Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Fashion Communication

at University of the West of England - Bristol - City Campus United Kingdom

This postgraduate degree has been co-designed by UWE academics and producers, directors and production managers from the BBC's world renowned Natural History Unit (NHU).

Bristol is the global capital of natural history programme making and the natural place to study for an MA in Wildlife Filmmaking. On this highly popular Masters course you will learn how to develop and pitch ideas, tell great stories and make intelligent and surprising programmes to captivate and engage audiences.

Our partnership with the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU) means that, alongside your studies, you will have incredible opportunities to network with professional wildlife film makers, attend talks, film festivals and other events around the city.

Our MA students graduate with the skills, experience and knowledge needed for entry level jobs in all areas of production from online to broadcast. Graduates now work for the BBC, Icon Films, Discovery, Tigress and other top production companies in the UK and overseas.

Why study this course?
The course is based at Bower Ashton, part of the City Campus, in the creative heart of Bristol. Bower has exceptional facilities and resources which include a news studio, TV studio and post production areas which offer the latest technology.

Be inspired by watching some of the Wildlife Filmmaking videos created by students on our Vimeo site.

Alum, Lindsey Parietti, won a student BAFTA for her powerful nature documentary Blood Island, a film created for this course. In this video she talks about what compelled her to tell the story, and the success that followed.

This course is affiliated with the leading professional body for photographers in the UK and beyond, the Association of Photographers.

Why study photography?

• Images are everywhere. Studying photography enables you to understand the language of images and develop your 'visual voice' to communicate effectively and with confidence.
• It helps you understand the contexts in which images exist and circulate, and locate opportunities to get your images published, exhibited and commissioned.
• Becoming a photography professional opens doors to a wide range of careers within a global landscape of creative industries.

Why UWE Bristol?

• BA(Hons) Photography is based in the city of Bristol, a vibrant arts and media community that will challenge and inspire you.
• The course offers a vibrant, collaborative environment, modern facilities, supportive workshop instruction and expert input, all underpinned by theory and critique.
• Study at Bower Ashton Studios, part of our City Campus, where exceptional facilities and resources include industry standard digital media studios.
• Explore traditional tools and the latest technology in our production and fabrication workshops. Develop your creativity and the high-level practical skills needed to become a successful photographer. Work across all areas of the discipline, from editorial and documentary to fashion, advertising and fine art.
• We'll encourage you to transform your broad-based photographic practice into an individual visual style. On graduation, you'll have a unique and compelling body of work for the marketplace.
• Work to briefs set and assessed by external individuals and organisations, including photographers, filmmakers, publishers, clothing labels, product designers, theatre groups, musicians and festivals. Build your CV with work experience, and access to job opportunities, throughout the course.  
• Our partnerships with Bristol Photography Festival and IC Visual Lab, two highly reputable Bristol-based photography organisations with national and international influence, will provide you with a wide range of work experience placements and live briefs to work on. You'll also have access to industry talks, events and opportunities to display your work at prestigious exhibitions and venues.

Where can it take me?

• Our graduates work in fields from editorial and fashion to movie stills and medical photography. Employers include the BBC, Sunday Times Magazine and the Tate.  
• Past students have assisted photographers such as Steve McCurry, Zed Nelson and Tim Walker, and have been published and exhibited in FT Weekend, Vogue Italia, Oh Comely, The Photographers Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and the Tate.
• Graduates have also established important collectives and exhibiting networks such as The Lost Light Recordings, Loupe Magazine and Splash and Grab.
• Some graduates go on to further study at Master's level, including our own postgraduate MA Photography programme

 Work alongside independent and BBC audio producers, and award-winning academics, to gain valuable experience, insights and contacts for your career in audio journalism.

Why study journalism (audio, docs and podcast)?

• Today's fast-moving digital age has opened up enticing opportunities for journalists wanting to work in audio and radio.
• Producers are needed to create high-quality programs for podcasts, radio and audio documentaries - and graduates specializing in this field will build a compelling set of skills to develop a highly versatile portfolio career.

Why UWE Bristol?

