by
all MA cohorts and alumni.
With the benefit of extensive links with the College’s partners and networks
in the City of Plymouth, the South West Region and beyond, you’ll develop
new networks and partners. This high level of connectedness is achieved
through affiliation with professionally focused college organisations, and
through its network of partners in the creative and cultural industries, such
as the Real Ideas Organisation, Plymouth Arts Centre, the Centre for
Contemporary Art and the Natural World, Plymouth Media Partnership and
the Plymouth Visual Arts Consortium. Specialist modules provide deep skills
and knowledge relevant to your area of study.
Entry Requirements
Normally a first degree of at
least upper second class
standard in an Art, Design,
Crafts or Media discipline.
Equivalent experience may be
considered as alternative
fulfilment of part or all of the
requirement in individual
cases. Judgements will be
based on the relevance of
previous art and design work.
This programme is offered
part-time as well as full-time
and as such you will need to
be able to commit to one or
two days a week for the
duration of the two-year
programme. For course fees
and information about
bursaries, please see our
website.
As a Masters student you are able to use all of our workshop, studio and
teaching facilities. Your research interests and your involvement in our
research into practice seminar programme will enable you to shape a fastevolving, ambitious postgraduate research culture.
All students undertake a live external project to integrate creative practice,
professional managerial and research skills in order to explore their potential
to become a ‘change maker’. Current Masters students and our MA graduates
have already developed new and diverse career portfolios combining a
discipline specific creative practice with an increase in sales of work,
commissions, paid research, publishing, lecturing and other income
generating work as a result of the programme. Many external live projects
undertaken with partner organisations or individual creative practitioners
have translated into new opportunities and income.
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Perhaps it’s only to be expected from a
fugitive Professor in Communication
Engineering, whose papers deal with
computer crime, intrusion detection,
biometrics and identity authentification, that faced with a humble
sewing machine needle he should have
been doing extraordinary things. By reengineering needles with a barb so
that they sew and unsew at the same
time, MA Contemporary Crafts student
Paul Reynolds has been restitching the
identity of humble nylon gauze Might
there be any cross-over connection
between his artistic and scientific
120
investigations? ‘Maybe so – if one
considers that the identity of those bits
of material represents the class, and
individual marks left by the handmade needle are its “bio-metric”,’ he
says. ‘My activity in bio-metrics is
entirely predicated on repeatability,
but I need to investigate the role of
chance in my textile manipulation to
see how much of the artist as opposed
to the machine is responsible for the
outcome.’ As a ‘textile worker’, he’s
found himself in a whole new world –
with gender politics and the history of
female labour to meditate on.
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MA Contemporary Crafts
Something fundamental about the act of making empowers the
master as much as the student of craft. Craft engages the body,
the head and the heart. Our programme is structured to cater for
those who share this profound involvement in making and who
are willing to take their practice in new directions. Studio and
workshop will become your laboratory for research and
experiment.
Craft has an important role to play in the transition to a
sustainable culture. By questioning and subverting aspects of
mass-production and consumerism, the craft disciplines are
generating experimental practices that are reshaping ideas
about form and function. Contemporary craft focuses on the
local, the personal, the marginal and the meaningful.
If you would like to develop new ways of thinking and making or
to deepen your knowledge of a specific process, technique or
material, this programme will support you with structured
research, intellectually bracing theory and innovative practice.
We welcome applicants from backgrounds across contemporary
and traditional craft practices, including glass, ceramics, textiles,
metalwork and jewellery, bookbinding, print and multimedia.
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By re-engineering sewing needles with
a barb so that they sew and unsew at
the same time, MA Contemporary
Crafts student Paul Reynolds has been
restitching the identity of humble
nylon gauze (see page 122).
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MA Creative Practices for Sustainability
The more depleted our planetary resources become, the greater
society’s need for change-making creative practitioners who are
equipped to lead the transition to a sustainable culture. This
programme is for those who design by thinking and making –
by hand or by digital means – and who are concerned about the
upstream and downstream effects on our human, social, natural
and economic capital.
