Masters Degrees (Creative Direction)

The term creative director originated in advertising agencies, but in the last few years has also become prevalent in the fashion and beauty industries. The role of creative director within fashion and beauty is multi-faceted and varied. Generally speaking, creative directors find themselves responsible for the creative direction and visual identity of a brand, publication, website or event.

Solent’s fashion and beauty programmes have strong links with industry, giving students the chance to work with experienced academics and industry professionals. Students can leverage these industry links when they are looking for work placements as part of the essential work-based learning unit.

Students also benefit from a programme of guest lectures throughout the course, with representatives from fashion, beauty, media, retail and other creative industries coming to campus and sharing their experiences. Recent events have included a guest lecture from professional makeup artist Laura Mercier, as well as visits from representatives of MAC, Illamasqua, Trendstop and Charles Fox.

The course culminates in a final major project, where students can either write a thesis or produce a major practical outcome. Students will have access to a wide range of industry-standard facilities in support of this project. Available facilities include photography studios; film studios; make-up studios; cameras; location lighting kits; ‘infinity cove’ studios and Mac suites with the latest industry software.

What does this course lead to?

The role of creative director has become prevalent in the fashion and beauty industries in recent years. Generally speaking, creative directors find themselves responsible for the creative direction and visual identity of a brand, publication, website or event.

Who is this course for?

This course is specifically aimed at those currently working in the fashion and beauty industry who are aspiring towards art direction. The course content is ideal for building knowledge in magazine publishing, event production, e-commerce and advertising.

What you will study

Year one

Research Methods

The research methods unit prepares students for their MA final project by equipping them with the skills and knowledge necessary to define a research project, select an appropriate methodological approach and investigate a key research topic utilising secondary and/or primary research.

Professional Practice

This unit will explore and critically analyse the fashion, beauty and creative industries around the world. The unit will equip students with advanced skills to enable them to research the industry they seek to work in and to critically analyse opportunities. Students will be supported to produce a professional development plan - key to this will be an element of work-based learning.

Concept Development

The primary focus of this unit is on developing the wide range of conceptual skills necessary to effectively and innovatively communicate to a consumer audience. This unit provides the opportunity to develop, in response to a range of set briefs, concepts for different outcomes (for example digital, film, print and fashion shows).

Technical Image Design Skills 

This unit covers the technical aspects of creative and art direction. Using a range of software students will focus on understanding technical specifications and design problems aligned to producing web, print and time based outcomes.

Masters Project

In this unit students will design, execute and present an individually demanding piece of work that deploys a systematic and in-depth understanding of the skills and debates relevant to their particular discipline of study. 

Facilities

Available facilities include photography studios; film studios; make-up studios; camera loans; location lighting kits; an ‘infinity cove’ facility; and Mac suites with the latest industry software.

We provide a stimulating learning environment and access to state-of-the-art resources to help you make the most of your time with us. Flexible spaces, Wi-Fi facilities and learning zones all contribute to our lively and contemporary study environment at Solent.

Your future

After graduation, students will be able to apply their knowledge to a range of areas within fashion and beauty including magazine publication, event production, e-commerce and advertising.

Graduates may find themselves working with fashion and beauty brands, magazines, retail businesses, media production companies or communications agencies.

Industry links

Industry professionals share their knowledge and experiences with students through guest presentations, lectures, one-to-one tutorials and portfolio-viewing workshops. 

Recent visiting lecturers have included: Caryn Franklin, Perry Curties, Iain R Webb, Wayne Johns, Bruce Smith, Ellen Rogers, Hannah Al-Shemmeri, Elaine Waldron, Maria Bonet and Richard Billingham.

The programme area and its staff have strong links with the industry, recently hosting a guest lecture from professional makeup artist Laura Mercier, as well as visits from representatives of MAC, Illamasqua, Trendstop and Charles Fox.

Placements

The professional practice unit has been specifically designed to equip master’s students with an in-depth knowledge of their chosen industry and to give them the insights required to plan their long-term career. Students will be supported as they produce reflective professional development plans.

Work-based learning is essential to student development. Students will be required to secure a work placement, freelance assignment or relevant work related experience in order to strengthen their knowledge and refine practical skills.

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Course Overview

​The MA Creative Writing at Cardiff Metropolitan University is taught by published writers and researchers. The course is aimed to support you while you develop and hone your critical and creative writing skills, particularly in the field of fiction. You can take our MA for professional development purposes, in order to enhance your career, and to increase your likelihood of publication. The MA will also help you specialise in the areas of creative practice and contemporary writing in order to pave the way for doctoral study.

We have expertise across a number of fields and our academic community is vibrant and dynamic with strong industry links. We have a focus on the contemporary that is underpinned with expertise in historical periods.

One of the great strengths of the programme is its flexibility. MA Creative Writing can be studied either full or part time. Modules can be taken individually, allowing you to control the pace and depth of your postgraduate study. Programme delivery is enhanced by the university's commitment to e-learning.

See the website https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/education/courses/Pages/Creative-Writing---MA.aspx

​Course Content​​

All of our modules are co​re and are delivered over one year full time or two years part time.

Term 1
- Researching Humanities
Researching Humanities will introduce you to research methods at MA level. The module provides a thorough breakdown of research methods across the fields of Creative Writing and English Literature. This module is taught across all of our MA Creative Writing and English Literature pathways and it is also a great opportunity for you to get to know your peers.

- Short Story Writing
Short Story Writing provides a thorough introduction to the short story. This is done through two distinct, but integrated, approaches: a critical analysis of the development of the short story, with particular focus on twentieth century and contemporary writing; and through the creative practice itself. Each week you'll be encouraged to explore key techniques and approaches in your own writing through writing workshops.

- New & Experimental Writing
In New and Experimental Writing you will encounter a range of transgressive texts from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Starting with the avant-garde, the module proceeds chronologically to the contemporary. We interrogate what it means to transgress aesthetic norms at various points in time and take into consideration historical and cultural context to consider whether there might be a connection between the challenging of literary and social standards. You will be able to approach these texts via a number of methodologies, including theoretical and creative.

Term 2
- Novel Writing
Novel Writing extends and deepens your engagement with fiction writing. The module provides you with a thorough introduction to the novel as a distinct fictional genre focussing on the contemporary. As well as examining key works, you'll also be working on your own creative practice. A key part of the module focuses on the preparation of your work for publication.

- Writing the City
In Writing the City you'll explore representations of urban space through set texts and in your own creative writing. In this module you’ll examine texts that explore the urban in literary fiction, particularly throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

- Critical Practice
Critical Practice prepares you for your dissertation through which you'll be able to submit a substantial body of creative work along with a contextualising critical commentary.

- Dissertation
The Dissertation module is your opportunity to create a portfolio of writing, such as a collection of short stories or an excerpt of a novel that you are working on. The creative work will be accompanied by a critical reflection in which you contextualise your writing within a critical framework and with reference to other texts.

Learning & Teaching​

​Most modules are taught through group workshops and seminars. Some modules will also include individual tutorials and the dissertation module is delivered entirely through one-to-one tutorials with your supervisor.

In workshops and seminars full use is made of University technology and course materials will be delivered and stored through our Virtual Learning Environment. It will be possible for you to access the Virtual Learning Environment remotely and you will be encouraged to do so.

Most modules are 20 or 30 credits although we also have a 10 credit module and the dissertation is worth 60 credits. In a 10 credit module you will receive 11 hours of timetabled teaching and you will be expected to conduct 89 hours of independent study. In a 20 credit module you will receive 22 hours of timetabled teaching and you will be expected to conduct 178 hours of independent study. In a 30 credit module you will receive 33 hours of timetabled teaching and you will be expected to conduct 267 hours of independent study. The 60 credit dissertation is mainly conducted with independent study. You will receive 6 hours of tutorial supervision (this includes supervisors looking over your work) and you will be expected to conduct 594 hours of independent study.

Each student is appointed a personal tutor who will be available for academic advice, pastoral support and personal development planning. Tutors also have weekly office hours.

