Textile Design with a Foundation Year - BA (Hons)

In this module you will explore the connections between the creative fashion and textile industries in the past, and how this informs present and future trends. You will be introduced to the way individuals have influenced culture, freedom of expression and experimentation, and how this pushes boundaries and explores identity.

Through reflection you will analyse your research and the connections that you discover, developing core skills and communicating your findings and ideas through the use of industry-standard software.

Shared content is delivered via blended learning, this is underpinned by your course-specific content which is delivered on campus.

This module continues to focus on experimentation with materials, processes and colour to build core skills and your awareness of the scope of our discipline. It introduces you to the other key approaches to textile design – Embroidery and Weave.

Embroidery can be more about image, surface and textural qualities, and woven textiles is more about fibre, yarn and structure. As with the previous module, the contrasting experiences will help you to discover where your strengths and interests lie, whilst continuing to design with the world of fashion in mind.

The ability to put original ideas into an effective repeating pattern is core knowledge demanded by industry, and this module introduces you to the world of pattern creation, looking at compositional structures, theories, and the impact of colour, scale, rhythm and balance.

There are a variety of textile-specialist software and equipment involved in textile design and production and digital technologies have a key role to play in reducing the resources involved in the sampling and development. Adobe Photoshop remains the key program for pattern creation.

You will start the module by forming a personal concept and generating original, versatile imagery for pattern exploration. You will then test a range of compositional structures and problem-solve ideas using paper-based and digital approaches, including tablet-based drawing programs, Adobe Photoshop and AI.

Industry needs creative problem-solvers who can help implement sustainable design strategies that ensure that people and planet are considered equally alongside profit.

For this module your starting point will be a tailored garment. You will begin by considering its likely production journey, undertaking research to explore its potential social and environmental impact. You will use a lifecycle approach and learn about systems-thinking to gain awareness of the complex nature of our industry and the different sectors that exist within it. You will also see that the decisions textile designers make can make a significant impact in minimising a products negative impact.

This level 5 undergraduate module is designed to equip students with the essential skills and knowledge necessary for a successful transition into the industry work placement and beyond. The module focuses on cultivating a deep understanding of professional practices, industry expectations, and personal development strategies.

Through a combination of theoretical knowledge, practical exercises, case studies, and industry guest lectures, this module provides students with a solid foundation for their future careers empowering them to thrive in a competitive and dynamic industry landscape.

Level 5 is all about EXPLORATION. There are lots of exciting sectors, markets and job roles open to Textile Designers, each involving slightly different challenges, work requirements and skill sets. There is a demand for designers who can help drive change to build an industry that is sustainable and contributes to an inclusive and equitable society.

This module focuses on Birmingham and the West Midlands offering a range of mini-briefs that simulates different design sector scenarios to help you begin to consider your place within industry and the contribution you can make.

Industry wants confident, informed, original thinkers who have the capacity to be both imaginative and pragmatic. What is your skill or what do you want to be known for? What have you been introduced to so far that you are curious to revisit and take further? What talent have you discovered that you want to nurture?

In this module you will identify your strengths and interests to build distinctiveness and originality to your creative practice and portfolio.

The purpose of the work placement module is to enable you to develop professional attributes and subject skills through experience in the work place, and to critically reflect upon your learning in that context. You will normally be expected to arrange your own placement, with support from academic staff and BCU Careers.

This module provides an opportunity for you to apply your knowledge and skills to an external, professional brief. The brief will be set by or in discussion with an external client/agency/community and could be a ‘real life’ problem to be solved, or a simulation. The resulting project should consider sustainability and address relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals as a key aspect of contemporary creative industries work. The module provides an opportunity for you to engage in a responsive, imaginative and professional manner with an aspect of your subject area, which contributes to the development of employability skills within the supportive infrastructure of the University. You will collaborate with students, and where relevant with other stakeholders, and will be supported to approach the project with curiosity, openness, critical thinking, innovation and practical and technical skills, in order to produce project outcomes and/or solutions which meet the required brief.

Creative careers can take people to a wide variety of, sometimes, unexpected destinations. Learning to see and exploit opportunities can be the key to a rewarding portfolio career making good use of your creative skills whilst earning a living from doing what you love, whether it's producing creative artefacts, performing, offering a service or consultancy. Learning to promote and ‘pitch’ those ideas to others is core to developing a successful independent, creative and entrepreneurial career. This module will build your skillset to enable you to talk confidently about you and your work. It will also help you to find or create opportunities, some may even come as a surprise to you!

This Level 6 undergraduate module is designed to further develop your research and inquiry skills within the context of the fashion and textile industry.

You will undertake a range of research methods on a topic of personal interest. You will investigate and critically analyse the findings. You will be applying a reflective comment to the evidence to deepen your understanding of your field and considering real-world challenges in the industry.

You will present conclusions and recommendations in a proposal that feed into an independent project.

Building on the research you have undertaken in the previous module, in this module you will write and execute a practical brief, one that enables you to immerse yourself in the materials, processes and approaches that make you shine and generates portfolio content that targets your career ambitions.

This module is about selecting and progressing key ideas from the portfolio of work presented in the previous module, undertaking focused design development to realise their potential as impactful resolved design statements. This may involve problem-solving aspects like: material sourcing, scale, composition, colour and application.

What now? What next? This module is the culmination of the research and design outputs of the last three modules and provides a supportive space to plan your transition between education and employment. In this module you will, strengthen your portfolio, build an online promotional presence and formulate an action plan, all designed to help you navigate the next step towards your career ambitions.