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3D Design: Idea Material Object
Craft Practice: Design Process
If you have a passion for making and an ambition to delight, amuse and intrigue, our interdisciplinary course will give you a unique opportunity to explore craft practice and design process. Creating objects using a range of hand and digital techniques we have facilities to build, mould, machine form and digitally create shapes, equipment to take drawn decorative designs onto surfaces, and processes to cut them into hard materials or to 3D print. Using a range of media including; ceramic, textile, wood, resin, glass, metal, and plastic you will be encouraged bring your ideas to fruition.
For more information about this course please visit the Bath School of Art and Design website.
The course will help you to develop your own individual area of practice in which you may ultimately choose to focus on a specific material, such as ceramics, explore in depth processes such as laser cutting, or you may continue with a variety of approaches combining multiple materials and techniques. Through this exploration you will define your own area of specialism and develop an individual career path as designer-maker, artist, in-house designer, gallery owner, curator, or entrepreneur.
Outcomes will encompass one off craft artefacts and bespoke solutions through to batch produced objects, across areas such as lighting, tableware, furniture and product; domestic and commercial, interior and exterior.
Expanding digital cultures and new types of craft production and consumption require a new type of thinking about the role of designer and maker. You will learn to make use of web enabled collaboration, manufacture, and distribution, to balance the needs of the consumer with the wider issues of ecology and sustainability. Studio based modules are supported with studies on critical and historical contexts for craft and design, whilst visiting lecturers provide valuable industry perspectives and an insight into contemporary practice.
For regular updates please view our course website or visit our Facebook page.
Course Structure and Content
Year 1 will develop your creative instincts through exploration of the qualities of different materials and making processes, including methods of digital manufacture. Through drawing, photography, experimentation with materials and exploration of computer based processes you will begin to identify your own individual area of practice creating new ideas and concepts both drawn and made.
Year 2 will expand your personal making practice, introducing collaborative and live projects with external partners or design businesses, you may undertake work experience and placements. You will also be introduced to marketing and promotional skills, including building narratives in your work and exploring outcomes through photography, publishing, exhibiting and web presence.
Year 3 will define your own area of practice, audience and market. You will be producing a body of physical artefacts alongside a combination of visual and written work. We expect your final project work to be at a professional level, and you will be encouraged and supported to display at national and international design show venues.
Teaching Methods and Resources
From a predominately studio based environment you will undertake a range modules with access to a wide range of exciting facilities in the School stretching across disciplines and boundaries. You will be able to explore and develop your skills using hand operated craft equipment and high-spec digital software and machinery.
Throughout all levels you will undertake Contextual Studies to examine the critical and theoretical frameworks that underpin and inform your practice. Studio based modules are supported with studies on critical and historical contexts for craft and design, whilst visiting lecturers provide valuable industry perspectives and an insight into contemporary practice.
Career Opportunities
We’re looking for people with a passion, not just portfolios, we want to meet you and talk about your interests as well as see examples of your work. You may not be able to demonstrate all the skills required but our course can help you acquire these and encourage you bring your ideas to fruition, to develop your individual career path as designer-maker, artist, in-house designer, gallery owner, curator, or entrepreneur.
We have strong contacts with both the Crafts Council and Design Council. Our students have been very successful at the graduate design show New Designers and staff, students and alumni have exhibited at the best international design and craft shows including 100% Design, Origin, Tent, Dutch Design Week, Maison-Objet and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in NY.
Typical Offers
Standard Art and Design requirements.
A folder of art and design work, plus 3D work as appropriate.