A critical but supportive environment is achieved through a combination of workshops, research seminars and e-learning. You will be introduced to the practicalities of preparing and submitting your work for publication.

Assessment

We have a variety of approaches to assessment across the programme depending upon the module. All creative practice modules (Short Story Writing, Novel Writing, Dissertation) are assessed through portfolios of creative work and accompanying critical essays in which you are required to reflect on your creative practice and to contextualise your work with reference to other texts. These modules also include class-based formative peer-assessment in the form of writing workshops. These do not count towards your final grade but the sessions do help you grow and reflect as a critical and creative writer.

In some modules (New and Experimental Writing, Writing the City) you can choose your method of assessment (creative portfolio and critical essay, or essay, or reflection, for example).

In the introductory Researching the Humanities module you will be ask to produce a visual representation of a chosen research method, in the form of a poster. In other modules, such as Writing the City, you will be asked to post your work to a reflective blog.

Modules also make use of Virtual Learning Environments for assessments and you may be asked to view material online and then to respond to it.

You will receive tutor support in class and through our VLE in order to prepare you for each assessment point. We also have library facilities online and at campus.

Employability & Careers​

Many of our students use the course to generate and hone their own writing for publication. Our creative practice modules are designed with eventual publication in mind. For example, in our Novel Writing module you will be taught how to write a synopsis for submission to an agent or publisher. Several of our students have had publication success (see below).

The MA is also a great choice for those wishing to enhance their employment and professional opportunities in editorial and publishing careers. The programme is suitable for those who would like to become teachers of creative writing or who are already teachers. For example, teachers of English at ‘A’ Level and GCSE often find the course suitable for professional development purposes, providing them with skills to enhance their teaching of creative writing within their current curricula or skilling them up to deliver the new Creative Writing ‘A’ Level.

Our MA is appropriate for those who would like careers in community-based education and practice. The course also prepares you for further study at PhD level at Cardiff Metropolitan University and beyond.

This degree will encourage you to develop the valuable transferable skills of autonomy, effective collaboration, self-direction, organisation, initiative and adaptability that are highly regarded in the workplace.

Recent student publishing successes:
Barbara A Stensland (MA Creative Writing) writes a blog about living with MS that has recently been published as a book, Stumbling in Flats (2015). It has been shortlisted for The International Rubery Book Award 2015.

Emre Karatoprak (MA Creative Writing) had his first novel published on Amazon, Türbülans (2013).

Alex Sambrook (MA Creative Writing) had a short story shortlisted in the prestigious Bridport Short Story Competition (2012).

Stacey Taylor, (MA English & Creative Writing), won the It Started With a Kiss competition run by Authonomy in November 2011 with a 416 word flash fiction.

Find information on Scholarships here https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/scholarships

Find out how to apply here https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/howtoapply

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Course Overview

​MA English Literature & Creative Writing is a rewarding taught degree, combining the study of English Literature with the theoretical and practical component of fiction writing.

The MA is taught by published writers and researchers. The course is aimed to support you while you develop and hone your critical and creative writing skills, particularly in the field of fiction. You can take our MA for professional development purposes, in order to enhance your career and to increase your likelihood of publication. The MA will also help you specialise in the areas of creative practice as well as contemporary and historical literature in relation to place and space in order to pave the way for doctoral study.

We have expertise across a number of fields and our academic community is vibrant and dynamic with strong industry links.

The English Literature part of the degree analyses historic and contemporary textual representations of place, theorising cultural practices of location and space. The Creative Writing modules are specifically designed to develop you as a writer of fiction.

One of the great strengths of the programme is its flexibility. MA English Literature and Creative Writing can be studied either full or part time. Modules can be taken individually, allowing you to control the pace and depth of your postgraduate study. Programme delivery is enhanced by the university’s commitment to e-learning​.

See the website https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/education/courses/Pages/English-and-Creative-Writing---MA.aspx

Course Content​​

All of our modules are core and are delivered over one year full time or two years part time.
Term 1
- Researching Humanities
Researching Humanities will introduce you to research methods at MA level. The module provides a thorough breakdown of research methods across the fields of Creative Writing and English Literature. This module is taught across all of our MA Creative Writing and English Literature pathways and it is also a great opportunity for you to get to know your peers.

- Short Story Writing
Short Story Writing provides a thorough introduction to the short story. This is done through two distinct, but integrated, approaches: a critical analysis of the development of the short story, with particular focus on twentieth century and contemporary writing; and through the creative practice itself. Each week you'll be encouraged to explore key techniques and approaches in your own writing through writing workshops.

- Literature and Landscapes
In Literature and Landscapes, you’ll examine artistic and literary representations of landscape, and engage with the complex social, cultural and aesthetic factors that contribute to the formation of identity. The module provides a comparative foundation from which you’ll consider representations of the urban encountered in Writing the City.

Term 2
- Novel Writing
Novel Writing extends and deepens your engagement with fiction writing. The module provides you with a thorough introduction to the novel as a distinct fictional genre focussing on the contemporary. As well as examining key works, you'll also be working on your own creative practice. A key part of the module focuses on the preparation of your work for publication.

- Writing the City
In Writing the City you'll explore representations of urban space through set texts and in your own creative writing. In this module you’ll examine texts that explore the urban in literary fiction, particularly throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

- Critical Practice
Critical Practice prepares you for your dissertation through which you'll be able to submit a substantial body of creative work along with a contextualising critical commentary.

- Dissertation
The Dissertation module is your opportunity to create a portfolio of writing, such as a collection of short stories or an excerpt of a novel that you are working on. The creative work will be accompanied by a critical reflection in which you contextualise your writing within a critical framework and with reference to other texts.

Learning & Teaching​

​Most modules are taught through group workshops and seminars. Some modules will also include individual tutorials and the dissertation module is delivered entirely through one-to-one tutorials with your supervisor.

In workshops and seminars full use is made of University technology and course materials will be delivered and stored through our Virtual Learning Environment. It will be possible for you to access the Virtual Learning Environment remotely and you will be encouraged to do so.

Most modules are 20 or 30 credits although we also have a 10-credit module and the dissertation is worth 60 credits.

In a 10-credit module you will receive 11 hours of timetabled teaching and you will be expected to conduct 89 hours of independent study. In a 20-credit module you will receive 22 hours of timetabled teaching and you will be expected to conduct 178 hours of independent study. In a 30-credit module you will receive 33 hours of timetabled teaching and you will be expected to conduct 267 hours of independent study. The 60-credit dissertation is mainly conducted with independent study. You will receive 6 hours of tutorial supervision (this includes supervisors looking over your work) and you will be expected to conduct 594 hours of independent study.

Each student is appointed a personal tutor who will be available for academic advice, pastoral support and personal development planning. Tutors also have weekly office hours.

A critical but supportive environment is achieved through a combination of workshops, research seminars and e-learning. You will be introduced to the practicalities of preparing and submitting your work for possible publication.

Assessment

We have a variety of approaches to assessment across the programme depending upon the module. All creative practice modules (Short Story Writing, Novel Writing, Dissertation) are assessed through portfolios of creative work and accompanying critical essays in which you are required to reflect on your creative practice and to contextualise your work with reference to other texts. These modules also include class-based formative peer-assessment in the form of writing workshops. These do not count towards your final grade but the sessions do help you grow and reflect as a critical and creative writer.

In some modules (Writing the City) you can choose your method of assessment (creative portfolio and critical essay, or essay, or reflection, for example). In other modules (Literature and Landscapes) you will be asked to produce an essay.

In the introductory Researching the Humanities module you will be ask to produce a visual representation of a chosen research method, in the form of a poster. In other modules, such as Writing the City, you will be asked to post your work to a reflective blog.

Modules also make use of Virtual Learning Environments for assessments and you may be asked to view material online and then to respond to it.

You will receive tutor support in class and through our VLE in order to prepare you for each assessment point. We also have library facilities online and at campus.​

Employability & Careers​

Many of our students use the course to generate and hone their own writing for publication. Our creative practice modules are designed with eventual publication in mind. For example, in our Novel Writing module you will be taught how to write a synopsis for submission to an agent or publisher. Several of our students have had publication success (see below).

