Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Animation and Visual Effects

at Norwich University of the Arts United Kingdom

Building your creative and professional skills in a variety of techniques and approaches to illustration is at the heart of our well-regarded course at NUA.

Our BA (Hons) Illustration degree course has a reputation for challenging conventional thinking. We will help you to develop your personal style as your expertise grows in drawing, print, collage and multi-media.

You will explore visual storytelling and both digital and analogue image-making: from the page to the screen, to installations and interactive experiences.

Step towards an illustration career

Live projects, competitions and collaborations will offer work opportunities to prepare you for a successful career in illustration.

You will develop your own way of thinking about illustration, storytelling and the connection of images to text or the spoken word.

We will help with advice about working in the creative industries, including freelance careers, employment and entrepreneurship, and practical tips on handling commissions and negotiating with clients.

A supportive environment that encourages artistic innovation, exploration and debate awaits you on our MA Fine Art Masters degree course.

As a postgraduate student at NUA you’ll accelerate your artistic practice, exploring the role of the artist in society and testing your ideas against contemporary issues and critical debates.

Master your skills in a stimulating environment

You may choose to specialise in – or combine – areas including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, spatial and time based practice. You’ll master skills relevant to your artistic interests and you’ll be supported in the development of wider expertise, from exhibition and presentation to ethics and audience awareness.

Working alongside students from other postgraduate degree courses at NUA, you’ll be part of a community of artists, makers and visiting artists that forms a stimulating and active research environment.

Combine creative flair and technical skill on the MA Games Masters degree course at the UK’s Best Educational Institution (2017 TIGA Games Industry Awards).

As a postgraduate student at NUA you’ll collaborate with likeminded peers and be guided by subject specialist staff. You’ll enjoy interdisciplinary sessions with students from across our range of MA courses as you work towards your ambition of a career in the games industry or wider creative sector.

Refine your industry-ready skillset

Ensuring you graduate ready to meet the demands of a rapidly-evolving industry, this course will accelerate the development of your games design skillset.

Alongside broader research into the social, technical, economic and cultural context in which games are produced, you’ll specialise in one of three areas, following a clearly-defined path of study in Concept Art (and Sequential Narrative), Asset Production or Indie Development.

You will be making films from week one and set-ready by the time you graduate when you join our BA (Hons) Film and Moving Image Production degree, accredited by ScreenSkills.

We will encourage you to explore a variety of filmmaking mediums and platforms to become an accomplished and creative storyteller.

You’ll learn by doing as you become a flexible, multi-skilled collaborator with technical and craft skills highly-prized by industry.

You’ll explore how the production skills you use and creative choices you make can shape and change the story you are telling.

Take your practice to new heights, refine your technical skills and explore the cultural and historical context of your work on our Creative Skillset accredited MA Moving Image and Sound Masters degree course.

Challenge your audio-visual practice and strive for originality through experimentation with concepts, issues and materials relating to moving image and/or sound design.

Collaborate

As a postgraduate student at NUA you’ll join a community of practitioners and researchers with diverse specialisms, giving you valuable opportunities to work collaboratively as well as individually.

Through intensive study and comprehensive technical workshops, you’ll develop the practical and conceptual skills required to create original and innovative work to exacting professional standards.

Specialise

Depending on your specialism, you’ll have the chance to engage with a wide range of audio-visual methods. These include: 2D Digital; CGI and stop motion animation film and moving image production; motion graphics; scripting and narrative; pre-production and post-production skills and techniques; sound design.

However you choose to shape your study, you’ll graduate with a deeper understanding of your own practise and a broader appreciation of how to apply your skillset in a variety of professional settings.

Taking Year 0 at the beginning of your degree course will get your studies at Norwich University of the Arts off to a flying start. The extra year of study will help you explore creative ideas and begin to develop the practical skills, research techniques and ways of thinking that are essential to undergraduate success.

Our BA (Hons) Games Art and Design degree has an international reputation for producing graduates who excel in a constantly evolving industry. The Rookies ranked NUA in the global top 16 for Concept Art and Illustration and in the top 50 in its world rankings — thanks to the reputation of the Games course.

The course is a member of the Sony PlayStation First Academic Partnership Programme and is accredited by ScreenSkills and the games industry body TIGA, which also crowned NUA the best educational institution in 2017.

Our BSc (Hons) in User Experience Design is rooted in NUA’s traditional strength in graphic design, design thinking, and creative problem-solving.

The User Experience Design degree gives you the essential skills to become a successful UX designer – shaping how people engage with digital products and services.

Your learning will focus on applying user experience and digital design principles that are highly prized in today’s fast-changing design industry.

You will use industry-standard technologies and prototyping techniques to develop professional solutions for a range of contexts.

In each case, you will move from research to the creation of user journeys to the design of user experiences that work across multiple digital environments: from desktop to mobile.

Responding to one of the fasting growing sectors of the visual communications industry, this course will allow you to use design, problem solving, research and psychology to test and create better digital products and services.

You are curious about how design can influence human behaviour – guiding people’s actions and decisions.

You are eager to learn how to test your ideas and work through versions towards the most effective creative solution to whatever problem you’re trying to solve – whether you’re designing an app, website, or physical product.

You’ll learn research and analytical skills that will help you to understand how people react in the face of different design experiences online and in the physical world.

Your passion for exploring visual ideas and brand communication across all platforms will be at the heart of your time at NUA studying on our award-winning Graphic Communication course.

Our BA (Hons) Graphic Communication degree is closely aligned to industry and you will work on a wide variety of briefs set by staff, professional design agencies and external competitions.

You will engage in work that explores traditional formats as well as emerging digital technologies such as augmented and virtual reality. Your knowledge and skills will grow in branding, identity, advertising, motion graphics, interaction/UX design, whilst developing strong skills in creative thinking and ideas-led communication solutions.

Design solutions to real world problems

You’ll be challenged to engage with real-world problems, controversies and commercial briefs through research, design and technology.

Your original ideas are as likely to play out through an app, website or augmented reality experience as a printed poster, pamphlet or journal.

Develop the creative and technical skills behind the latest Hollywood blockbusters and learn from award-winning studio professionals on our BA (Hons) Animation and Visual Effects degree course.

Our Animation and Visual Effects degree reflects NUA’s success in both disciplines. Our approach to teaching visual effects evolved from advice from professional bodies like ScreenSkills and UK Screen Alliance and the majority of the UK’s VFX industry, including:

• Double Negative (DNEG)
• Framestore
• MPC
• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)
• The Mill.

We are part of Access:VFX – the industry’s initiative to create the widest possible pool of future talent and host a number of workshops and events with invited industry guests

Taking Year 0 at the beginning of your degree course will get your studies at Norwich University of the Arts off to a flying start. The extra year of study will help you explore creative ideas and begin to develop the practical skills, research techniques and ways of thinking that are essential to undergraduate success.

Experiment and explore the broad context and future of textile design at NUA as you develop your professional skills and personal style through commercial and creative briefs.

Our BA (Hons) Textile Design degree course will encourage you to try a range of techniques, from traditional processes to 21^st century technology; including:

• Screen-printing
• Weaving
• Knit, stitch and material explorations
• Digital design and making with industry-standard equipment.