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Art degrees

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
I've just started my art foundation course and love it loads. I'm still really undecided as to which uni i want to apply to, though. I don't know which path I'm going to go down yet but I think it will be either graphic design or fine art.

Which universities would you recommend to study art/design at?

I don't know whether I want to study locally at Liverpool John Moores or UCLAN or Manchester Met, or go further away.

Any experiences of doing art and design at uni?

Any information would be great :]]
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    Hey,
    Friends of mine have gone to and been very successful at:

    Notting Trent school or art and design and University of Brighton faculty of arts and architecture.

    May be worth a look :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I kinda want to stay in the North West but I'll have a look :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've heard good things about Manchester. But I think the best thing is get a shortlist and go visit them or go on open days :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Surely your tutors can offer you advice? that is what they are there for. Although mine were against anybody going to the university i went to and were quite stuck up in thinking that no place was better than the college i was at... oh well.
    Norwich is meant to be good for graphic design, and you can focus on a particular area of it, for example photography. also, the Ruskin in east anglia is meant to be good, i've also heard that Loughborough is good for fine art. but as you say, you want to stay in the north west. i'm not sure about that area, so i suggest thorough research on the internet and get some prospectus' sent to you. when you find a uni that appeals to you, go for an open day and ask as many questions as you can. you need to find out if the philosophy of the course, find out what they focus on, what the students work is like, whether they do trips to various places and if the facilities are good. i hope this helps and you do well in the remainder of your art foundation course. ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just finished a design degree at the University of Northumbria, Newcastle. Decent enough, but flaws include the heavy amount of class sizes being introduced into each year. Apparently, the head of the department wants even bigger numbers in the future with the same limited amount of tutors (more money for the uni and himself). I find this disgraceful and feel sorry for the current tutors as they are really decent and go out of their way to help you.

    I don't regret going there but it's not perfect. That said, a recent visit to the Duncan of Jordanstone Art College (which I thought was amazing) had students of a certain department telling me they weren't taught properly. Similarly, I read in a paper that a class of Edinburgh College of Art students were setting up their degree show elsewhere in protest that the tutors had literally abandoned them through the course. So I don't think anywhere is perfect.

    Manchester looks decent. I got accepted there in 2004 but decided to stay on a further year at college to get a HND qualification. I used to obsess over which place was the best institution to go, but now I know it's all about the application - and a nice slab of luck! You could go to the shittiest uni ever and still come out with a great job. Just make sure if you do graphic design you learn packages like the Creative Suite series. If you avoid them like me then you'll struggle when you graduate! Oh, and try and build connections with businesses, will be handy for when you're searching for placements.

    Good luck!
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