Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Digital Media and Communications

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

The MA in Graphic Design & Art Direction program is designed for creative practitioners who wish to advance their knowledge, skills and specialism within the field of visual communication.

Each student will develop a practice-led investigation within this broader context, actively constructing a bespoke body of design knowledge which combines theory, practice, research, entrepreneurship and innovation from a wide range of creative activities.

They will be taught to question and expand their creative thinking and generic design process by developing their analytical skills; engaging in critical dialogues; work independently, collaboratively and interdisciplinary; experimenting in a range of directions before delivering professional and innovative outcomes to defined audiences with confidence. All creative activities are supported by strategic thinking, robust methodologies and informed by practice-led research.

Product designers at Manchester Met explore why, examine how, and ask ‘what if?’ We are investigative and critically responsive to human and global needs, developing innovative design-led solutions that connect the consumer experience of products, systems and services. As a product design student, you will be creative with purpose, gaining critical understanding of the emergent issues affecting design across society and culture, learning how to be a designer of products that enhance functionality, interactions and relationships with people and the places we inhabit.

 You will develop essential skills in creative methods, research, design thinking, prototyping and design strategy, applying design intelligence to the creation of new product opportunities and solutions. You will discover how to design products that embrace both traditional and contemporary approaches to production and manufacturing, generating value through the application of materials, processes, and technologies. This course will enable you to produce innovative crafted design solutions and develop the creative and professional skills required to support a sustainable career in product design.

Product Design at Manchester Met builds on the success of our previous programme, BA Three Dimensional Design, which has produced influential and award-winning graduates including designer and architect Thomas Heatherwick, jeweller Ruth Tomlinson and ceramicist Joe Hartley.

The BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion course offers an exploratory and dynamic approach to studying promotion in the fashion industry. This distinctive course covers fashion promotion skills, visual and creative processes, underpinned with business content and cultural and contextual theory.

The flexible design of this course will allow you to explore creative areas such as fashion photography and film, digital communication, fashion styling, social media, website design, journalism and brand communication. You will be expected to explore your field of study through research, investigation and independent practice. The business elements of the course will encourage you to engage with entrepreneurial processes and practical activity, allowing you to apply your knowledge and skills to live professional and industry briefs.

You will have the opportunity to benefit from real-world learning experiences during study trips both in the UK and internationally. Previously, students have travelled to London, New York, Copenhagen and Shanghai as part of the course and have visited industry head offices, educational partners, studios, galleries and trade shows.   

We also offer a four-year sandwich route option that gives you the opportunity to spend your third year on an industry placement to enhance your employability.

You will complete the course with a strong, industry-ready portfolio of work relevant to your career preferences. Graduates will be able to apply for positions in areas such as online marketing, public relations, brand management, styling, and events. 

There is an increased need to visually communicate fashion-based ideas. This requires a creative who has a clear appreciation of and experience in developing fashion concepts, understanding and dealing with the associated critical pathways and the practical means by which to communicate. On this course, you will be encouraged to critically evaluate and creatively respond to these conditions and define your own new role within fashion.

You will be interested in the way fashion is consumed (beyond wearing it) and the opportunities this presents for developing innovative visual practice-based work. Fashion is changing due to many external factors such as digital platforms and media, and issues around sustainability. There are also changes in the role fashion plays and how it has become increasingly an exciting area for inter-disciplinary exploration within design, culture and society. At the heart of this are the new ways that fashion is becoming explored, extended, designed and consumed.

We will develop you to be a highly creative fashion visionary, with an emphasis to engage, explore, question, visualise, illustrate, develop and communicate fashion concepts, trends, products and ideas through publication, exhibition, art direction and styling.

Through this course, you’ll explore 21st century food manufacturing and develop your understanding of how the biochemical properties of food components influence how foods taste and feel, and how they impact nutrition and health.

You’ll explore sensory evaluation, food law and how global trends in trade, regulation and policy influence the sustainability and wider impact of the food chain. You’ll also consider topics such as modern production and analytical technologies, functional foods and labelling legislation, and how to ensure that foods are nutritious and safe to eat.

Technical skills are vital to the food industry and they’re an important part of this course. In our dedicated food technology and biochemistry laboratories, you’ll have practical sessions in areas of food production, evaluating the sensory properties of foods, microbiological quality, and the chemical and physical analysis of foods.

You’ll also complete a food development project where you’ll create your own innovative foods, working on everything from marketing and sensory analysis to legal requirements – and you’ll create your product too.

Past projects include beer made from waste patisserie products, functional yoghurts for elderly consumers, and sustainable vegan ice cream made with tiger nuts.

With a toolkit that mixes the creative and the technical, an animator does all this and more. Whether working in the artistic or commercial worlds, animators produce the moving images for anything from film and broadcast media to digital platforms and video games. Our BA (Hons) Animation course brings together key aspects of contemporary professional animation practice to help you prepare for an exciting range of careers, from animation to concept art to games development.

