Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Illustration with Placement Year

at University of Westminster - Harrow Campus United Kingdom

Our Contemporary Media Practice BA is built on our long tradition of teaching interdisciplinary media practice, working across moving image, photography and interactive media.

Our unique approach combines the creative exploration of art school traditions with academic and professional excellence. We have extensive industry-level facilities and equipment, and to develop your skills and knowledge we use a variety of assessment methods, including practical projects, presentations, written work, research tasks and portfolios.

Our course sets high standards for professional achievement in specific media industry roles, and prepares you for the challenge of a multi-skilled portfolio career. You'll also gain the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development. Our graduates have a high employment rate across the media industries, including broadcast television; commercial photography and photojournalism; curating and film programming; film direction, production, editing and visual effects; fine art practice; and new media. 

Studying this course will enable you to develop your creative media production skills across a range of disciplines, and give you the ability to adapt to the creative opportunities of new media forms and hybrids. It will enhance your ability to participate in contemporary cultural debates, and develop your awareness of the political, ethical and aesthetic implications of your work.

The Documentary Photography and Photojournalism MA allows you to explore society through photographically-related practice and within critically-informed ways through a combination of practice-based teaching and discussion of critical contexts.

We consider documentary photography and photojournalism as exciting and expanding mediums, situated within their own histories, taking many forms in the 21st Century.

Applicants can include students of documentary photography or photographers in general who are interested in specialising in this area and developing their practice. Artists who wish to focus their activities on a more social practice, and individuals from other disciplines who wish to explore the subject area at postgraduate level are also welcome.

From the moment you arrive, we emphasise the development of your own practice, leading towards a consolidation of your learning into a high-profile exhibition in a central London exhibition space.

You will be taught by practising professional photographers, artists and writers, within a supportive course atmosphere.

Our facilities are equipped to the highest professional standards for both analogue and digital production of still and moving image.

Our course in Fashion Marketing and Promotion has been designed to cater for creative, passionate and motivated students who want to pursue a creative degree within the fashion industry and develop a solid understanding of business in our digital era.

The fashion promotion industry offers some of the most attractive jobs in the industry and our course allows you to experience the wide spectrum of this field. The course will also give you a much better understanding of how you could use your strengths to achieve your future ambitions in the arena of fashion promotion.

Our aim is to help you realise your potential by directing you to the areas that are of greatest interest to you, both for your studies and in the future. 

We’ve developed this course with expertise from the industry in order to respond to the changing needs of fashion brands in our current innovative fashion industry landscape. Our industry experts are increasingly looking for creative and digitally literate fashion business graduates to help drive their marketing and promotion strategy across multiple customer touchpoints. This course is designed to develop your creative, technical and business skills on a commercial level.

During your three years on the course, you'll be introduced to a wide range of fashion promotion and marketing projects, including trend, creative marketing and communication, branding, styling, visual merchandising photography, film and media, visual merchandising, branding, strategic marketing, digital creation and new development in social media.

You'll also have the opportunity to apply for a semester abroad during your second year of study at one of our partner institutions. Our exchange programme is designed to equip you with the creative skills, knowledge and practical experience, along with the development of a professional character that is key to successful employment.

Our innovative Fine Art Mixed Media BA will give you the opportunity to explore and develop work across boundaries, within the ever-expanding contemporary fine art disciplines.

Our course enables you to work across disciplines or within the more traditionally defined areas of practice, while referencing relevant critical and theoretical debates.

You'll be encouraged to bring highly individual approaches to studio practice, coupled with an emphasis on experiential learning – these are the defining factors that have established the course at the cutting edge of contemporary practice.

We encourage creativity, individuality and personal growth, and once you've acquired the basic skills you can negotiate your own individual programme of study with tutors.

We select only the most dedicated and creative students who have the energy, enthusiasm and commitment that our course requires.

Based at our Harrow Campus, you'll work alongside students from film, photography, music, fashion and journalism, in a unique hothouse of creative opportunity. 

Our studio-based course provides you with a permanent space, depending on the type of work you engage with as you progress through the programme.

You'll be taught by practising artists with national and international profiles working in and across the mediums of sculpture, painting, moving image, performance, photography and sound. Our exceptional team are supported by state-of-the-art facilities and workshops that are at the forefront of current technical innovation.

Our teaching and learning methods will encourage you to create a body of work characterised by personal commitment and an increasing sense of autonomy.

Our teaching methods include lectures, tutorials (individual and group), presentations, crits, workshops, and gallery visits and talks. 

Fine art disciplines include:

• Digital
• Drawing
• Installation
• Intervention
• Interdisciplinary
• Moving image
• Painting
• Performance
• Photography
• Printmaking
• Sculpture
• Sound

This course will equip you with the strategic decision-making, leadership and problem-solving skills you will need to become an entrepreneurial and visionary fashion business leader of the future. It continues the University’s fashion tradition of a commitment to excellence in developing highly effective, talented and committed professional fashion graduates.

Working closely with fashion industry professionals, role models and mentors, you will receive a relevant, well-grounded, high-quality education and skill base that will enable you to have a wider, clearer understanding of the business you are already involved in. The course offers inside knowledge of industry strategies and cultures on a global basis, combined with key business skills and essential fashion industry management knowledge.

This course equips you for a business management career in the domestic or international fashion industry. Delivered by a teaching team with a wide range of experience both in industry and academia, the course offers an innovative and relevant fashion business curriculum that focuses on preparing your entry into senior roles in business and management within the industry.