The MA is also a great choice for those wishing to enhance their employment and professional opportunities in editorial and publishing careers. The programme is suitable for those who would like to become teachers of English literature and creative writing as well as those who are already teachers. For example, teachers of English at ‘A’ Level and GCSE often find the course suitable for professional development purposes, providing them with skills to enhance their teaching of English literature creative writing within their current curricula or skilling them up to deliver the new Creative Writing ‘A’ Level.

Our MA is appropriate for those who would like careers in community-based education and practice. The course also prepares you for further study at PhD level at Cardiff Metropolitan University and beyond.

This degree will encourage you to develop the valuable transferable skills of autonomy, effective collaboration, self-direction, organisation, initiative and adaptability that are highly regarded in the workplace.

Recent student publishing successes:
Barbara A Stensland (MA Creative Writing) writes a blog about living with MS that has recently been published as a book, Stumbling in Flats (2015). It has been shortlisted for The International Rubery Book Award 2015.

Emre Karatoprak (MA Creative Writing) had his first novel published on Amazon, Türbülans (2013).

Alex Sambrook (MA Creative Writing) had a short story shortlisted in the prestigious Bridport Short Story Competition (2012).

​Stacey Taylor, (MA English & Creative Writing), won the It Started With a Kiss competition run by Authonomy in November 2011 with a 416 word flash fiction.

Find information on Scholarships here https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/scholarships

Find out how to apply here https://www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/howtoapply

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Why Surrey?

Our unique Creative Practices and Direction programme will develop your creative-practice and leadership skills through engagement with practice-oriented theory and new collaborations.

As a student of this programme, you will develop strong relationships with active professionals in your discipline and learn within a leading theatrical conservatoire that benefits from the intellectual stimulus of a major research-led university.

Programme overview

This unique programme is aimed at creative producers and directors and those who train and work with actors and performers to develop and direct their skills.

The programme offers three specialist pathways, including choreography and movement direction, directing, musical theatre creation, and you will also have the opportunity to develop a specialist practice within your chosen pathway.

The programme is primarily designed for graduates in drama, theatre and dance from universities and conservatoires, but will also appeal to those who have established themselves professionally and wish to refresh their skills and perspectives and take on leadership, coaching, creative or directing roles.

Programme structure

This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time over two academic years. It consists of eight taught modules and an Advanced Creative Practice module.

Students enter the MA Creative Practices and Direction to a specified pathway, personally supervised by their pathway leader, an expert in the subject area.

Example module listing

The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.

• Research Methods for Practice
• Integrated Practice
• Specialist Techniques & Performance
• Personal Profile Development
• Advanced Creative Practice
• Training the Performing Body
• Principles of Collaboration
• Physical Performance
• Technologies for Practice

Pathways

Movement Direction and Choreography pathway

Students on this pathway follow and practically investigate a number of techniques and ideas dealing with onstage physicality.

The focus is also on the development of movement language, through the investigation of the ideas and practices of seminal dance-based ideas (Laban, Bausch, Cunningham, Fosse, Graham, Horton, etc.) and methods for working with music and sound.

Directing pathway

This programme is a practice-led pathway incorporating methodologies and techniques that focus on approaches to theatre directing, dramaturgy, collaboration with other practitioners.

Musical Theatre Creation pathway

This pathway is designed for those who wish to study writing, and creative roles specifically in Musical Theatre. These might be as a director, choreographer, composer, librettist, musical director or creative producer.

Educational aims of the programme

• Provide advanced study and practice in creative leadership and direction in theatre-making and/or the training of theatre artists, specific to the pathway chosen
• Equip students for employment in the theatre industry and/or related performing arts industries as specialist practitioners in one of the following areas:

1. Directing
2. Movement Direction and Choreography
3. Musical Theatre Creation

• Provide students with integrated practical and theoretical knowledge of specialist creative and/or pedagogic practices relevant to their chosen pathway; contemporary technical and scholarly contexts; and industry-specific contexts
• Enable students to develop intellectual and practical skills to inform and articulate self-reflection and critical awareness, through specialist study and practice, and work with other students in cognate fields
• Develop critical and independent practitioners imbued with a sense of learning as a lifetime pursuit via a commitment to professional and personal development

Facilities, equipment and academic support

The School of Arts facilities include the 200-seat theatre in the Ivy Arts Centre, dark and light studios, digital creation stations and editing facilities, scenic, props and costume workshops, and interconnected sound recording and music facilities.

Teaching and workshop activity takes place largely in GSA’s dedicated rehearsal rooms, performance studios and design workshops. Lectures, presentations and seminars will occur in rooms across campus.

The University Library contains the majority of set texts, key journals, scripts, play texts and video materials necessary for the programme. Students have access to extensive facilities through the virtual learning environment, SurreyLearn, and IT Services.

Additional support is available in the Learning Resource Centre in the University Library.

Equipment is provided on a project-by-project basis according to the nature of the work in hand and the parameters of the project, which are negotiated with the tutor.

Facilities and equipment for production work will be booked by students according to specific project briefings and advertised resource parameters.

Academic support is provided by way of ongoing contact with the programme director and module leaders, group briefings and feedback, individual tutorials, and mentoring.

The programme makes use of a peer feedback system designed to provide a useful and supportive account of areas of strength and effectiveness, along with areas for improvement.

You are encouraged to identify personal learning and creative objectives that can be pursued in alignment with group project work.

Research

The School of Arts includes study in dance, digital arts, film, music, sound and theatre, with research activity in all areas, often with significant interdisciplinary connections.

With an integrated approach that comprises documentation, analysis and performance, Surrey’s agenda for research aims to engage critically with the past and present, while rigorously articulating new frameworks for understanding and practising the arts and culture in the twenty-first century.

Research infrastructure includes the Digital World Research Centre and the Laban Archive in the National Resource Centre for Dance (NRCD).

The School of Arts hosts and supports established research centres, research groupings and networks as well as individual research projects. Our research extends to partnerships with the artistic community, for instance, in support of public debates or in the dissemination of documentation for arts practice through the digital and print media.

Global opportunities

We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.

In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.

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Think you’ve got what it takes to succeed as a creative entrepreneur? Based in Southampton Solent University’s own on-campus creative agency, this master’s programme is ideally suited to savvy graduates who are looking to make their mark in the creative industries. If you have ever thought about setting up your own creative enterprise or working as a freelancer, this intensive course will help you develop the essential skills required to succeed.

The tutoring team on Southampton Solent University’s MA Creative Enterprise programme believe that the best way to learn freelance and enterprise skills is to get involved with real commercial projects.

Our established industry links and on-site creative agency provide students with access to these projects, where they will be expected to take full responsibility for managing the client, communicating successfully and delivering projects to budget. Past students have even had the opportunity to pitch for paid work as part of the course.

Taught portions of the course closely examine the creative economy, helping students to understand how the different sectors of the creative industry operate. Students also learn a range of strategic thinking and problem solving skills, building a set of transferable skills which will help them throughout their career.

What does this course lead to?

This course equips students to identify opportunities that are appropriate to their skillset and aspirations, helping them to take their existing creative skills and apply them in a commercial setting. This may take the form of in-house employment, freelance work, entrepreneurship - or a combination of the three.

The enterprise skills that students develop can be used throughout their careers and will help to maximise their employability. This includes a thorough understanding of how business is conducted within the creative industries and a toolkit of general business and enterprise skills.

Who is this course for?

This course is a must for entrepreneurial graduates or ambitious professionals who are keen to start their own creative enterprise or work as a freelancer in the creative industries.

What you will study

Year one

Core units

• Research Methods & Masters Project Proposal
• Masters Project
• The Creative Economy
• Strategic Thinking and Problem Solving
• Working in the Creative Industries

Facilities

Students have access to a range of facilities to suit their creative discipline, from printing presses and photography studios to animation suites and green-screen spaces. The University also offers a range of digital cameras, recording equipment, multi-camera studios, audio booths and an extensive media loans scheme. 

