3D Design and Craft BA(Hons)

Why study with us?

• This course has a proven track record of success in developing ambitious and capable graduates who have successful, lifelong careers as creative practitioners.

• Our graduates have a long history of going on to high-profile careers in professions such as: media production; product, lighting and sustainable design; interiors and architecture; trend forecasting and styling; jewellery; ceramics; installation and exhibition design; journalism; and teaching. They also exhibit at venues such as The Design Museum, The Saatchi Gallery, London Fashion Week, The Crafts Council, The V&A and the Milan Furniture Fair.

• Our students have won national and international awards and been featured in leading publications including the Guardian, Crafts, Blueprint, Ceramics Review and ICON.

• You’ll have access to specialist equipment and digital technology, and will explore and experiment with materials and processes alongside developing your personal approach.

• You can specialise in a range of fields, from ceramics, jewellery, furniture and site-specific work to applied arts to product design.

• Workshop practice is integrated with historical and critical studies, so you will explore critical, conceptual, ethical and environmental issues as well as commercial implications while gaining a deep understanding of cultural and historical factors.

Gavin Jones, 2017 graduate, discusses his experience studying 3D Design and Craft at Brighton.

• We place emphasis on the role of design within a social and cultural context, understanding that design and craft are important traditions and an essential source of inspiration and understanding of who we are. The staff are all practising artists, makers/designers and researchers, and teaching reflects industry developments.

• Professional practice is an integrated part of the degree and, through live projects, case studies and exhibitions, enables you to place your work within a range of real-world contexts.

• Students leave this course with the skills to succeed in the creative industries and capacity to turn ideas into fully resolved objects, products and artefacts in a range of media.

Year 1

In the first year, core study modules in studio practice aim to develop material-specific skills and introduce fundamental ideas of design and craft.

Through four material areas (wood, metal, ceramics, polymers and composites) students are introduced to the processes and techniques of design and making. This is followed by a short period of self-directed study or a design project.

Concept development, context and the surrounding discussion on design and craft are led by overarching themes and project briefs increasing in depth of critical engagement, for example:

• culture of making – traditions
• consumption – resources and environment
• technology – materials and performance
• object and context – body, space and site.

Studio practice is integrated with a creative enquiry module introducing research methods in creative practice and delivering skills in visual communication, design development (drawing, representation, studio techniques such as technical drawing, model making, digital image and layout skills).

The first year programme is also supported by professional practice, and design and craft culture.

Modules

• Making, Materiality and Processes

  The key questions ‘why make?’ and ‘how do we make?’ are investigated through a range of projects exploring materiality and process. You will be introduced to the course’s workshop areas, essential analogue/digital processes, working individually and in teams in response to these fundamental questions.

• People, Places and Context

  This module offers you the opportunity to explore design and craft within the given contexts People and Place. Projects are research-led and undertaken in conjunction with the continuing development of workshop skills.

  Utilising a range of different approaches, you will begin to investigate relationships between object, user and site. Professional practice elements help to locate yourself and your practice within a vocational context and introduce a range of transferable and employability skills such as teamwork through the group project and networking.

• Why Make? What Sort of Maker Am I?

  This module offers a period of study for you to situate your practice and determine what kind of a maker you are. It will give you the opportunity to consolidate and extend your knowledge and use of materials in preparation for level 5. You will define an area of enquiry to investigate building on your workshop experience to date. The module culminates in a student-curated exhibition.

• The Culture of Design and Craft

  This module will provide you with an introduction to a broad range of current key debates relevant to the analysis of the past and present in the field of design and craft. Through lectures, seminars and exhibition visits, you will be introduced to and engage with critical ideas and academic approaches relevant to your field of study.

  The module will support studio work through the development of critical thinking and formal written skills.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through our applicant portal.

Students meet iconic designer Ron Arad in his studio.

Trips and working outside the studio are an important part of the course

A design by award-winning student Luke Fuller.

Year 2

In year 2, students focus on specialisation and choice in materials and processes progressing their individual practice through a combination of research-led, issue-driven and live projects.

The aim is to develop advanced and in-depth knowledge from the materials base connecting historical and traditional techniques and processes to contemporary culture and innovation. Structured projects combined with live and research-led projects contribute to the formulation of personal development plans and research questions for the self-directed study and independent project work in year 3. Studio practice is supported by modules in professional practice and historical and critical studies. Students also have the opportunity to take a 20-credit option from across a wide range of our other arts and humanities courses. 

In year 2 you have the opportunity to apply for a student exchange to Nagoya University.

Modules

• Materials and Process: Professional Designing and Making
• Live and Engaged Making
• The Shape of Things: Design and Craft in Historical and Critical Perspective

• Option module*

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

You will have the opportunity to exhibit work throughout the course

Matilda Grover, 2017 graduate, with her bags made from recycled TetraPak

Final year

Year 3 supports the development and management of independent learning.

You will develop a major independent body of work in 3D design and craft, supported by a rigorous body of creative enquiry research, a professional practice portfolio and an extended essay.