The Illustration BA aims to provide an intellectual and creative space for students to explore and build skills in a range of traditional, digital and emerging image making technologies. Industry modules enable students to develop transferable professional skills that support creative agility, resilience and adaptability for rapidly evolving professional opportunities.

This course offers a flexible, interdisciplinary and multimedia approach to the study and practice of contemporary illustration and is developed through a range of industry-focused projects and self-defined contexts.

A supportive studio environment and learning community nurture your individual development and distinctive voice as both an illustrator and creative practitioner in the wider field of visual communication.

Studio-based projects, national and international competitions and live industry projects provide context and creative challenge, fostering experimentation and visual inquiry. You will have the creative space to explore and examine a range of processes and practices in both traditional and emerging technologies.

Media professionals and media firms are united in their need to acquire the commercial, strategic and managerial skills to prosper in an industry undergoing constant fundamental change. This course is designed to address these needs, developing entrepreneurial leaders equipped to deal with the complex and novel challenges presented by new technologies, consumer behaviour, and evolving business models.

The course will enable you to identify and analyse strategic and operational problems and opportunities, understand, quantify and access national and international media markets, and use foresight and planning techniques to understand and respond to change. As well as being able to manage complex media projects, you will also have the skills to engage in strategic direction setting, deploy business-planning skills, and excel in leadership and implementation.

The course is delivered by academic staff with lengthy experience of advising and managing media organisations. Teaching methods are based around practical problems and include in-class exercises and individuals and group projects and assessment. Assignments will enable you to develop and apply your skills in creative project development and business planning.

Our Music: Production, Performance and Enterprise degree will equip you for a successful career in all areas of the commercial and popular music industries.

Our course will inspire you to develop expertise and experience in the key fields of commercial music: music production, music performance and music business/enterprise. In today's industry, only by having knowledge and understanding of all three specific areas will you be sufficiently prepared for employment and a career in music.

Whether you aspire to be a music artist, producer, performer, songwriter, composer, musicologist, journalist, DJ, technologist, entrepreneur, business specialist or educator, our course will nurture your aspirations and ensure you develop a broad range of transferable, music-related skills.

We incorporate a strong focus on reflective practice and contextual studies, meaning that our graduates are positioned to become innovators and thought leaders for the future of the constantly evolving music industries.

You'll have two enrolment options: you may choose the standard BA award if you intend to specialise in either music production or music business, or you can choose the BMus award if you want to study specialist modules associated with music performance and instrumental musicianship. Whichever award you pick, you'll also study Music Business and Enterprise.

Our music industry links in the thriving London community allow us to provide guest lectures from leading professionals and maximise opportunities for you to network and begin your career while on the course.

Based at Harrow Campus, the course also offers unique opportunities to collaborate with students from other academic disciplines including film, TV, radio, fashion and media, and provides networking opportunities with relevant professional societies and organisations. As a result, our graduates have excellent employment opportunities and the ability to build successful careers in many diverse areas of the creative industries.

Our exciting specialist course will enable you to develop your imaginative and creative skills, while giving you a sound knowledge and understanding of animation processes, techniques and critical theory.

Commercial animation is a rapidly growing and vibrant industry, encompassing a broad range of rewarding and fascinating creative job opportunities. Our strong emphasis on creative practice will help you to develop your skills in drawing and design, along with the imaginative development and innovation of ideas expressed sequentially. These skills, together with the professional practice aspects of the course, will ensure that you have the confidence and expertise to succeed in industry, whether as a producer, technician, designer or manager. You’ll also develop the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Throughout the course, there are opportunities for you to take part in national and international competitions and film festivals. Our course is delivered by a large team of experienced animation practitioners, staff and industry visitors, and you’ll work in dedicated specialist animation studios with facilities for blue screen, rostrum animation, CGI, drawing, stop-frame, film, photography, set building, sound and video.

Successful animators need to be flexible and able to adapt to changing cultures and new initiatives, and our course seeks to reflect this fluidity. You’ll rapidly develop your own practice in animation, and will be encouraged to work on shared initiatives. Based at our Harrow Campus – home to the Westminster School of Arts and the Westminster School of Media and Communications – you’ll work alongside students from film, photography, music, fashion and journalism, in a unique creative hothouse. 

Our exciting specialist course will enable you to develop your imaginative and creative skills, while giving you a sound knowledge and understanding of animation processes, techniques and critical theory.

Commercial animation is a rapidly growing and vibrant industry, encompassing a broad range of rewarding and fascinating creative job opportunities. Our strong emphasis on creative practice will help you to develop your skills in drawing and design, along with the imaginative development and innovation of ideas expressed sequentially. These skills, together with the professional practice aspects of the course, will ensure that you have the confidence and expertise to succeed in industry, whether as a producer, technician, designer or manager. You’ll also develop the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Throughout the course, there are opportunities for you to take part in national and international competitions and film festivals. Our course is delivered by a large team of experienced animation practitioners, staff and industry visitors, and you’ll work in dedicated specialist animation studios with facilities for blue screen, rostrum animation, CGI, drawing, stop-frame, film, photography, set building, sound and video.

Successful animators need to be flexible and able to adapt to changing cultures and new initiatives, and our course seeks to reflect this fluidity. You’ll rapidly develop your own practice in animation, and will be encouraged to work on shared initiatives. Based at our Harrow Campus – home to the Westminster School of Arts and the Westminster School of Media and Communications – you’ll work alongside students from film, photography, music, fashion and journalism, in a unique creative hothouse.