The programme provides you with a cross-disciplinary skill set for
dealing with the challenges associated with globalisation,
environmental degradation, societal inequalities, resource
depletion and over-consumption. You will learn about emerging
eco- and other technologies that change the way we conceive,
make, distribute and sell, and you will be given insights into the
ethical demands of the new marketplace.
The programme is suitable for practitioners across the spectrum
of design and craft disciplines. We also encourage applications
from the applied, visual and fine arts and media.
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MA Critical Curatorial Practices
Boundaries between disciplines are increasingly blurred and
contemporary curatorial and creative practices habitually
overlap. Our Critical Curatorial Practices programme offers
graduates and existing practitioners the opportunity to pursue a
project-led examination of the underlying social and creative
trends and, in the process, to develop and put into practice their
own curatorial interests.
The programme will introduce you to a range of creative
curatorial issues, intentions and associated media forms
supported by our international, national and local curatorial
partnerships. You will individualise your learning through live
projects appraised in relation to the matrix of local-global issues,
interactions and opportunities that shape contemporary cultural
conditions.
The programme will allow you to hone your research, planning
and logistical skills in a multi-faceted investigative context. You
will have space, time and encouragement to explore and develop
curatorial processes, tools and models appropriate to your needs.
We welcome applications from all practitioners interested in the
curatorial process and for whom the opportunity to participate in
a live external project-based MA is attractive.
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Liana Rocha is in her first year of MA
Entrepreneurship for Creative Practice. She has
been developing a range of contemporary
jewellery and accessories based on the theatrical
and historical subculture of SteamPunk, which
reappropriates symbolic materials, chains,
clockwork and leather.
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MA Entrepreneurship for Creative Practice
This Masters programme is for creative practitioners and
graduates who want to accelerate their existing practice, find a
new direction or start a new enterprise. It is structured to deliver
concrete outcomes that can immediately be applied to your
practice, rigorously testing your critical and entrepreneurial
awareness. The entrepreneurial landscape is fast changing as we
re-define the traditional boundaries, perceptions and definitions
of the ‘entrepreneur’ for the 21st Century.
The course will challenge your intellectual, practical and creative
ambitions by providing you with opportunities to showcase your
work and undertake live external projects in arts and business
organisations. You will be encouraged to experiment, to stretch
and transform your practice with interdisciplinary creative
thinking in a real world environment. Visiting lecturers and our
network of industry and creative entrepreneurs provide an
experiential platform to nurture and nourish your practice.
The course is equally suitable for those who want to develop
their career as a self-employed practitioner, as a creative
entrepreneur within an organisation, or in a combination of the
two as part of a ‘portfolio’ career approach.
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Ash Lawley is using his Entrepreneurship
for Creative Practice MA to develop into a
commercial proposition the urban
graffiti light installations that featured in
his third-year BA (Hons) Graphic Design
experiments. This example, which was
presented on the College foyer big screen
– a fast changing showplace for new
work – illuminates the lost world
beneath the city's Marsh Mills traffic
interchange.
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When Jonathan Brok started his MA
Entrepreneurship for Creative Practice he
considered himself an abstract photographer. Last
year he branched out into documentary video,
following the development of Peter Oswald and
Sophia Clist’s’s Cultural Olympiad dance-theatre
event, The World at Your Feet, about migration. This
year he consolidated that political interest in an
interactive non-linear ‘i-Doc’ about the life of his
Latvian grandfather – focusing on his escape from
Russian hands at the end of the Second World War
and his journey to England. The picture shows the
title shot of his grandfather as a teenage soldier.
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MA Photography
Contemporary approaches to photography demonstrate that the
subject and practice, defined in respect of its significance in
marking the industrial age, is becoming an increasingly
expanded visual discipline.
Photographic practitioners are continually testing and breaking
the boundaries of the medium and eroding the edges of the
somewhat formal and established constraints of the subject.
By doing so, they are helping us to develop our understanding of
what photography is, and also what it can do, in relation to its
past, its omnipresence in our everyday lives and in its privileged
and dominant position within creative, social and cultural
practices.
