Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Costume

at Arts University Bournemouth United Kingdom

This two-year, studio-based course, is the second part of the three-part qualification in becoming an architect. This design-based professional qualification, accredited by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Architects Registration Board (ARB).

You’ll work alongside fellow makers, collaborators, and enablers who have come from different schools around the world; you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate across the arts. The course philosophy has many connections and develops on from the four key issues identified in the BA (Hons) Architecture (ARB/RIBA part 1).

This course takes its approach from the context of the ‘shared studio-based arts university’ where all courses are making. This philosophy is applied throughout the taught units by emphasising the role of drawing, models and texts in the making of architecture; the things we make – to think about the things we make.

As a student you’ll be asked to develop projects with strong narratives commenting on current social, cultural and environmental issues. In each unit you’re encouraged to give architectural expression to your own personal views and visions, whilst aiming to produce tangible propositions, mindful of how they might be realised.

Studio Culture

The studio is both professional and exploratory. This educational experience is grounded in a strong studio culture of making and thinking, supported by regular lectures by practitioners, seminars and reviews.

The studio generates an atmosphere in which open, critical and reflective practice supports exploration and risk-taking where we test, discuss and present ideas. We’re particularly focused in delivering studio-based and student-centred learning environment.

We offer shared facilities such as the workshop, fab-labs, the print room and the Drawing Studio.

Personal, Professional and Ecological Development

The course will support your personal development towards a creative contribution to architecture and the wider world after graduation. The final Thesis Design year gives you the opportunity to develop your own research design project that integrates making and collaboration through an ecological narrative.

On this course, you’ll gain practical skills and explore the thinking behind fashion branding and communication. You’ll create image and film, and develop visual identities using the latest creative software. We’ll also teach you the theory behind everything from creating a narrative for an image to building a global brand identity.

Great fashion communication comes about through collaboration. In AUB’s creative community, you’ll have the chance to do just that. You’ll be introduced to, and work with, students on other BA (Hons) courses, including Fashion, Commercial Photography, Textiles, Film Production and Make-up for Media and Performance, so the opportunities are limitless to apply your skills and collaborate.

According to the British Fashion Council, the UK Fashion Industry supports 797,000 jobs. With a degree from AUB, you will also make your own unique mark in this exciting space.

We’ve recently been awarded Gold by the TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework).

Our teaching staff are exceptional. They're inspiring teachers, industry practitioners, technicians and researchers who are here to support you with your studies and help you to achieve outstanding outcomes.

Make-Up for Media and Performance gives you the skills that you need to play a key creative role in performance, fashion, film or television.

Our recent graduates have worked on BBC and ITV productions (such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coronation Street, Casualty, Granchester and The Durrells), films (such as Beauty and the Beast), theatre productions at the Royal Shakespeare Company, musicals (such as Wicked, The King and I, Matilda and Priscilla Queen of the Desert), and at Leavesden Warner Brothers and Pinewood Studios.

The make-up artist is an important member of any production team and you’ll have the chance to work with students who are studying Acting, Film Production, Costume and Performance Design, Commercial Photography, Visual Effects, Fashion and Fashion Branding and Communication to create ‘live’ collaborative projects. On this course, you’ll learn a diverse range of make-up skills. You’ll study make-up and hair design for drama, ballet, opera and music. A different perspective will give you the skills for fashion and photography shoots. You’ll also construct wigs and hairpieces, and create prosthetic make-up FX for film and television. In short, you’ll develop skills that are a real asset to a wide range of performance industries, from theatre to TV, and from the music business to the world of fashion and film.

MA Photography course is a balance of art and commerce and is founded on the assertion that photography is a powerful form of communication that potentially connects with an audience of millions.

The course offers the opportunity to make professional work within, or crossing genres, whether it’s for publication, or the gallery. What defines it as professional, is that it is conceived and created with a specific audience in mind and is conscious of how meaning is affected by socio-political criteria.

The course is designed for ambitious photography graduates, or experienced photographers who wish to develop their knowledge and expertise in order to reach the very top of their field. We look for students with a passion for the subject and who are willing to take risks, and in doing so, push themselves to new heights.

Our course is designed to develop your individual pathway into this burgeoning sector of the creative and cultural industries. Events don’t just happen. Festivals, celebrations, exhibitions, pop-up events and multi-media events need creative, energetic and well-organised people to make them a reality. On this course, you’ll develop the skills and knowledge to conceive, plan and manage successful creative events.

Events are the product of teamwork involving people from a wide range of backgrounds and interests working together. A unique aspect of this course is that you’ll work with fellow students each year to devise and deliver a live event. You’ll discover and develop your own specialist interests and have the satisfaction of seeing the events you organise go ‘live’ in front of an audience.

Our work placement unit in the second year allows you to put these skills into practice in an industry setting. You’ll be surrounded by a wealth of creative talent and will have the opportunity to work with creative practitioners and external clients in the events world.

You’ll also learn how the events industry operates, and will develop skills in digital technology and business planning. Our graduates have gone on to use their skills in organisation, management, and marketing in festival production companies and in many of the top digital businesses, such as Spotify. They also work in multi-platform marketing and events companies, fashion businesses, world-class museums, and leading charities. Through theory, technique and practice, we’ll help you to develop as a successful creative events manager, with plenty to offer the arts and creative industries.

In our dynamic studio environments, you’ll learn to experiment, test and develop your illustration practice. You can explore drawing, painting, sewing and printmaking, as well as photographic, digital, moving image and interactive media.

Our BA (Hons) Acting course will appeal to you if you're passionate about pursuing a performance career. You’ll have plenty of professional and technical support and we encourage you to experiment and work collaboratively with other students on your own projects.

MA Fine Art represents an exciting opportunity for students to challenge and build on their previous achievements and to study at an advanced level. Students deepen their knowledge and their ability to focus on their chosen field in relation to the key aspects that inform it.

Set within a community and culture of makers, students engage in dialogue and debate with their peers, both within and across MA pathways.

This experience provides dynamic and interactive sessions, which are vital to the enhancement and testing of new thinking and ideas generation as well as offering the broadest available critical arena for discussion of student work.

MA Historical Costume engages you in the potential of performance design and garment construction to explore complex ideas; some of which could stray into other areas of artistic experimentation. Students may come to the course with a background in costume, fashion, textiles or theatre/performance design or you may have studied subjects from across the humanities including arts and performance.

This master’s program supports and encourages you to investigate individual practice within an interdisciplinary framework, whilst developing a critical theoretical context for your work. The very special and unique nature of course delivery, through shared lectures, seminars, critiques and tutorials encourages both a ‘freewheeling’ atmosphere as well as an intense immersion in creative practice.

Whether you are interested in looking at historical influences or current socio-political issues related to dress, you will challenge the context of your study in design or historical costume construction within the broader framework of contemporary practice.

Design problems will be addressed through applying a process of systematically interrogating design practice; using design methods to analyse and comprehend situations and behaviour and generating alternative and novel, even experimental solutions. Research is the fundamental driver for creative thinking and innovation to be developed through a specific individual and critical approach to reflective enquiry and practice.

Closely aligned with the AUB Innovation Studio and supported by partners in the design industry, live projects and business and entrepreneurship will be an integral element of your study.