Solent is also home to a 24-hour library, modern IT facilities and a range of expert learning and employability support services.

Your future

Suitable occupations for graduates include:

• Creative freelance work
• Entrepreneurship within the creative industries
• In-house practice
• Agency account management
• Art direction
• Consultancy

There’s a chance of progression to further study, including a PhD, on successful completion of the course.

Industry links

Solent Creatives have excellent contacts with industry across a range of different sectors, having worked with over 800 business since it opened for business. These have included Marks & Spencer, Southampton Airport, Sodexo, Oxfam, the NHS and many small and medium sized organisations from the local area. Past projects have seen students filming live events, managing social media content, designing corporate brochures and organising charity fashion shows.  

Solent Creatives is also active in various networking groups including the JCI, Creative Network South and Hampshire Chamber of Commerce.

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The Advertising - Creative and Digital Strategy program addresses the high demand for creators in the digital field of advertising and marketing, which is growing faster than all other areas in this industry.

The Advertising - Creative and Digital Strategy graduate certificate program at the Story Arts Centre in Toronto, blends Centennial College's experience in advertising and digital media with our strengths in business and marketing. The program focuses on helping you create engaging digital experiences built on solid creative strategy. You become immersed in the digital field and learn the process required for developing breakthrough creative advertising campaigns.

Through your courses, you acquire the necessary skills in creative strategies, writing, developing creative concepts, art direction, collaboration, presenting skills and entrepreneurialism. During a field placement, which is part of the second semester, Creative and Digital Strategy students take part in team assignments, working in a collaborative environment that mimics the real world.

Further, you learn new technologies and platforms that keep you informed about recent innovations in the digital creative field.

The program focuses on five key areas:
-Creative strategy: to ensure advertising meets clients' business objectives
-Digital storytelling: to build on the power of storytelling in developing impactful creative advertising
-Brand engagement: to create strong connections with consumers
-Entrepreneurship: to foster key business skills that encourage innovation and risk-taking

Emerging platforms: to ensure you are up-to-date on the latest in digital technology impacting the advertising industry
In this program, you:
-Gain an understanding of the digital creation process from a creative director's point of view
-Learn how to craft a creative digital strategy that delivers results
-Develop a strong portfolio and case studies for prospective employers
-Enhance presentation skills to help sell ideas
-Understand the impact of technology on creative development
-Foster digital storytelling skills to bring brands to life online
-Analyze and solve business and marketing challenges for clients by applying innovative creative and digital techniques
-Complement in-class education with a field placement that will provide the opportunity to work in the industry and hone skills

Career Opportunities

Program Highlights
-This Creative and Digital Strategy program gives you the opportunity to turn a degree or diploma into an exciting career in a growing field in the advertising industry.
-You learn how to create digitally-centric creative portfolio pieces using current industry design and writing standards.
-Faculty members have extensive industry experience and can help you connect to the industry by tapping into their personal networks.
-The program is offered at the Story Arts Centre, which is about 15 minutes from most advertising and digital marketing agencies in Toronto.
-At the Story Arts Centre, there are numerous opportunities to collaborate with students in a range of other marketing and communications-focused programs to enhance the learning experience.

Career Outlook

-Digital art director
-Digital designer
-Digital writer
-Information architect
-Digital strategist
-Content strategist

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On this challenging, hands-on course designed by industry professionals, you'll create advertising from your very first week and become adept at communication through practical, studio-based learning. Simulating the advertising industry, you'll work in art director/copywriter partnerships to devise campaigns for real products in a wide range of media, resulting in a thorough and professional portfolio.

From idea conception to delivery, you’ll learn how to work to a client's brief and present your ideas effectively. As a member of Design & Art Direction (D&AD) – the industry's most influential body – the course gives you the opportunity to exhibit your work at the New Blood competition and meet key industry figures, whilst workshops and placements at top international agencies will equip you with the contacts and understanding to win the job you want after graduation.

Based on real agency briefs, you'll undertake the strategic planning, conceptual thinking and execution skills – visual and written – necessary to turn a business objective into an engaging, relevant, coherent campaign. Starting with 'traditional media' (posters, press, radio and TV), the course builds your capabilities to encompass the latest online and social media techniques needed to reach diverse target groups in a dynamic multimedia environment. Identifying and understanding the relevant target audience is critical to a successful campaign, so we'll encourage you to consider the impact of your work within ethical, economic, psychological and socio-political frameworks. You'll also gain the critical understanding which underpins the work of the mature, reflective, professional practitioner.

Students on the course win prestigious awards year after year, in industry competitions including D&AD and YCN.

MA Creative Advertising is a founder member of the D&AD university network.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) supports our intensive MA Creative Advertising course, which mirrors professional life in an agency creative department as closely as possible. By teaching you to think strategically and to write and art direct advertising across all media, we will help you to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence required for a successful career.

We regularly update a blog to give you a better feel for the course:

Web: MA Creative Advertising blog (http://theschoolofcommunicationdesign.wordpress.com/category/ma-creative-advertising/)

Visit the website https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/creativeadvertising

Building professional experience

A unique feature of the MA, our London Study Week puts you at the heart of the creative advertising industry, building knowledge and making contacts. What's more it will give you a vital and thorough grounding in agency structure and how it corresponds and responds to clients' business. We also visit a leading headhunter, who'll show you a variety of portfolios that demonstrate best practice in terms of creativity and winning jobs.

Our graduates are employed worldwide by agencies, media companies and in-house advertising units such as DDB, Wieden & Kennedy, BBH, the BBC, Saatchi & Saatchi, Havas Worldwide, Figtree, Ogilvy One, Dyson, VCCP, Mindshare, Leo Burnett, TBWA, Agency Republic, McCann-Erickson, Publicis and 180 Amsterdam.

To read about some of our recent student successes in the ad industry, see the section entitled Alumni Profiles.

How the course is taught

You'll be taught in small groups, through individual and team tutorials, seminars and workshops, supported by lectures from key figures in advertising and related media. The course replicates the experience of working in a typical full-service agency and your project work will be delivered within that context. As well as working individually, you'll work in copywriter/art director pairs and groups to strengthen your communication and negotiation skills. Our Virtual Learning Environment provides information to assist you with research and project work.

Course outline

This is a one-year, full-time course delivered over 45 weeks and divided into three 15-week study blocks:

- Study Blocks 1 & 2

Study Block 1 focuses on strategic thinking as the first step in fulfilling clients' briefs. If your specialism is art direction, you'll learn vital layout and typography skills, as well as developing your appreciation of photography, film, illustration and fine art, and their application to advertising. For copywriters, a range of practical projects will further your writing skills, helping you write in a clear, lively and visual style to stimulate your audience.

During London Study Week, we visit a number of major advertising agencies (see Building professional experience).

- Study Block 3

In Study Block 3, you'll produce a portfolio that will help your transition into this competitive industry. Working with a partner – copywriter or art director – your portfolio can include live projects negotiated with agencies and clients, supported and advised by the course team.

The course's practical elements are substantiated by theoretical studies in Visual Culture & Communication, where you'll research and analyse advertising within changing cultural contexts. The Applied Technology unit gives you hands-on IT training, including using software packages like InDesign, Photoshop, imaging, file conversion, typography and web development.

MA Creative Advertising course map (https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/sites/default/files/download/ma_creative_advertising_course_map_0.pdf)

Facilities

- Full IT facilities
- Course-specific computer suite
- Large Mac suite where most of the IT lectures take place

Assessment

- Assessment at the end of each study block
- Combination of visual, verbal and written assignments
- Final, external assessment takes place in September

Careers

Potential careers include:

- Copywriter, art director or creative director
- Strategic planner
- Marketing director, communications officer or event manager
- Web content producer
- Research and further education

Interview and selection process

Along with your application form you will need to send us at least three other pieces of creative work and answer the creative brief (below). Your creative work samples can be anything you feel is appropriate such as creative writing, photographs, videos, drawings, films, 3D work.