This MA encourages you to consider the place of photography in
contemporary society, in terms of the production, distribution
and consumption of photographic images, and through your
research and practice to shape the subject in terms how
photography is utilised and will be interpreted in the future.
The programme allows you access to our excellent photographic
and other specialist facilities, and provides you with a platform
that engenders the development of your creative and
professional practice.
We welcome applications from those who aspire to become
photographers who want to affect change in a range of contexts.
These may include independent photographic practitioners,
documentary photographers, archivists, curators, researchers,
writers and educators.
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How it all works
Our Higher Education courses
The taught Masters programme
We offer two kinds of undergraduate Higher
Education programmes - a three-year BA
Honours or a two-year Foundation Degree.
Some subject programmes offer both versions,
with the option of a third ‘Top up’ year to
convert a Foundation Degree into a BA (Hons). In
all cases there is a part-time option of twice the
length (six years for the BA; four years for the
Foundation Degree; a two-year Top up).
Normally a first degree of at least upper second
class standard in an Art, Design, Crafts or Media
discipline. Equivalent experience may be
considered as alternative fulfilment of part or all
of the requirement in individual cases.
Judgements will be based on the relevance of
previous art and design work.
This programme is offered part-time as well as
full-time, and as such you will need to be able to
commit to one or two days a week for the
duration of the two-year programme. For course
fees and information about bursaries, please see
our website.
Flexible part-time study - new in 2013-14
We’ve introduced some flexible degrees studied
part-time during evenings and weekends to
suit your work and family commitments.
The degree models have their own syllabus and
points of emphasis, but there are a number of
common qualities derived from our ethos. So,
whichever course you choose, we give these
guarantees:
• we place a high value on ‘hands-on’ making
• we offer you all the personal contact time
with tutors you need
• we teach traditional ‘analogue’ skills
alongside digital ones and will encourage you
to use them inventively in combination
• we won’t fence you in: our approach is multifaceted and cross-disciplinary
• we’ll help you develop your powers of critical
insight and cultivate your individual talent
• we’ll make sure your intellectual pursuits lead
you towards real, creative employability
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BA (Hons) Degrees
Foundation Degrees
Our BA Honours programme has a consistent
structure and direction. The first year is an
introduction to processes and materials and to
the differences, for example, between working
as a freelance maker or as part of a professional
team or for industry. You’ll also be introduced to
contemporary issues and conceptual
approaches. Across the range of programmes,
you’ll develop visual awareness and
communication skills. There is often a ‘Drawing
Development’ module that puts a range of
visualising processes at your disposal. Drawing
also includes digital 2D and 3D modelling, and
online networking.
Two year Foundation Degrees are designed
more specifically to meet the everyday
professional requirements of potential
employers. The focus is more vocational.
The second year builds on these foundations
and you’ll concentrate on refining your creative
practice by working on live briefs, undertaking
work placements or preparing for internships.
It’s an ideal time to explore the potential of
cross-disciplinary approaches in the studio,
seminar and workshop before beginning your
third-year review of your practice.
You’ll continue to refine your practice in your
final year and have the opportunity to enhance
your practical and professional skills,
culminating in an exhibition at the annual
Summer Degree Show and at national student
shows such as New Designers.
Take our Commercial Photography course (see
page 116) as an example. Professional bodies
such as the Association of Photographers and
industrial manufacturers such as Nikon have
been involved in preparing and delivering the
curriculum, with the twin aims of encouraging
talented people of all ages into a career in
photography. Courses also cover key
communication, problem-solving and teambuilding skills. If you’ve already embarked on a
career but are able to study part-time, the
Foundation Degree experience will create new
opportunities and improve your earning
potential.
A Foundation Degree is equivalent to the first
two years of a BA (Hons) Degree (240 credits)
and is a qualification in its own right.
Your qualification
Plymouth College of Art is a fully accredited
partner institution of the Open University (OU).
Our BA (Hons) and Masters awards, validated by
the Open University, are a hallmark of academic
quality that guarantees the international
currency of your qualification.