• Offered in partnership with the BBC, our MA Journalism (Audio, Docs and Podcast) is for graduates with a passion for radio, and an interest in journalism and audio documentary making.
• Working with award-winning audio producers, you'll learn to develop your own radio documentaries and podcasts, as you build experience of audio collection techniques, sound and recording, working in a studio and using digital editing software.
• Based at the arts-focused Bower Ashton studios, you'll be immersed in audio and radio for the digital age, putting your skills into practice, and delving into the cultural industry and its supply chain.
• There's a strong emphasis on developing your technical expertise, alongside the skills needed to compete as a producer, such as commissioning, pitching and getting your documentaries to air. You'll also gain useful online skills to develop your own websites and podcasts.
• You will build experience on placements in some of Bristol's most innovative cultural organizations, get to pitch your work to Radio 4 editors and work on your own projects with mentoring from industry.

Where can it take me?

• By the end of the course, you'll be equipped to secure audio journalism work on a freelance or staff basis, in production companies and post-production facilities. You could work as a broadcast assistant, junior researcher, production assistant or studio manager.

Learn to create garments, accessories and textile collections for fashion and interiors through sustainably driven and digitally-enabled design.

Why study fashion textiles?

• Fashion and textiles are the UK's largest creative industries and are internationally renowned for quality and innovation.
• Today's fashion and textile designers are exploring new forms and materials and rethinking what fashion can be.

Why UWE Bristol?

• BA(Hons) Fashion Textiles teaches you about fashion textile design: from designing and manufacturing fabrics through to garments and fashion related products.
• Discover the disciplines of fashion design and traditional craftsmanship by making garments, accessories and other fashion products. Translate your ideas from 2D to 3D by building your pattern-cutting skills throughout the course. Explore and develop concepts using technologies including digital print, digital embroidery and smart textiles.
• Tailor your degree to your creative strengths by specializing in fashion design, textile design or fashion textile futures, allowing you to develop a unique pathway and identify a career path that suits your ambitions.
• Learn from visiting industry experts in the studios. Work closely with industry partners on live briefs and competitions, to apply your learning and gain real-world experience.
• Engage with research as you develop your design practice.
• Professional practice is key to this course and there are placement and project opportunities every year to help you develop your professional skills. All students have the opportunity to undertake a year out in industry as part of the course.
• Showcase and sell your design work at high profile national and international events such as New Designers and Premier Vision in Paris, the world's largest fashion textile trade show.
• Our City Campus is a creative powerhouse. It spans Bristol and is made up of Bower Ashton and renowned contemporary arts centres Spike Island, Arnolfini and Watershed.
• Focusing on the avenues that most interest you, through your modules and assessments, you'll explore different career paths and graduate with the confidence and skills to succeed.  

Where can it take me?

• Our students go on to work in industry, develop enterprise opportunities or explore further research at the postgraduate level. Whatever you want to do, our team of subject and employability experts will support you.
• Many of our graduates go on to successful careers with high profile companies like Alexander McQueen, Matthew Williamson, All Saints, Cos and Victoria Beckham.
• Choose from roles such as fashion designer, textile designer, studio manager, art director, product developer, pattern cutter and materials research.
• Follow UWE Fashion on Instagram.
• Read about some of our successes:
• UWE Bristol launches 2020 Fashion Enterprise project
• Fashion Textiles students awarded prestigious bursaries
• Fashion Textiles student wins a UWE Bristol Enterprise 'Try It' Award
• Fashion Textiles student works with couture tailor to create range of masks
• Take a look at how our graduates are changing the future of fashion.
• Read how three of our former students won prestigious bursaries from The Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters.
• Have a look at some of our students' latest work in our 2019 Graduate Showcase, as well as our 2019 Yearbook and 2020 Yearbook. See more by watching the film.

Learn your craft from internationally renowned practitioners. We have partnerships with the region's animation industry - including Aardman Animations - and students have the opportunity to get feedback on their films from leading industry professionals.
Accreditations and partnerships:

This practice-led course brings together a diverse range of students, from established practitioners to those seeking a conversion course for a career in animation. Whether your aim is to be an independent animated filmmaker, a character animator, storyteller or designer - this course will support your goals.

You'll study both theoretical and contextual content, developing your understanding of the growing field of animation. You'll learn your craft from our staff team who all have extensive experience in the UK and international animation and media industries.

Bristol is recognised as a global centre for animation production, and you'll benefit from our local partnerships. We have industry links with many of the studios in the city and beyond, such as Aardman Animations

Why study this course?