MA Creative Advertising creative brief (https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/sites/default/files/download/ma_creative_advertising_creative_brief_2015.pdf)

Once you have applied the course team will assess your application. If we think you have the potential to study at Falmouth we will invite you to an interview. We would really like to see you in person but we can hold a telephone interview if this is not possible. Where possible we like to interview at our postgraduate open days, but we do hold interviews throughout the year.

Find out how to apply here - https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/apply

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Advance your leadership skills and develop your business acumen in the creative industries.

Building on our 35-year experience of running one of the world's leading, triple-accredited MBA programmes, this Executive MBA can be studied online with attendance at four residential weeks over two years.

It is for busy professionals either already working in the creative sector or looking to make the transition into the sector, who wish to gain the strategic skills and knowledge required to respond to increased digitisation and globalisation.

To download brochure click here

https://www.ashridge.org.uk/lp/embac

The programme is designed and taught by Ashridge Executive Education with the expertise and contribution from two experienced industry partners: Creative Skillset and Atticus Education. An Advisory Board of senior executives from the creative industries including advertising, publishing, film and television provides extensive industry knowledge, experience and support for this qualification.

Credibility and expertise

This brand new Executive MBA is brought to you by triple-accredited Ashridge Business School. One of only 1% of business schools globally to be accredited by AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB, Ashridge provides the assurance of quality, credibility and relevance.

Creative Skillset http://creativeskillset.org/ is the UK-wide strategic skills body that works to ensure that the UK's creative industries have continued access now and in the future to the skills and talent they require. Their unrivalled knowledge of the creative industries has ensured that this Executive MBA is directly relevant and fills the skills gap in the need for strategic management expertise.
This qualification is also supported by an Advisory Board of industry experts. Find out more about our Advisory Board https://www.ashridge.org.uk/qualifications/executive-mba-for-the-creative-industries/faculty/advisory-board/

Who is it for?

Whether you are a freelancer, mid-career professional, business owner or entrepreneur, the Ashridge Executive MBA for the Creative Industries is a strategic programme for professionals wishing to lead, establish or grow their role and their business in the fast-paced, changing environment of the creative industries. To apply, you must have a minimum of 3 years’ work experience plus a Bachelor degree, or a minimum of 5 years’ work experience without a degree. English must be at IELTS 7.0 level or equivalent for those for whom English is not their first language. The Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is not mandatory but may be required in certain circumstances. Work experience in the creative industries is not essential, but you will need to be able to base your assignments on a relevant organization during the programme.

What will you learn?

This is a general MBA including all the main subjects of strategic management: marketing, finance, operations, leadership, strategy, global management, sustainability, economics and innovation. However, resources for each subject are tailored to ensure they are relevant to the creative industries. In addition, you can use your own organization as the basis for your learning and your assignments, to ensure direct relevance and practical application while you study. There are no exams, just assignments and a final business-based masters project, so your organization may even benefit from free consultancy! This is of particular value if you are looking for company sponsorship for your studies. The four residential weeks will include development of personal and leadership skills which are more effective when practiced face-to-face. While studying online, you will have the opportunity to interact with your tutor and your peers through discussion forums, privately and in the virtual classroom.

Flexibility and innovation

This is an online MBA that can be studied in your own time to fit around busy work schedules, especially important in the creative industries. The online study planner will outline the study schedule, key deadlines and dates for online interactive sessions. You will then be able to draw on the extensive online resources, including state-of-the-art video material from Atticus Education and access to the MBA Learning Zone and Virtual Ashridge. Here you will find numerous databases of thousands of articles, industry journals, company reports, and e-books which are all freely available to support your studies. Although focused around distance learning, you will be expected to attend four residential weeks, two per year, to gain the key soft skills required to support the academic elements of the MBA. Three of these weeks will be at Ashridge Business School, near London, UK and one will be outside of the UK.

Why gain an Executive MBA?

Here are some reasons why you might be looking to gain an Executive MBA qualification:

‌•Personal
‌•Career progression in your organisation
‌•Change career
‌•Start your own business
‌•Consolidate your experience.
‌•Professional
‌•To improve in a strategic role
‌•To move into a strategic role
‌•To move into general management from a specialist function
‌•To lead the business in a new direction.

Watch the videos from our current students and alumni to see why they chose to study for the Ashridge MB: https://www.ashridge.org.uk/qualifications/mba-executive-mba/participant-insights/

How to Apply

https://www.ashridge.org.uk/qualifications/executive-mba-for-the-creative-industries/apply/

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Do you have a passion for creative communication? Would you like to improve your employability within the advertising industry? This challenging master’s programme focuses on the development of hands-on creative advertising techniques, helping you to build a set of skills that you’ll use throughout your career. You’ll also develop a thorough understanding of relevant academic theory, exploring popular culture and the ways in which it is shaped by promotional media.

Southampton Solent University’s MA Creative Advertising curriculum focuses on industry relevant workplace skills, teaching students to function as part of a professional advertising business. These skills include idea generation, working to a brief, research, copywriting, strategy and presentation. Students will also complete a master’s project, which is an ideal opportunity to focus on the specific areas of advertising that interest them. For further details on the course’s academic content, please visit the ‘course content’ tab.

Students benefit from creative guidance throughout the course, receiving regular feedback from the tutoring team, other students and specially invited advertising professionals. This feedback helps students to craft a portfolio of commercially appealing work, and encourages them to reflect on their own creative process.

Advertising students at Southampton Solent may get their first taste of the industry by freelancing at Solent Creatives, an on-campus advertising and marketing agency that specialises in connecting students with business clients. This offers students the opportunity to gain work experience, create additional work for their portfolios and make industry contacts.

Students are encouraged to take on work experience throughout their studies. Advertising students have previously secured placements at Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann Erickson, EHS 4D, Chemistry Communications, B&Q, Channel 4 (Jersey) and Palmer Hargreaves.

What does this course lead to?

Following this course, you will be well placed for a variety of careers in national or international advertising agencies. Students will work on competition briefs for organisations such as the Design & Art Directors Association (D&AD) and the Young Creative Network (YCN).

Who is this course for?

Solent’s creative advertising master’s degree is ideally-suited to those looking to progress their career in the advertising industry. The course will help those looking to further develop their career by covering creative strategies, building a creative portfolio, and professional practice.

Facilities

We provide a stimulating learning environment and access to state-of-the-art resources to help you make the most of your time with us. Flexible spaces, Wi-Fi facilities and learning zones all contribute to our lively and contemporary study environment at Solent.

Students will have access to a range of specialist facilities throughout their studies. These include Mac computers, professional creative software, digital printing facilities and traditional printing presses.

Solent also provides a comprehensive media loans scheme, giving students access to high-end photographic equipment.

Your future

Suitable roles for graduates include:

• Copywriting
• Media buying
• Account management
• Art direction.

Industry links

Our experienced teaching team has strong links with high-profile professional bodies, enabling you to develop useful contacts in the advertising world and to meet key industry figures. 

You will be encouraged to complete work experience and we’ll help you to find a suitable placement, if possible at a top agency. Leading creative directors will be among those to critique your work, giving you valuable feedback.

Industry guest lectures, agency visits and careers events will help to boost your insight into the advertising industry and your network of contacts. 

You’ll also have the chance to develop your industry connections and freelance portfolio through real-world work for Solent Creatives, our in-house creative agency.

Placements

We’ll encourage you to complete work experience as part of the Professional Practice unit. Through this you’ll gain real-world experience of working in an agency environment, helping you to plan your future career. You’ll also have the chance to develop your industry connections and freelance portfolio through working for Solent Creatives, our in-house creative agency. Students are invited to pitch for work at Solent Creatives, our on-campus creative agency. These projects involve real businesses and are ideally suited for portfolio development.

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This innovative programme fuses design with the concepts and principles of advertising, allowing you to develop a range of skills to thrive in a fast-paced and competitive industry.