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Finding your course
This chart shows all of the Higher Education programmes we
offer. Level 0 or Foundation Diploma will prepare you for degree
level study – BA (Hons) and Foundation Degrees – leading
to taught postgraduate Masters programmes.
BA (Hons) 3 year Degree
Animation
UCAS W61M p 42
Design for Games
UCAS W281 p 46
Contemporary Crafts
UCAS W702 p 50
Ceramics
UCAS J311
Foundation Diploma
in Art and Design p 34
Glass
UCAS W771 p 58
Jewellery and Silversmithing
UCAS W722 p 62
Level 0
Extended Degree p 38
Printed Textile Design and Surface Pattern* UCAS W231 p 66
These one year courses
provide an entry level
introduction to all of our
Foundation Degree and
BA (Hons) Degree courses.
UCAS codes can also be
found on our website
p 54
Fashion
UCAS W290 p 70
Fashion Media and Marketing*
UCAS NW52 p 74
Costume Production and Associated Crafts
UCAS PW34 p 78
Film
UCAS W692 p 82
Film and Media Production
Programmes marked with
an asterisk* are subject to
validation.
132
Fine Art
UCAS W101 p 90
Fine Art: Critical and Curatorial Practice
UCAS W101 p 94
Graphic Design
UCAS W214 p 98
Illustration
UCAS W220 p 102
Painting, Drawing and Printmaking
UCAS WWDF p 106
Photography
UCAS W645 p 110
Commercial Photography
HE4-AUG27_Layout 1 08/09/2013 10:11 Page 133
BA (Hons) 1 year Top up
Foundation Degree
UCAS W616 p 42
UCAS W280 p 46
UCAS WG26 p 46
UCAS W703 p 50
UCAS W701 p 50
UCAS J310
p 54
Masters programmes p 118
The College offers two-year part-time or
one-year full-time postgraduate taught
courses following any BA (Hons) Degree
course or equivalent professional
experience. All are designed to support
and nurture your creative practice.
MA Contemporary Crafts
UCAS W770 p 58
MA Creative Practices for
Sustainability
UCAS W721 p 62
UCAS W233 p 66
UCAS W230 p 70
UCAS WN22 p 70
MA Critical Curatorial Practices
MA Entrepreneurship for
Creative Practice
MA Photography
UCAS W620 p 82
UCAS W690 p 86
UCAS W100 p 90
UCAS W100 p 94
UCAS W216 p 98
UCAS W210 p 98
UCAS WW2C p 102
UCAS WW21 p 102
UCAS W640 p 110
UCAS W643 p 114
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How to apply
Portfolios and interviews
Your UCAS application will tell us about your
qualifications and previous experience, but
studying the arts is about more than can be
captured on forms. We need to find out about
your creative potential, abilities and
idiosyncracies so we will invite you to show us a
portfolio of your work. It’s a chance to tell us
about your aspirations and is also a good
moment to find out what we can offer you. We
can also arrange Skype or Facetime sessions to
suit you.
Full-time applications
Please apply through UCAS for any of our fulltime degree courses. This can be done online at
www.ucas.com. There are deadlines in January
and March each year, but the UCAS application
cycle will still be open after this date, depending
on the number of course vacancies we have.
Part-time applications
If you would like to study part-time, or are
applying for the Foundation Diploma, you
should apply direct using a College application
form. You can apply online under the courses
section of www.plymouthart.ac.uk
Entry requirements
We recognise the value of a variety of
qualifications and relevant experience and
welcome applications from students who have
followed less traditional routes. Please refer to
the information below for our usual entry
requirements and visit individual course pages
on our website www.plymouthart.ac.uk for
more. Also consult the Tariff Table on the UCAS
website www.ucas.ac.uk
Unless we say otherwise on the pages where
each course is described, these are our entry
requirements:
• BA (Hons) and Foundation Degree
A portfolio and a minimum of 200 UCAS points
earned through Art and Design Foundation
Diploma; A-levels; BTEC Extended DiplomaMMP grade VDA: AGNVQ, AVCE, AVS; Access to
HE Art and Design; Irish/Scottish
Highers/Advanced Highers; International
Baccalaureate or other international
qualifications.