• The course is based at Bower Ashton, part of our City Campus, where you'll have access to exceptional facilities and resources.
• Experience our state-of the-art technical centres, including 2D, CG and stop-motion animation studios. And build on your skill set by studying in our production and post-production studios, sound recording suites and printmaking and fabrication workshops.
• In your first term, you'll focus on ideas, design and storytelling that you'll apply to your own project work. So you'll be able to follow your interests from the start, tailoring your project to your career aspirations.
• Throughout the course, you'll choose from a range of technical workshops, including stop-motion, 2D digital and CG. This ensures you continually develop your artistic and technical skills.
• MA Animation is accredited by ScreenSkills, the UK's skills body for the screen industries, meaning you'll gain a recognised master's degree. This master's programme is also eligible for the BAFTA scholarship scheme.
• "We had a wonderful time studying at the Bristol School of Animation. We produced a great amount of work. From short films, collaborative projects to live briefs. We developed both our technical and conceptual skills, all thanks to the diversity and support of the course." Hend Esmat and Lamiaa Diab - MA Animation alumni.

Staff from The Centre for Fine Print Research form the key teaching team on MA Design. The CFPR is one of the country's leading university research centres in Art and Design, combining a multi-technology approach towards novel surface print, design and fabrication in 2 and 3 dimensions.

The broad and practice-based MA Design takes students on a creative journey where you will explore process, materials and context. You will challenge and extend your existing design practice at an advanced level whilst developing a range of artistic and practical skills.

The course is delivered through a series of project-based modules 'Make', 'Play' and 'Live', through which you will engage with real-world problems and issues of relevance to contemporary design practice and work towards the production of a physical object.

The course attracts a diverse range of practicing designers, makers and industry professionals from a range of disciplines, including but not exclusively: ceramics, fashion design, jewellery design, product design, lighting, fine art and architecture and equally broad ranging staff backgrounds in robotics, graphics, product design and fine art. You will work both independently and collaboratively, pushing boundaries and exchanging ideas across design disciplines.

Why study this course?
The course is based at Bower Ashton Campus, part of City Campus, where exceptional facilities and resources include state-of-the-art digital media, production and fabrication workshops offer a combination of traditional tools and the latest technology.

Explore the screen industry, tap into Bristol's vibrant creative sector, and build an excellent foundation for working on documentaries, feature films, TV and new platforms.

Why study screen business?

• The UK screen industry is booming, with companies like Netflix and Amazon investing huge amounts in creating original UK dramas and content.
• New platforms are also opening up new opportunities, and producers are needed to meet the ongoing demand for high-quality screen-based content in the digital space, animations and video games, as well as in TV and films.

Why UWE Bristol?

• MA Screen Business is firmly embedded in Bristol's vibrant creative sector and is delivered in partnership with Watershed, the leading film culture and digital media centre in the South West.
• Exploring the structure and operations that make up the contemporary global screen industries, you'll learn about areas such as production, distribution and exhibition, as well as the marketing and reception of film and TV.
• Studying this in Bristol, a UNESCO City of Film, means you'll be part of the city's rapidly expanding screen business sector, the third largest in the UK.
• Bristol is home to the BBC's world-famous Natural History Unit, Aardman Animations, the Bottle Yard Studios, and many leading independent production companies, as well as being one of two Channel 4 regional hubs, and the new production base for Netflix.
• The course draws on UWE Bristol's strong reputation in film studies and filmmaking, and the renowned research of our film and cultural studies staff.
• You'll learn about creative entrepreneurship and the practicalities of establishing yourself as a successful producer.
• There'll be opportunities to network with other future creative leaders, working alongside students on our other postgraduate screen courses.
• We hope to arrange a field trip to an international film festival, subject to Covid restrictions.
• Where possible, the course will include company visits and guest lectures by leading industry experts.

Where can it take me?

• You'll develop the skills to work on documentaries, feature films, TV and new platforms, as a production manager, line producer or production assistant.
• You could go into areas such as finance, distribution or exhibition in an established screen business, or set up your own start-up. Or progress onto further research or teaching.

Combine extensive practical experience with underlying theory and graduate confident, creative and ready for an exciting future as a performer.

Why study drama and acting?

