Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours)

at Otago Polytechnic - Dunedin Campus New Zealand

Whatever kind of career you want to have across photography, video or film – we’ll support you to become industry-ready; developing a portfolio full of your best practice, experience and digital content so you can hit-the-ground-running when you graduate.   

With a focus on self-initiated projects, entrepreneurship and live briefs from real clients, this is basically a mentored beginning to work.

As well as technical photographic skills, we’ll teach you the essential professional and business skills you’ll need to get your practice up-and-running commercially.

IT is problem solving. Trouble shooting. Critical thinking. Creating. Designing. Building. It’s working alone or working with people.

This is an applied degree so you’ll learn by doing. You’ll gain the skills and practical knowledge to go straight into a job when you graduate.

Sewing skills aren't essential, as long as you're into fashion, you're creative, a hard worker and a risk taker. Our graduates have gone on to work for internationally-acclaimed designers.

This leading fashion degree is recognised for its international opportunities, industry connections and the chance to develop your style and identity as a designer.

The program is hands-on and reflects current industry practice. You'll develop your advanced design and technical skills, extend your market knowledge and explore enterprise opportunities.

Become a construction professional and help realize commercial and residential construction projects.

The New Zealand Diploma in Construction is recognized by employers and industrial, academic, and professional bodies - so when you graduate you'll be highly competent and industry-ready.
Quantity Surveyors and Construction Management professionals work with clients, architects, engineers, consultants, and local authorities to complete construction projects.

Construction Managers

Construction Management focus on planning and managing time, resources, quality and health and safety. They are less focused on financial management than quantity surveyors.

This degree will teach you how to become a creative maker, thinker and active agent in a local, national and global context. A qualification in the Visual Arts will allow you to find employment in a diverse range of professions such as practising artist, curator, art educator or researcher. A variety of roles within the digital and film industries would also be possible.

Gain technical, academic and personal skills which will be transferable to a wide variety of fields including education, design, management and marketing. This qualification provides a perfect bridge into further learning as you select from a range of subjects initially and then move into full specialisation, focusing your talents in your chosen field.

During this hands-on degree, you'll learn to tell stories through still and moving image, text and interactive media. You'll develop industry-ready skills and use project-based learning to apply them to community- and client-driven projects that have a focus on positive social and environmental change.

Specialise in:

• Graphic design and typography
• Illustration, animation and character design
• UX for game design
• Visual design for games
• 3D modelling and world building
• Game narratives and interactive fiction
• Web design and mobile app design
• Film and photography, or
• Social media content design and strategy.

There is also an increasing demand for those professionals to hold higher level qualifications. Applicants for these roles are therefore at a considerable advantage with a postgraduate qualification and there is a strong emphasis within this program on application of knowledge and development capabilities in business management or business information systems.

Flexibility within this qualification will also enable aspirations to be matched/targeted to specific employment opportunities.  

Learners will extend and deepen their knowledge and understanding of current management capabilities and issues in a range of applied settings through experiential learning strategies and reflective practice.

This program has an emphasis on exploration and experimentation. You will develop individual projects which study ceramics as a medium with its own formal language, skills and history, within a broader context of fine arts and crafts.  

Successful completion of this program could lead to you becoming a successful practising artist, with the ability to understand and use your creativity to contribute significantly to your community.

This Master of Visual Arts qualification may lead to higher level employment opportunities in the arts sector. Gain transferable skills that are highly valued in a huge variety of industries including education, art and design, arts management, editorial and curatorial practices.

Enjoy the chance to develop and present mastery of the professional, conceptual and technical skills relevant to your chosen field in the production of an original, independently-developed exhibition and associated writings.

All business organisations need highly capable and competent members of a team who demonstrate the potential to lead staff, ensure targets align with strategic objectives, manage projects, and contribute to business planning to achieve high performance and productivity. Amongst other things, you will learn how to lead others to implement activities that lead to high productivity, manage projects within scope, resources and time, and develop a positive workplace culture and team engagement.

Graduates of the Leadership and Management strand will have the skills and knowledge to work.