Fine Art and Design (Placement Year) (Hons) Lancaster University

Overview

Through studio projects, skills-based workshops, and live design briefs, in Fine Art and Design (Placement Year) (Hons) at Lancaster University you will develop both the practical skills and the conceptual grounding to work across a wide range of creative contexts. You will engage with real-world problems, explore questions of culture, environment, and emerging technology, and graduate with a practice that is distinctive, adaptable, and professionally grounded.

Bring your vision to life

The BA in Fine Art and Design at Lancaster is about finding your voice and deciding what matters to you in today’s creative landscape.

With a strong foundation in contemporary art practice, you will explore a broad range of materials, media techniques and methods alongside the history and context of art and design practices. You’ll discover how contemporary art and design can be bold, thought- provoking and meaningful.

You will experience design as a dynamic, creative practice for solving problems and developing ideas beyond traditional disciplines such as graphic or product design. By working across different contexts, you’ll develop adaptable skills that prepare you for wide range of career opportunities in the creative industries and beyond.

Our course will encourage you to explore big questions about society, business, technology and the planet. You’ll tackle real-world problems, learn how to design for sustainable futures and work with real clients in leading creative projects.

Throughout the process we’ll support you in shaping your values and understanding the evolving role of art and design. You will have the opportunity to tailor your learning experience by choosing how you want to specialise.

Careers

This degree supports you in developing the ambition, confidence, and skills to produce fine art at a professional level. You will understand the key entry points into the diverse pathways that artists' careers can take, from your first experiences of installing and documenting your work, to the construction of portfolios, presentations and high-quality applications.

If you’re looking for a career in Design you'll graduate with a bold portfolio, creative confidence, and the kind of versatile and adaptable skills that employers are actively seeking. You will be ready to begin your career in a broad range of settings such as in design agencies and design consultancies, tech companies, healthcare, public services and beyond.

Graduates of Fine Art and Design go on to pursue careers in the following:

• Professional Artist

• Curating

• Gallery Education Programmes

• Exhibition Management

• Digital Communications Manager

• Museum and Gallery Management

• Teaching

• Artefact Conservation

• Arts Event Management

• User experience (UX) designer

• Design researcher

• Graphic designer

• Interaction designer

• Brand manager

• Design facilitator

• Service designer

• Design consultant

• Virtual/augmented reality designer

• Ethics and inclusion designer

• AI interface designer

• Product designer

With a deep understanding of Fine Art and Design and a diverse skill set, you’ll also be well-prepared to pursue a broad range of postgraduate study, with some graduates branching into fields such as material engineering, design, advertising and marketing.

Recent graduates have gone on to pursue rewarding careers at companies such as International Conservation Services, Science Museum National Collections Centre, Holocaust Centre North, ITV, United Colours of Benetton India and The National Festival of Making.