• Contemporary acting is competitive. You need know your strengths as a performer and develop them to the highest level possible through practice and direction.
• When you audition for a role or drama school, you need to be able to demonstrate your range and ability in as little as three minutes.
• Being prepared isn't just about learning your lines, it's about choosing the right one and being ready for changes and questions on the day.
• Studying drama and acting prepares you for these challenges so you have the best chance to make an impression.

Why UWE Bristol?

• BA(Hons) Drama and Acting is for those who love performing live and appreciate a challenge. You'll develop your performance skills through core modules in acting for stage and screen, and physical theatre.
• Work closely with our supportive theatre community to share ideas and work as collectively on productions.
• Build your skills in all aspects of performing and gain plenty of practical experience.
• Play a part in Bristol's vibrant culture, with regular exchanges between the university and local theatre network. Get support to form your own theatre company, producing your own extra-curricular work and making the most of rehearsal and performance space.
• As an actor, you will devise and perform original pieces of theatre. Specialist workshops led by staff and industry professionals will give you the chance to develop skills such as auditioning for theatre, film and television, and you'll showcase your work at the New Performance Festival.
• City Campus is a creative powerhouse that spans the city of Bristol and is made up of Bower Ashton, Spike Island, Arnolfini and Watershed.
• BA(Hons) Drama and Acting is based at the City Campus, and uses theatres and specialist spaces at the Arnolfini and Bower Ashton Studios.
• Shaping the course towards the type of acting, or area of theatre making you're most interested in, you'll emerge as a confident and creative practitioner, ready to thrive in your career.
• Showcase your work to potential employers at the final year Creative Industries Degree Show and build an impressive portfolio of work.

Where can it take me?

• Graduate in a confident position for a career performing for theatre, television and film.
• You could also progress to further study with one of the country's prestigious theatre schools such as the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

This industry-led master's course offers you the opportunity to explore the politics, business and culture of immersive technologies. You will learn practical skills and develop your craft as a pioneering storyteller in virtual, augmented and extended realities.

MA Virtual and Extended Realities is an industry-led course designed to address increased demand for expertise in immersive storytelling. The course is open to passionate graduates who want to enter the radical world of virtual, augmented and extended reality production.

We welcome students from all disciplines and backgrounds, and are looking for people with ideas about how their unique perspective and diverse experiences can contribute to this young and fast-evolving industry.

Your background may be in journalism, filmmaking, experience design, education, marketing or theatre. Perhaps your specialism is in storytelling, software, sound design or circus.

Whatever you bring to the mix, this is a place for independent thinkers who thrive in experimental, collaborative and hands-on learning environments.

Why study this course?
Virtual and Extended Realities is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. There is a recognised shortage of graduates with the skills and experience needed to support transformation in every sector.

Why UWE Bristol?

• In this one-year, full time course, you'll combine theory and critical thinking with practical experimentation. Throughout the year, you'll learn from pioneering thought-leaders and work with internationally significant industry partners. This collaboration will allow you to create innovative work in virtual and extended realities.
• Previous partners include BBC R&D, Royal Opera House, English Institute of Sport and Ultraleap. You'll also benefit from the support of a personal mentor, hand-picked from our research and professional networks to support your development.

The course attracts a broad range of students from the UK, Europe and beyond, and is an exciting mixing pot for creative ideas and collaborative experience.
This creative and experimental MA in Graphic Arts brings together graphic designers, illustrators, and individuals from related industries to engage with communication design practice at a deeper level. You will research, investigate and debate the nature and dynamics of communication, and explore how they can produce meaningful outcomes using conventional and unconventional forms.

You will develop your design process: from creative strategies for generating ideas; gathering and analysing information; producing text; to producing final outcomes to industry standards. Skills development is embedded throughout and a vital re-skilling stage, a series of technical workshops delivered by experienced technical staff, ensures you are up-to-date and industry-ready.

Students value the experience and expertise of staff and the extensive, cutting-edge facilities and workshop areas covering digital and traditional print, media, film and animation, fabrication, photography, and apple mac suites.

This course is based on Bristol's historic waterfront at the Arnolfini. Situated above this internationally renowned centre for contemporary art you will be at the heart of Bristol's creative and cultural community, with access to UWE Bristol's City Campus and all it has to offer.