Applications are welcome from candidates
without formal qualifications who can provide
evidence of their creativity.
• BA (Hons) Top up
A portfolio plus 240 credits earned through
completion of a Foundation Degree, HND or the
first two years of a degree.
.
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Advisory interviews
If you need more information than you can find
in this prospectus or on our website, please ask
us to arrange an advisory interview. A specialist
member of the Admissions Team will talk to you
about the areas of art and design that may be
suitable for you and how to develop your
portfolio for interview. Bring along any work
you would like to show us, and come with a
family member if you wish. To book an advisory
interview call 01752 203434 or email
[email protected]
Equality and diversity
We welcome applications from all sectors of the
community of whatever age, gender, sexual
orientation or ethnic background. Our student
population is extremely diverse and it is
important to us that every student is able to
realise their full potential in an environment
free from discrimination, harassment or
victimisation. We are also pleased to receive
applications from individuals with disabilities. If
you have a learning difficulty or disability and
would like to discuss the options available to
you, please email learning [email protected]
Overseas applications
Our Admissions Team is here to help you
prepare for your stay and give you practical
advice about living in the UK. We publish a
guide for international students which
highlights practical issues and lists
organisations to contact for more help.
For information please email
[email protected] .
All international applications for undergraduate
degree programmes need to be made through
the University and Colleges Admission Service
(UCAS). Please see page 134 and refer to our
website for more information about fees,
English language requirements, student visas
and how to apply: www.plymouthart.ac.uk
If you are a European or overseas student, we
might ask you to submit your portfolio online or
by post rather than attend an interview. Please
contact Admissions for further information.
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What it costs
These fees were correct when the
prospectus went to press in August
2013. Please always check our website
for the latest information.
Masters £4,930 for 1 year full-time
(at least 2 formal study days a week)
or 21 months part-time (1 formal
study day a week). Fees can be paid in
instalments of £480 pcm for the oneyear full-time course or £240 pcm
over 20 months for the part-time
course.
BA (Hons)/Foundation Degree £9,000
pa
For current HE students continuing
into their 3rd or BA Top up year the
fee for 2013/14 is £3,465.
The fee for part-time Higher
Education programmes is calculated
on a credit basis at a cost of £75 per
credit. For example a 10 credit module
would cost £750.
Level O £6000.
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How we’re going to help you make it happen
Funding your studies
If you study part-time…
Education is an investment for life, not only
financially but also personally and socially.
Having a degree improves your chances of
employment. Graduates earn more than nongraduates over their life span.
We want to make our courses accessible to
everyone and are developing part-time courses
based on evening and weekend study. And
remember:
You won’t have to pay up front for your tuition
fees, and you won’t have to pay back your loan
until you are earning over £21,000 a year. This
threshold figure is linked to inflation.
If you study full-time…
You may be entitled to a grant towards living
costs, such as food, accommodation and travel.
If your family income is below a certain level,
you will also be entitled to a partial grant. And
you won’t have to pay back any grants you
receive. For more information, please visit
www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance.
If you study full-time, you may be eligible for a
loan towards your livings costs. These are called
Maintenance Loans and are only repayable
when you are earning £21,000 a year.
• You will be eligible for a loan towards firstdegree tuition as long as you complete a
minimum of 25% of the full-time course load
per year. (Part-time students are not eligible
for Maintenance Loans or grants.)
• A National Scholarships Programme provides
£6,000 fee remission (you only pay £3,000) if
your household income is below £25,000. For
an application form, please contact Student
Support on 01752 203423.
• A College Prize Scheme provides three awards
each of £9,000 and £4,500 awards on the
basis of past academic achievement, portfolio
and presentation at interview. There is no
household earnings limit. For an application
form, please contact Student Support on
01752 203423.