Taught by the School of Design and Leeds University Business School – one of the world’s top 100 business schools – you’ll take a creative approach to solving communication problems in advertising and branding. You’ll develop your own practice, collaborate with other designers and gain a deeper awareness of how design can convey a brand message, using a range of software and techniques.

At the same time, you’ll study ideas, research and theories in advertising to explore the strategic backdrop of brand communications from the blurring of markets to the ways in which digital technology, such as social media and mobile, have changed the relationship between brands and consumers.

You’ll mix creativity and innovation with advertising strategy to gain a valuable range of knowledge and skills.

Specialist facilities

We have plenty of facilities to help you make the most of your time at Leeds. You’ll be able to develop your practice in well-equipped studios and purpose-built computer clusters so you can build your skills on both PC and Mac. There’s also a computer-aided design (CAD) suite with access to the latest design software and some of the latest design technology, such as digital printing and laser cutting facilities, and colour analysis/prediction labs.

We also have an impressive range of resources you can use for research. We house the M&S Company Archive including documents, advertising, photos, films, clothing and merchandise from throughout Marks & Spencer’s history, offering a fascinating insight into the changing nature of branding and advertising over time.

Course content

You’ll begin to develop your understanding of advertising principles from the start of the programme, when you’ll study consumer behaviour and explore how brands can adopt these different theories to inform their marketing strategies.

Focusing on contemporary issues, you’ll look at the process of strategic marketing communications and how strategic marketing works on the global stage. At the same time, you’ll study practical design modules where you’ll learn to visualise creative communications ideas and present your proposals to clients, as well as considering how compelling text within an advertising concept can influence consumers.

In Semester 2 you’ll build on this foundation by exploring integrated communication, developing creative concepts that can work for a range of different media outlets, as well as the broader aspects of campaign planning, print, radio and TV ad production and the ethics of advertising campaigns.

You’ll think about reach, frequency and the often complex question of return on investment and even choose from specialist modules on topics such as social media, sales promotion, brand management and direct marketing.

At the end of the programme you’ll submit a substantial project that demonstrates the knowledge and skills that you’ve gained. You can either complete a dissertation – an independent research project on a related topic of your choice – or develop a communication campaign concept of your own.

Course structure

Compulsory modules

• Visual Communication 15 credits
• Persuasion 15 credits
• Integrated Communication 30 credits
• Consumer Behaviour 15 credits
• Marketing Communications 10 credits
• Advertising 15 credits
• Global Strategic Marketing 15 credits
• Media Planning and Strategy 15 credits

Optional modules

• Creative Direction 35 credits
• Dissertation - Advertising and Design 35 credits
• Brand Management and Corporate Identity 15 credits
• Sales Promotion and Sponsorship 15 credits
• Social Media Marketing 15 credits
• Direct, Digital and Interactive Marketing 15 credits

For more information on typical modules, read Advertising and Design MA in the course catalogue

Learning and teaching

We use a range of teaching methods that reflects the diversity of the programme, including lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical sessions, online learning and group sessions. Independent study is also an important element of this degree, since it allows you to develop your skills as well as your design specialisms.

Assessment

You’ll also be assessed by a variety of methods. Obviously these will include your own creative work as you develop campaign concepts in your taught design modules, but also presentations, reflective logs, reports, group projects and written assignments.

Career opportunities

This programme will equip you with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a dynamic and expanding sector.

You’ll be a confident strategist, planner, account executive or creative advertiser or designer who also understands the relationship between advertising, brand development and consumers. In addition, you’ll have important skills such as oral and written communication, presentations, research, analysis and commercial awareness.

We’ve designed the programme to prepare you for a range of opportunities working in the creative industries, traditional advertising and design agencies, digital and social media. Alternatively, you may want to explore different elements of advertising and design at PhD level.

Students from this programme have successfully gained employment at both traditional and non-traditional advertising agencies all over the world, and in a wide variety of roles including brand management, marketing and more.

Careers support

We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.

The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.

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*New for 2017, subject to final approval.

Creative Producers are in demand more than ever, as they are vital to the innovation and sustainability of the cultural industries. This MA Creative Producing programme is for producers at all stages of their career.

Through this postgraduate course in Creative Producing, we’ll teach you the core skills you need to get your work to market, as well as helping you develop industry contacts.

If you’re a new or early career producer, you’ll learn and develop skills to enhance your creative vision, artistic judgement, business skills and acumen. If you’re an established producer, you’ll be able to develop, evaluate and reflect on your own practice. In addition, you’ll expand your artistic and markets awareness by gaining insights into innovative artistic practices.

COURSE STRUCTURE

You’ll build on your current experience and artistic vision; exploring your creative ideas and judgement, alongside developing your entrepreneurial thinking.

We’ll equip you with the practical know-how to get your artistic ideas to an audience and sustain your practice. You’ll expand your professional knowledge, skills and networks in both areas of creativity and business, including:

• Leadership and collaboration with creative and technical teams
• Curating artistic material
• Project and company management and planning
• Budgeting and Finance management
• Fundraising and Funding strategy
• Audience development
• Marketing

MODULES

In the first trimester, we'll begin by giving you a context of the cultural industry you’ll be preparing to enter, along with insights into its theoretical and practical landscape. You’ll gain core skills to enhance your academic practice, whilst examining how the producer fits into collaborative team allowing you to reflect and explore your own professional identity and knowledge as a producer.

In the second trimester, you'll begin the collaborative model where you'll explore your artistic ideas and begin planning for your own project or production. To underpin your preparation for the planning and delivery of your project or production you’ll learn key skills that are essential for you, your ‘producers tool kit’ is a range of core elements that enables your creative and business practice as a producer.

The final trimester offers the framework for your independent work as a producer to be fully realised, you’ll embark on a major project of your choice to the completion of your MA.

For more information on modules, please go to the course webpage: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-creative-producing/

TEACHING METHODS

We combine academic study along with practical hands-on experience. Throughout the course you’ll apply and develop your producing expertise.

You’ll learn through a range of methods, including:

• Lectures by academics and industry guests
• Workshops
• Work-based learning via productions and working with industry collaborators
• Seminars
• Online information and forums

Your learning will be enhanced by one-to-one tutorials and personal supervision. You’ll also benefit from mentoring, peer support and collaborative learning.

ASSESSMENT

You’ll be assessed by a range of methods that include:

• Performance Project
• Proposal documents for funding, business plans, strategy or artistic ideas
• Research projects
• Presentations
• Viva voce
• Reflective learning and work-based reports or journals
• Project evaluations

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

The course is geared towards giving you the skills you need to develop a freelance career as a Creative Producer.

You’ll also be able to diversify your work, by developing skills in other areas. Through the course, you’ll gain transferable skills that will equip you to work in a range of areas including event and cultural management; cultural leading and strategy; artistic direction or management; leisure and tourism industry; fundraising; audience development; and marketing.

For more information on opportunities, please go to the course webpage: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-creative-producing/

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Digital Direction is a new 240-credit, 15-month Master’s programme starting in September 2017.

Digital Direction addresses media and storytelling in the digital era, assessing emerging issues associated with contemporary digital communication and the creative economy, training new creative leaders who are responsive to continually changing contexts, infrastructures and technologies and engendering a new wave of creative leadership. Graduates will develop a deep understanding of critical and experimental communication/media production, creation and design practices, and through applied innovation will address current and future contexts.

The programme prepares students to evolve and lead new approaches to media and storytelling through predictive innovation, enabled by rapidly changing cultural and industrial practices, plus uses of, and developments in, digital technologies. Centring on the interrelated domains of broadcasting, film and experience/brand, the programme addresses knowledge and skills gaps in four key areas of practice: production, direction, content development/making/writing and communication/digital media design.

The programme proposes new imperatives for storytelling in an age of alternative facts and fictions; challenges associated with multiple media forms and systems; and methods for engaging publics as audiences, users, consumers, (co-)creators, stakeholders and participants.

