Program Overview
Course Details
Textiles and surface design is a fast-moving global industry encompassing a wide range of commercial contexts – from fashion fabrics and accessories, through stationery products and packaging, to interior fabrics and wall coverings, as well as contemporary gallery/design-led pieces. The creative and challenging BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design with foundation year degree at the University of Bolton is taught by a dedicated and passionate team with extensive professional experience in researching, designing, creating, selling and exhibiting textile/surface design work. We understand the skills and knowledge you’ll need to succeed as a professional designer and impress potential employers and clients in the wider textile and surface design arena.
Starting with foundation studies that offer a structured introduction to a wide range of materials, processes and techniques, we’ll support you as you develop your own line of visual enquiry, explore different areas of art and design, and develop a sound portfolio of creative work.
Throughout the course, our intensely practical approach aims to help you gain a broad portfolio of traditional and digital design skills. You’ll have space to experiment with different approaches, materials and techniques, and we’ll support and encourage you to cross the boundaries of textile disciplines and develop your own innovative approaches to designing and making. Historical and contextual studies help to underpin your practical knowledge and provide sources of inspiration.
Our professional design studios are equipped with workspaces and high-specification facilities for printed and dyed textiles, digital fabric, wallpaper and ceramic printing, laser cutting and etching, embroidery, fabric manipulation, non-woven textiles, and computer-aided design are available.
We’ll also support you to develop commercial awareness and entrepreneurial skills, including how to market, exhibit, work with design studios and set up in business, ready for success within the industry, contemporary gallery/craft environments. This degree will also enable you to look at alternative career choices within arts education or the wider creative industries.
Alternatively, on successful completion of the foundation level, you can transfer to one of our related art and design degrees, such as animation and illustration, fashion, fine art, graphic design, or photography. You can also explore transferring to another subject area offered by the University of Bolton, such as film FX or games art.
Highlights
Our Art and Design courses are placed fourth in the UK and top in the North West of England for teaching quality by the Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021.
Our Art courses have also been placed in the top ten in the UK for student-to-staff ratio for the third year running by the Guardian University Guide 2021, so you'll have access to individual tutor support and small group teaching.
We’ll encourage you to enter national and international competitions. We are proud that many of our students have gained prestigious awards through the Bradford Textile Society, Première Vision Paris, New Designers Awards, Embroiderers Guild and the Society of Dyers and Colourists.
In 2019, graduate Jenny McCarthy won the New Designers Prestigious Textiles Associate Prize with her designs forming part of their 2020 collection.
Our alumni work in design studios with companies such as Graham and Brown Wallcoverings, Clarke and Clarke, Surface Print Ltd., SketchTwenty3 Wallcoverings, Standfast and Barracks, Stead McAlpin, Hallmark Cards, and UK Greetings (correct as of July 2021). Our graduates also work as designers exhibiting and selling work through gallery venues, including Manchester Craft and Design Centre and the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair.
2018 Graduate Leanne Bellis gained a placement at Liz Casella New York and now works as a designer for companies including Macy’s New York and Wallmart USA. Also, in 2016, second-year student Kera Allen won the top award at the highly esteemed Surtex Designext Awards in New York.
We offer numerous opportunities to visit national and international trade fairs. In recent years, we’ve organised study trips to Surtex New York, Indigo Paris, The British Craft Trade Fair, Decorex and New Designers in London.
Our dedicated and specialist tutors have industry connections and extensive experience in researching, making, exhibiting and selling textiles, surface and design work, and are engaged in PhD research that feeds into the programme's content.
You’ll be introduced to the varied working practices of studio designers in the industry, contemporary textile artists and designer-makers and explore the range of materials and products textile and surface designers use and create – everything from fashion and interior fabrics, through wallcoverings, gift wrap, stationery, and cards, to ceramic tableware.
You’ll benefit from the opportunity to work on a major personal project and present it to the public as part of the Bolton School of the Arts final-year Creative Show.
Materials for workshop demonstrations are provided throughout the programme.
Key Features
Bolton has an impressive history of textile manufacturing and engineering spanning over 650 years, so you’ll be studying at a historic home of textile innovation in the UK. The University of Bolton maintains this tradition and is a leading centre of textile and materials research of global importance.
Facilities on campus include design studios, computer suites, a printed textile workshop, digital textile printing, embroidery and textile workshops, and paper print facilities. We offer industry-standard software and access to the latest global trend prediction sites. You’ll also have access to our wider arts and design facilities, including photographic studios, fine print and ceramic workshops.
Our long-standing reputation in the teaching and development of textile subjects means we can attract outstanding visiting speakers from across the commercial design and craft-led sectors. Recent speakers include Lauren Wan Designer New York, Liss Cooke Embroidery Designer Hand and Lock Competition (formerly Mary Katranzou), Martine Speight for Shaws Contract Carpets, Angela Mann Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair and Simeon Turnbull for Rosebank Fabrics.
Our proximity to Manchester, and links with the North West Craft Network and major galleries, workshops and associations in the region, mean you’ll be well-placed to take advantage of work placement opportunities.
We regularly set up industry-relevant live projects with external organisations and companies in our practical modules. These are designed to give you experience working to industry standards, help you learn the realities of working to design briefs and offer insights into current design practice.
We pride ourselves on the small group learning and one-to-one support we offer. You can expect to receive individual attention and guidance from our expert tutors, as well as online support through the University’s eLearning system Moodle.
By choosing to study with us, you'll have the chance to enjoy Bolton's many shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities. Manchester, one of the UK's most multicultural and lively cities, is less than 20 minutes away by train. Not forgetting, the North West of England is renowned for its beautiful countryside, coastline and heritage. This makes Bolton an ideal base from which to explore some of the best cultural and outdoor activities the UK offers.
Program Outline
Our BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design with foundation year degree is designed to develop your practical skills and equip you to be a successful designer. As a graduate of this programme, some of the key skills you will possess include your creative ability, project management skills, IT and technical skills, ability to work independently, interpretation of materials, and commercial awareness. You’ll also be able to critically evaluate and interpret materials, research designs, predict trends and communicate with clients, manufacturing staff, buyers and retailers.
The opportunity to visit galleries and museums, design studios and manufacturers, as well as fashion and textile trade fairs in the UK, Europe and USA, will broaden your understanding of commercial practice. Links with industry, including enterprise activities, professional exhibitions, live projects, national design competitions, and optional work placements, will enhance your learning experience.
What can I do with this qualification?
You can work in the textiles industry or use your creative flair and ability to generate ideas and concepts to match a brief in many other sectors. Graduates are currently using their experience to pursue careers as studio designers, in fashion retail roles, interior design, illustration, as self-employed designer-makers and entrepreneurs, and as teachers in educational establishments or art gallery environments. Others progress to self-employment, often designing and producing work for exhibitions, direct sale, or through retail craft outlets.
Postgraduate study provides the opportunity to develop and experiment with ideas and techniques and extend personal expertise into related areas. The job market is competitive, so you may find that taking a master’s degree or professional short course that enables you to develop your portfolio further, for example, our MA (Specialist Title) via Creative Practice, helps give you the edge, particularly when combined with relevant work experience.
Alternative career options
Graduates can use the qualification as a stepping-stone into a range of other careers. For some of these roles, relevant experience and/or postgraduate study may be required. They include:
Training and education
Arts marketing and events
Retail buying
Visual merchandising
Museum/gallery conservation and education
Journalism
Theatre set/costume production
Fabric technology
Research assistant