Please see our website for up-to-date fee
information before you submit your UCAS
application. There are also details of discounts
for graduates of Plymouth College of Art, so call
us if you need help calculating or planning your
finances.
Call us on 01752 203434 if you need more
advice. Also please visit:
www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance
www.slc.co.uk www.ucas.com
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Making the living easy
Accommodation
We want to make sure you are comfortable,
happy and safe in your surroundings during
your studies.
As well as collecting information for you from
private landlords we also work closely with
UNITE whose purpose-built accommodation
provides a home to 42,000 students in the UK’s
bigger university cities. Our agreement with
UNITE means that most of our students can be
housed on the same floor of student buildings
and can mix and make friends easily.
Student support services
Our Student Hub offers a wide range of support
services, including advice and guidance on
funding, careers, learning and disability support
and health and wellbeing. For information on
extra financial help and support for disabled
students, please visit www.direct.gov.uk and
search Disabled Students Allowance. To chat to
someone on our team please contact us on
01752 203476.
UNITE owns and manages five properties in
Plymouth. Discovery Heights and Central Point
have secure fob-entry systems, on-site laundry
and are just a few minutes from the College.
If you choose private accommodation, we’ll give
you up-to-date information from a range of
letting agents in the City.
You can download an accommodation
information sheet for an overview of providers
and accommodation prices in Plymouth from
http://tinyurl.com/ozn6xnz
Don’t hesitate to get in touch to talk through
your options.
138
For her first year as a Contemporary Crafts
BA student, Natalie Franklin has been
living in a six-student unit at Discovery
Heights, one of the national student
accommodation provider, unite’s five
Plymouth properties. ‘It’s safe, friendly,
comfortable and right in the middle of a
great city,’ she says. ‘I was offered a range
of options, including sharing with two or
three or taking a studio apartment, and I
filled in a questionnaire about food and
drink preferences – so I feel well-matched
and secure. The reception staff are very
helpful and there’s an on-site security and
maintenance team. I chose the course for
its broad first year – I’m particularly
interested in glass.’
HE4-AUG27_Layout 1 08/09/2013 10:11 Page 139
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Where to find us
M4
Reading
London
Bristol
M3
M5
A303
Taunton
Exeter
A38
Plymouth
we are here
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Keeping in touch with us
Plymouth is the gateway to the South West.
Cornwall is just across the Sound, Dartmoor is a
few minutes drive and the beautiful beaches and
scenery of the South Hams and East Cornwall are
on the doorstep.
The city is served by a main First Great Western rail
link to London Paddington and by Cross Country
trains north to the Midlands and Scotland. There
are frequent local services to Newton Abbot,
Torbay, North Cornwall and North Devon.
Plymouth College of Art
Tavistock Place
Plymouth PL4 8AT
+44 (0)1752 203 434
[email protected]
www.plymouthart.ac.uk
@plymouthart
/PlymouthCollegeofArt
The M5 motorway from Bristol continues from
Exeter to Plymouth as the A38 Expressway, giving
uninterrupted motorway access to the city from
London, Wales, the North and Scotland.
Exeter airport is less than an hour away and there
are ferry services from the Plymouth International
Ferryport to France, Spain and Ireland.
Prospectus designed
by Julie Depledge and Kevin Mount
([email protected]).
Unless credited otherwise, the
photographs of students talking about
the College were taken by Kate Mount
during the 2013 summer term.
Cover shows artwork by Jamie Pearce.
Printed, bound in Plymouth by
Pepper Communications.
National Express coaches travel to Plymouth bus
station from many areas of the UK.
Disclaimer
At the time of production, the
information within this document is
believed to be a true and accurate record.
Every effort has been made to ensure
that the information is up to date and a
true reflection of the College. However,
some changes may have been made
since publication. We reserve the right
to make such changes for reasons of
operational efficiency and in response to
circumstances outside of our control.
This prospectus is a guide to the College
and in no way forms a contract between
the student and the College.
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Plymouth College of Art
Tavistock Place
Plymouth PL4 8AT
+44 (0)1752 203 434
[email protected]
www.plymouthart.ac.uk
think