Established approaches to production, direction, content creation and communication/digital media design are transforming at an exponential rate, employing innovative forms of storytelling and narrative experience to engage audiences in new ways. The programme is informed by associated transformations in digital technologies, including the prevalence of post-broadcast models of On Demand media; the proliferation of networked forms of production and distribution; source- and platform-agnostic, multi-cast, multi-access and multi-layered, multi-linear media; cultures of openness and control; and the primacy of interactivity.

The programme acknowledges human adaptations to living with digital technologies. Contemporary media platforms are mobile, embedded in multiple types of environments, infrastructures and products, and user-controlled with an engagement in more democratic forms of content generation and curation. In parallel, core discrete professions within the media and communication design industries are being challenged and broadened by increasingly transdisciplinary requirements. .

The programme equips students with the knowledge, understanding and skills to engage productively with the creative, design and commercial demands of this emerging and rapidly evolving multi-platform and multi-layered world. To match, a transdisciplinary approach is demanded with a strong narrative sense and a honed instinct for communication. Our contemporary uses of new digital technologies have prompted a reconsideration of communication borders and different types of responsive modes; and content developers and distributors are, in turn, converging within an increasingly fluid space.

Traditional skill sets involving narration, scriptwriting, production design, direction, set design, casting, photography, filming, lighting, and sound recording, for example, are now increasingly accompanied and informed by hitherto unrelated practices such as coding and programming, interactive design, AI, cross-platform and cross-media integration (e.g. transmedia), data visualisation and analytics, visual design, gamification, virtual/augmented reality and social media. Digital Direction addresses the demands of this new world – for example, by enabling designer-directors to produce and create content for social videos with an accompanying strategy for ensuring delivery to their target audiences, including deployment of mechanisms for openness and input.

The programme draws on six key principles from the School of Communication – conceptualisation, experimentation, expression, information, contextualisation and interdisciplinarity – which are in turn supported and developed through strategic research clusters based on the broader themes of identity, experience and publishing.

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Introduction

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion is a one-year programme for fashion graduates, aiming to prepare sophisticated designers for the next stage of their careers. Created for International students, the course is now open to Home/EU applicants. You’ll specialise in Womenswear, Menswear, Fashion Design with Knit or Fashion Design with Textiles. The course has excellent rates of progression to leading postgraduate fashion courses including CSM - MA Fashion (Womenswear and Menswear) and MA Textiles Futures; RCA - MA Fashion (Womenswear, Menswear, Menswear Knit, Footwear and Accessories); Parsons, New York - MA Fashion (Womenswear and Menswear); LCF - MA Fashion (Womenswear, Menswear, Footwear and Accessories), MA Digital Fashion, MA Fashion Marketing; Chelsea - MA Textiles; Arnhem - MA Fashion (Womenswear); Goldsmiths - MA Design and Environment and Westminster University - MA Fashion.

Content

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion offers a one-year Higher Education programme for international and, for the first time in 2014, graduate students. It aims to produce mature and sophisticated designers equipped to work in and design for the international market.
The course offers students with a background in fashion design or a closely related discipline the opportunity to take a fresh view of their work and their creative direction.

The course’s learning and teaching philosophy emphasises creative freedom and offers you the opportunity to explore and experience London as an international fashion design centre and a rich resource for research, providing invaluable insights into progression to postgraduate study or employment in the International fashion industry.

The learning and teaching are project-based and offer you the freedom to experiment and find or re-define yourselves within a creative environment. The course emphasises breadth as well as depth of research and an innovative approach to design development.

The Graduate Diploma in Fashion begins with staff-directed and / or industry projects aiming to support you in identifying and further developing your strengths and addressing your weaknesses. This enables you to develop your work in consultation with staff on an ongoing basis.

Fundamental to the course is the commitment to support your creative development with appropriate design, technical (pattern cutting / garment construction) and professional skills to help you to take advantage of the benefits and challenges that studying in London provides.

Later projects are negotiated with course staff and self-directed, offering you the opportunity to demonstrate independent learning in the context of your final project.

The curriculum also introduces you to the potential of a range of different approaches to the visual communication and articulation of design ideas. Personal and professional development emphasises the skills and aptitudes required in designing for a specific market, researching and taking account of current trends and, in particular, the personal presentation skills required to support application for entry into postgraduate study and / or employment in the international fashion industry.

You leave the course with a portfolio and realised design work that will effectively support access to postgraduate study and / or entry into employment in the fashion industry.

Structure

Unit One

Diagnostic: Research and Creative Development:

Introduction / Induction
Portfolios (as submitted for application)
Design Inspiration Project
Design and Make Project
Industry Project
Muse Project
Portfolio Preparation
IT for Presentation
Research and Cultural Awareness
Fabric and Fibre Awareness

Unit Two

Final Project and Portfolio: Development and Resolution

Final Project Development
Final Project Realisation

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MA Fashion Art Direction will provide the opportunity for practice-based postgraduate study in the creation of innovative visual communication and imagery for fashion end use. Outcomes could be related to print and pattern design, promotion, marketing, branding, visual merchandising, art direction, illustration, publishing or pursuing further postgraduate study.

You will be encouraged to engage with contemporary fashion audiences through the creation of work that explores original approaches to product, concept and/or communication. Your work should demonstrate a keen sense of contextual awareness, knowing where the work fits in the world and how the world might affect it. The programme will emphasise the importance of being digitally articulate and you will be able to combine this with traditional media and design processes should you choose to. Collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches will be encouraged, as will engagement with the creative industries beyond the School of Art.

Design Network

Based in the heart of the School of Art, MA/MFA Design: Fashion Art Direction is part of an innovative design network — a community of staff and students exploring design ideas in a discursive, cross-disciplinary studio environment. Critically informed practical designers, the group works experimentally, inspired by new insights and possibilities.

While studying towards a particular qualification at MA/MFA level, students experience their subject in the broader context of contemporary design practice.

Specialist Environment

Dedicated spaces for the postgraduate community have been developed to enable the postgraduate community to flourish. These spaces, for thinking and practice, are located centrally within the School of Art, allowing easy access to an extensive range of workshops where the combination of traditional and state of the art equipment opens up a world of exciting possibilities.

Course Content

The MA Design: Fashion Art Direction is made up of four units totalling 180 credits.

The programme is designed to help you acclimatise to the challenges of MA level research and practice, enabling you to identify and describe a clear direction for your postgraduate design study.

You will be encouraged to develop design propositions that encompass key design issues and have complexity and ambition, taking full consideration of the relative contextual drivers.

You will also be encouraged and supported to extend your experience in the professional sphere either through a practical project, research context, exchange, work experience, or other negotiated professional set of interactions with an external partner, groups of students and creative industry.

Towards the end of the programme you will undertake a major project to consolidate your past research and practice into fully realised collections, pieces, proposals, business plans, or exhibitions – whatever means is appropriate to the work. You will also have developed a strategy for the continuation of your practice located and contextualised to the profession or discipline.

If you choose to progress to MFA Design: Fashion Art Direction award you will study a further two units of 60 credits each.

This route is focused on the continuation of your practice aligned to the research and selection of appropriate public or professional venues and platforms to disseminate a significant body of work. You will be required to produce work for a public audience in the most relevant and appropriate form along with any implicit publicity and dissemination material.

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MA Film & Television at Falmouth University reflects and interrogates the highly fluid nature of the contemporary screen media environment.

Our MA is distinguished from traditional courses in that it specifically addresses the diversity and crossover of today's film and television culture with the aim of producing adaptive thinkers and highly creative practitioners. Our academic focus engages and interrogates film and television's status in the 21st century, which is often defined in terms of the digital age and digital culture.

On the course you will be required to examine, interpret and contest the notion of digital culture historically, socially, politically and artistically through both your research and creative practice. You will interrogate the increasingly blurred boundaries between film and television, art and technology, production and consumption, with the outcome being a fracturing of traditional categorisations. We reflect an era in which screenwriters Aaron Sorkin (Newsroom, The West Wing) and Lena Dunham (Girls, Tiny Furniture) experiment with dialogue and narrative, while conceptual artists Sam Taylor-Wood (Nowhere Boy, Love You More) and Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Shame) have shifted from the art gallery to the cinema. Directors such as Ben Wheatley (A Field in England, Sightseers) and companies such as Curzon and Film4 are making use of multi-platform release schedules, and brands including HBO, Amazon and Netflix are shaping the very nature of not only what, but how, we watch. MA Film & Television understands this fundamentally shifting zeitgeist.