Modules

• Positioning and Establishing Practice
• Expansion and Resolution of Practice
• Extended Essay

Ash Lim with a piece from his 2018 final-year work, examining what people connect with on an emotional, physical or instinctual level.

Staff profile

Alma Boyes

Alma Boyes is course leader for the 3D Design and Craft BA(Hons) and the Craft MA. She is also area leader in ceramics and has over 30 years teaching experience in this field.

Alma is a sculptor whose work focuses on figurative studies exploring the expression and evocation of social (and cultural) relationships, predominantly as expressed between animal species. Since 2006 she has been undertaking research into practice-based teaching, working on CETLD, Learn Higher and ADM-funded projects and delivering research papers at national and international conferences. She recently collaborated with the Crafts Council on their Firing Up initiative to re-introduce ceramics into secondary education.

Find out about our other staff: Simon Bliss, Cynthia Cousens, Jacqui Chanarin, Tanya Dean, Nick Gant, Patrick Letschka, James McAdam, Louisa Taylor, Stefano Santilli, Gareth Neal and Avril Wilson. 

The Cordwainer by Alma Boyes

Facilities

• The course has dedicated specialist equipped workshops in wood, metals, ceramics, polymers and composites. All workshops are supported by specialist full-time demonstrator technicians

• Equipment includes lathes, band and dim saws, pillar drills, sanders, bag press, planers, TIG and MIG welders, forging, vacuum former, dome blower, milling machines, polishers, engravers, gas and electric kilns, Wheels, whirler, jigger/jolly, spray booth

• Design Lab – flexible learning space for design-led teaching and hot desk spaces for design and non-workshop-based practice

• The school has recently invested £270,000 including digital kit Including a laser cutter, plasma cutter, CNC 3-axis milling, CNC routing, 3D body scanning, portable 3D scanning and rapid prototyping

• Students have access to the Tech Hub, a centre for digital manufacture and fabrication equipment. The hub is made up of a collection of computer automated machinery and 3D modelling software that enables students to create a diverse range of models, prototypes and finished artefacts. The centre has its own full-time digital demonstrator technician and Apple iMacs and PCs with all of the software that you may need to use in conjunction with the machinery

• Bookable spaces for group tutorials, seminars, critiques and exhibitions

Additional costs

One of the main questions our students ask is “What will I spend on materials and trips?”. Here we have looked at an average spend of a student on this course in 2018. All costs are average and subject to change depending on individual student projects and materials.

• Basic materials costs for years 1 and 2 are funded by the university
• In year 1, students usually spend around an additional £50
• In year 2 students usually spend around £110
• In the final year, depending on the scale of work produced and materials used, the average spend is £280
• Local field trips are usually covered by free university transport
• London trips are the cost of a student train fare return and exhibition entrance, if needed.
• International field trips are optional and are at the student’s expense. These cost approximately £250–£270 for four nights.
• Alternative local research trips are offered for those unable to go abroad.

You will find advice about funding and scholarships on our finance pages.

Course facilities include a forge

Student views 

"Studying at the University of Brighton has given me the opportunity to explore a huge range of materials and processes. The community the course attracts allows for an exciting and busy workshop atmosphere for discussion and debate, allowing for other ideas to be realised and to learn how your work is perceived." Luke Fuller, winner of the Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award at New Designers 2018

"I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to study on the 3D course as I get the feeling it's a one of a kind, and it offers such a wide range of ways to experiment with materials and concepts. I have also met an amazing group of like-minded people through studying at this university." Till Lightfoot Pendered, 2018 graduate

"The course at Brighton has been amazing, the people have been fantastic and I have felt really nurtured and embraced. Creatively, I have felt that I have been free to choose my own path and discover what I am truly interested in. Even the essay writing has been, for the most part, enjoyable!" Ash Lim, 2018 graduate

"The course has given me the opportunity to explore making with a variety of materials. The studio environment encourages experimentation, and creates an atmosphere where inspiring conversations of art, design and making often take place." Ting-Chiao Joyce Chang, 2018 graduate

International requirements

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Portfolio and interview advice 

Applying for a place in 2019?
When you come for interview, you will be asked to bring a portfolio with you. A portfolio is a folder, organised in a way that suits you, and shows a full range of art and design exploration. It should include:

• a collection of drawings, which should include objective, imaginative, and selected life drawing
• drawings that show us a pathway from initial personal research, through to ideas, which could be made in a material, or a combination of materials
• photographs of visual research and large three-dimensional objects and 
anything else that you have made that cannot be transported to the interview
• any documental evidence that represents your artwork, this could include CAD 
work, 3D software print outs, Photoshop collages and prints
• include sketchbooks, idea sheets and samples to show us how you develop ideas into final pieces.

Please also bring a written piece of work, an essay or a contextual piece of writing on an art or design-based subject.

Bring any three-dimensional objects you have made either finished, part finished, as a model or an experiment. It could be anything from functional to sculptural. 

Course fees

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2019–20.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Local area

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps

Accommodation

University building

City campus map