As an animation student you will be part the School of Digital Arts, a vibrant community that offers the chance to explore every aspect of what it means to work in the digital arts. You will work across a range of creative practices – just as the professionals do – to collaborate on cross-disciplinary group projects, alongside photographers, sound engineers, filmmakers, games and media professionals. And, just as we mirror industry practices, we also work with industry-standard tools – learning within a brand new, purpose-built building that comes equipped with the latest emerging technologies for animation, filmmaking and more.

Manchester offers an ideal setting as an animation student. A global, creative city, it has a long-established history of animation and is home to Cosgrove Hall Films – creators of numerous children’s animations and whose company founders were both students of Manchester Metropolitan University. Today the city has a thriving industry, with a significant TV, film and digital production presence at MediaCityUK, which is home to the BBC, ITV and a host of independent media companies, all of which offer you some inspiring opportunities.

With a course that’s built on our local heritage and that makes the most of our industry links, you’ll have the chance to develop the skills, build the network and gain the experience that rewarding careers are made from.

Placement options

SODA Placement Year
As part of your studies with SODA, you may have the chance to take a year working on placement within the industry. During your year, you will spend at least 36 weeks working within an organisation in the industry, developing workplace skills, practical understanding and genuine industry experience.

SODA Study Year Abroad
You can choose to spend an academic year studying with an approved partner university overseas, developing your core skills while demonstrating your initiative by engaging with a challenging curriculum at a foreign institution. This offers practice credits from the host university, after you’ve completed Level 5 of your SODA program.

If you take the four-year placement route, Year 3 will be spent on placement.

English and journalism have long been a strong partnership. Today, with the multimedia element, our Joint Honours Degree puts a modern spin on this most enduring of relationships.

This exciting course offers the chance to bring the former together with an up-to-the-minute, multimedia version of the latter, reflecting the demands of the modern media environment.

Today’s journalists are expected to operate across broadcast, print and online networks. With a broad range of units, we’ll give you all the skills you need to compete in this fast-moving world. You’ll learn from accomplished reporters and editors, drawing on extensive newsroom experience to give you industry-relevant understanding and insights.

You’ll also build a set of complementary skills through our range of English units, including critical and cultural theories, and textual analysis. Then when you get to your final year, you’ll have the chance to put those skills into practice – by tackling a substantial piece of project work, whether a portfolio of journalism or an extended piece of critical writing.

Along the way, you may have opportunities to study abroad and, if you wish, to do your third year as a placement - in Britain or abroad. You will be based in a lively department that is staffed by internationally renowned writers and critics, and there's a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging.

Manchester has one of the biggest digital and creative sectors in the UK. With MediaCityUK, home to the BBC and ITV, it’s an ideal place for an ambitious journalist to build a network, gain experience and boost your career prospects.

Take on new and emerging markets in an international context. On this course, we'll help you to develop vital skills in international business management.

As well as ethical and global management, you’ll also refine your expertise by exploring the political economy and how it can affect global trade.

You can tailor the course to concentrate on areas that you find most interesting by selecting an option unit from a range of business specialisms.

We’ll also help you understand working practices from different territories and build the skills you need to effectively manage people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Muscle and bone. Brains and biochemistry. The fuel we consume and the air we breathe. Develop an expert understanding of the systems and organs that make humans tick. Our MSc Human Physiology course offers a detailed look at physiology, letting you explore the fundamental systems of human life.

On this master's course, you’ll build advanced knowledge of different systems or specialisms. You will not only learn how our bodies work, but you’ll also develop the key techniques and technologies for investigating normal and abnormal physiology. From the lab-based work that helps to develop new treatments and therapies to the clinical care that touches (and saves) lives.

You will have the opportunity to deep dive into a topic of your choice with an independent research project. You will be able to tackle the issues that fascinate you – exploring areas that match your personal interests and career ambitions.

With this four-year integrated masters course, you’ll go on a journey from fundamental engineering principles all the way through to live, practical projects that are informed by our active research and industrial partnerships. This means that by the time you graduate, you’ll already have experience of the latest engineering challenges faced by industry and society.

On our MEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering degree, you’ll start off by exploring the fundamental theories of engineering science and applied mathematics, as well as learning practical and project skills. Then, through the study of solid mechanics, dynamics, thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, you’ll begin to develop your scientific and analytical skills. Throughout your studies at Manchester Met, you’ll have the chance to get involved with projects rooted in our research with potential employers and research teams – giving you valuable experience for your career development.

As you progress, you’ll take on multi-disciplinary project work, adopting one of several specialist roles – just like you would in the workplace. So, by the time you tackle your final-year group engineering project, you’ll be well equipped to design, develop, evaluate and present a specialist engineering solution to a significant, current problem.