In examining industrial structure and visual form you will theorise the shifting dynamics of an age where anyone with a phone and a laptop has the ability to record, edit and disseminate visual projects. Such 'democratisation' has arguably made both creative uniqueness and clear industry pathways less discernable, but has provided a new and fruitful framework for those who have the ideas, talent, dedication and adaptability to embrace such immense transitional potential. However, despite these multitudinous transformations attributed to digital culture, the ethos of our MA contends that fundamental skills remain the basis of both sound academic work and creative practice. Rather than being fearful of what is to come, or nostalgic for the past, this course gives you the confidence to look at film and television critically, and acquire cutting edge creative skills in order to produce intelligent, innovative and inspirational visual work.

Our philosophy is one of flexibility, so you'll shape the curriculum around your own interests, whether in theory, creative practice, or a combination of the two. Drawn from the fundamentals of history, theory and criticism, our theoretical strand develops tomorrow's cineastes, cultural commentators, journalists and academics. This also underpins our approach to practice. The most successful film and television makers are students of their chosen medium, highly knowledgeable of historical legacy and social-political context. You'll not only learn how to develop, write, produce, shoot, record, direct and edit well, but why, philosophically and creatively, your ideas are worth being made.

Visit the website https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/film-television-ma

How the course is taught

Our passion is reflected both in the teaching and research track record of our academics, our industry connections and visiting speakers, and the quality of our film and television professionals. Crossing disciplinary areas such as cultural studies, sociology, journalism, English, philosophy and, of course, film and television studies, our MA offers academically-minded students comprehensive supervision and guidance for moving onto PhD research.

Industry and academic links

We have a strong visiting lecturer programme with recent guests including critics Dr Mark Kermode, Professor Linda Ruth Williams and Dr Will Brooker. Our practice tutors are active writers, producers, directors, editors, sound designers and cinematographers who create substantive work across all screen media. We have a wide range of contacts and industry specialists who contribute to the course, including Tony Grisoni (writer of Southcliffe, Red Riding, and How I Live Now), Mary Burke (producer of For Those in Peril, Berberian Sound Studio and The Midnight Beast), and James Henry (writer for Campus and Green Wing).

Falmouth University also recently hosted the Channel 4 Talent Day and we are active in developing work placements and internships for our students. We have sent many of students to Warp Films and TwoFour since 2009, and regularly update our webpages with work experience opportunities and jobs. Our graduates have proceeded to further study and jobs across the film and television industry, for HBO, Sky, ITV, Disney and have worked on major feature films, most recently including About Time (Richard Curtis, 2013) The World's End (Edgar Wright, 2013), The Double (Richard Ayoade, 2014) and Disney's forthcoming Cinderella (Kenneth Branagh, 2015). Falmouth University's MA in Film & Television is for students who to place themselves at the cutting edge of screen culture.

Course outline

The course is divided into three semesters of 15 weeks. Each semester offers the fundamentals vital to every academic and practitioner, and elective choices so you can shape your own learning.

What you'll do

- Study block 1
Foundation
The first semester consists of three core units, offering a diverse entry point to all aspects of the study of film and television, and the interrelationship of theory and practice:

Theorising Contemporary Film & Television Culture (Theory)

In this module you will explore the theoretical conceptualisations of film and television in the context of contemporary academic thought and popular discourse around the concept of digital culture. We will start from a point of questioning the multi-layered and contested effects of digital culture on film and television as discrete forms. You will consider the interrelationship and fusion between media in terms of production, distribution and exhibition examining the advent of new forms of representation and interaction. But we will also look at how traditional notion of film and television are being preserved and even being popular as a reaction to the effects of the digital. The module will also assess and interrogate the economic and technological developments of a more integrated and interactive media environment in terms of the cross-pollination of form and content, and socio-cultural effects on contemporary audiences.

Film & Television Industry Case Study (Theory/Practice)

In this module you will explore the industrial parameters of contemporary film and television based around the experience and expertise of current professionals. The module will utilise the School of Film & Television's many industry links to bring in guest speakers from the BBC, Channel 4, Sky, TwoFour Broadcast, Warp Films, Sheffield Doc Fest, Cornwall Film Festival, Doc Heads, BFI, Pinewood Studios, Dogbite and EngineHouse VFX. You will then have an opportunity to question these professionals about their respective sectors as a basis for a case study. Alternatively, you can investigate the sector/practitioner of your own choosing, with tutor support. The module will also contain workshops on the fundamentals of creative industry research and methodology. The module is designed so that you learn both the challenges and values of networking, and researching specific job roles and industry backgrounds in order to effectively plot your own career trajectory.

Creative Practices (Practice)

This module will engage you in the production workflow, focusing on how creative, professional and technical roles shape a final film or television project. Your weekly seminars and workshops will guide you through pre-production, production and post-production processes, enabling you to devise, develop and produce a short filmed project as part of a small crew of four to six students. You will, therefore, develop your technical skills and production practices in order to devise and deploy modes of creative practice which may include, but are not limited to, research and development, screenwriting, production management, producing, directing, cinematography, lighting, editing and the recording and design of sound.

- Study block 2
Specialisms
The second semester gives you the opportunity to specialise, choosing from a ranging of theory, practice or combination modules. Assessment of combination modules is either through an academic essay or a practice project. Potential optional modules include:

- Cultural Studies to Digital Sociology (Theory/Practice)
- Screen Futures (Theory/Practice)
- Globalisation in Film & Television (Theory/Practice)
- Factual Film & Television (Theory/Practice)
- Screenwriting for Film & Television (Theory/Practice)
- Work Placement (Theory/Practice)

- Study block 3
Expertise
Depending on your chosen specialism, in the third semester you'll produce either:

- Dissertation (Theory)
- Film & Production Portfolio (Theory/Practice)
- Conceptual Project (Theory/Practice)

Facilities

The purpose-built film school facilities include:

- 116-seat cinema, with Christie M Series HD projection (as used in Vue cinemas) and 7.2 surround sound

- Equipment store with a range of Blackmagic, Red, Panasonic, JVC, GoPro, Canon DSLR and C100 cameras and lenses, jibs, tracks and dollies

- Digital production suites equipped with Final Draft (screenwriting), Movie Magic (production management) and a range of edit software, including Adobe Creative Cloud/Suite, Final Cut and AVID

- Avid Unity MediaNetwork Edit server

- Recording and sound edit studios equipped with Pro Tools audio editing and Foley traps

- 14x8m TV studio with three studio cameras, full gallery facility, Chromatte grey screen, blue/green screen and full lighting rig

- Centroid 3D (Pinewood-networked) Motion Capture studio/research lab

- Virtual Studio using the latest technology

- 23,500-title TV and film library

Experience you'll get

- Highly flexible, student-focused curriculum

- Mentoring with industry professionals

- Opportunities for placement and work experience

- Creative environment for collaboration

- Using industry-standard software

- A vibrant visiting speaker programme

- Student experience-centred ethos

Assessment

- Continuous assessment with no formal examinations
- Core theory based on written assignments
- Core practice assessed on visual project and accompanying portfolios
- Elective modules all with theory/practice options
- Dissertation and/or major project in final semester

Careers

- Research, teaching or postgraduate study in art/humanities subject areas

- All technical/creative roles linked with direction, production, cinematography, editing, sound, lighting; writing for the screen; film and television criticism; research for film and TV

- Film and TV marketing, distribution and sales – digital and social media content/distribution

- Film festival and arts curatorship – media-based project management

Find out how to apply here - https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/apply

Visiting Us

We hold open days throughout the year so you can meet current students and staff, view our campuses and facilities, and find out more about studying at Falmouth.

Find out more - https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/open-days

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