Design (Jewellery and Metalwork) MA/MFA

Course description

If you are a highly motivated individual this course prepares you for a career working at the forefront of jewellery and metalwork. You build upon existing craft traditions, extending them in response to the needs of our rapidly changing society both in terms of function and style.

Your work on the course is project led and studio based. You develop and apply advanced skills using traditional and new technologies in the field. You also carry out research through practical and theoretical investigation.

Your individual project work includes research and creative work which explores your study topic. This is supported by lectures and seminars dealing with professional practice issues and reviewing progress. You also take part in regular group and individual tutorials.

This culminates with your final project that demonstrates you can deal with difficult contemporary questions and take a leading role in your profession as a designer.

There are opportunities to participate in study trips and visits to design conferences and debates.

Excellent facilities and creative resources

You have access to a huge range of creative resources to experiment and engage with including • 3D printing for rapid prototyping • state-of-the-art hardware and software • photography studios • a creative media centre • a gallery • well-equipped workshops.

You also have access to our award-winning learning centre featuring a specialist art, design and media library and extensive online resources.

Research-led expertise

We are one of the oldest established art and design institutions in the UK, renowned for producing internationally recognised research. Your projects are supported by lecturers who are reknowned specialists in jewellery and metalwork.

You benefit from a strong relationship between the masters design programme and the University’s Art and Design Research Centre which has gained international recognition for its work in both practice-based and strategic research. This has led to an approach to postgraduate study in design which emphasises the role of research in professional practice.

Vibrant and supportive learning environment

During the course you regularly take part in constructive critical debates about your own work and that of your peers. You need to communicate your research, ideas and designs in ways that are appropriate to professional leadership.

You study alongside MA and MFA Design students for part of your course and benefit from a vibrant, international, collaborative and supportive postgraduate environment.

Sheffield: an international centre for excellence in metalwork

Sheffield is famous not only for its innovative steel and tool industries but also for being at the leading edge of the design and production of contemporary metalwork, silversmithing and tableware.

MA and MFA study

MA and MFA students complete the same modules during the course except that MFA students complete an extra project module. The MFA project encourages you to develop professional skills that help you to identify, instigate, and deliver projects with external partners, such as communities, galleries or businesses. You find a project partner, agree a brief and then deliver the project to a professional standard.

We are normally asked to shortlist applicants before recommending a small number to apply. If this happens, we consider your interview, portfolio of work, academic qualifications and learning aims. We aim to pick people whose abilities and aims are relevant for the company and who are most likely to be successful in a competitive interview.

This course is part of the Sheffield Institute of Arts (SIA), an amazing, diverse community of makers – where staff, students and partners work as equals to deliver real innovation and creativity. SIA opened in 1843 and is one of the UK's oldest Art and Design Schools. We have recently moved into the Head Post Office, a redesigned Grade II listed building. It includes state-of-the-art workshops which provide you with a unique studio-based learning environment in the heart of the creative community.

Course structure

FULL-TIME STRUCTURE

Semester one

• project 1 • theory supporting practice

Semester two

• project 2 • negotiated project

Semester three

• major project

Semester four – MFA students only

• MFA project

PART-TIME STRUCTURE

Semester one (year 1)

• theory supporting practice • negotiated project

Semester two (year 2)

• project 1 • project 2

Semester three (year 3)

• major project

Semester four – MFA students only (year 4)

• MFA project

Assessment

Assessment and feedback are vital parts of the learning process in creative disciplines. Most assessment is through individual project work which combines research and creative practice.

Employability

There are many opportunities for employment or self-employment. We encourage you to take an enterprising approach and to strengthen your ability to develop your own business practice.

An increasing number of our graduates undertake further advanced study through research degrees (PhD) in the University’s Art and Design Research Centre, which has a leading position in the advancement of creative practice in design. Some of our graduates find employment in the University.

Sheffield is home to the largest concentration of creative production in the region. Support for creative industries in the city has encouraged home grown talent as well as practitioners relocating here.

Visit the Design (Jewellery and Metalwork) MA/MFA page on the Sheffield Hallam University website for more details!