Arts and Humanities Outreach

Portfolio Building for Product Design

This session looks at the development of a portfolio for application to our Product Design BA/BSc(Hons) course. We will provide you with tips, advice and information on what to include in your portfolio and why.

Duration

This workshop usually works with the following time scale:

• Pre-recorded 10 minute video
• Followed  up with a  30 min live-link Q&A on portfolios with one of the Product Design staff team

Delivery

The workshop can be delivered through a pre-recorded video followed by a live, online Q&A session with one of our Product Design team.

What is the outcome of the workshop?

Viewers will understand how to compile a portfolio for a Product Design interview without having any prior knowledge or experience of the subject.

Fashion Brand Marketing

Course Leader Charlie Goldthorpe has a new client who is looking for support when starting a new Fashion Label.

They want to work with students to bring together a brand concept for the new fashion label.  They will give you an insight into the brand so far, including the name and where they position themselves in the industry.

They would like you to create the brand identity, including a logo, packaging, celebrity endorser and find out who their main competitors will be (competitor analysis diagram).

This workshop usually works with the following time scale:

• 20 minute introduction to the customer
• 40 minutes to complete the new brand concept
• 10 minute pitch

Delivery

This workshop is for a live audience, online or face-to-face.

What is the outcome of the workshop?

After gaining insight to what the customer requires, you will have the knowledge and understanding of how a new fashion label is going to brand their product. You will learn different marketing techniques and tactics.

This workshop and the material will be great for your portfolio and interview when applying for university.

Making an A5 Photobook

This workshop is designed to enable learners to create a finished softcover photography book. Photographic content will be created via engagement with a photographic task where a series of images will be created by learners as they engage with the world immediately around them. The photographs produced will then be edited, sequenced and designed as a book using Adobe InDesign or alternative open source software.

Once the books have been designed using InDesign, college or school tutors will export and email the digital documents to the University. The books will then be printed, bound and delivered back to the college or school.

Students will require:

• Camera/Mobile Phone
• InDesign/Open Source Digital Publishing Software
• Printing/Binding facilities (provided by the University)

Duration

This workshop takes approximately 2.5 hours, as learners will need time to produce images. 

Delivery

There will be 4 pre-recorded videos:

• Introduction to task including physical visual example of an existing A5 photobook .
• What is Editing? How to edit down your images to reach a smaller selection of successful photos.
• What is sequencing? How to begin thinking about the order of your photographs within the book.
• A brief intro to Adobe InDesign

What is the outcome of the workshop?

The finished product will be a printed and bound (either hand stitched or stapled) A5 photography book/zine. 

Resist Transfer Printing

Learn how to create quick resist techniques to create images and patterns through heat transfer printing. 

By the end of this interactive session, you will be able to create a small collection of textile samples suitable for fashion or interior uses.

Students will require:

• An iron
• Ironing board (or mat)
• Protective paper, like baking parchment, to keep you iron clean
• Scissors
• A selection of:
  • Pins
  • Needle and thread
  • Paper clips
  • Scraps of paper
  • Fabric with holes, i.e. netting, lace
• Small collection of synthetic fabrics suitable for printing on to
• Small collection of pre-dyed transfer papers suitable to print with

Duration

This workshop usually works with the following time scale:

• 15 minute introduction
• 40 - 60 minutes of making

Delivery

This workshop will be delivered through a video and you will be supplied with a teaching and student guide as a PDF.

There is also an option for a live (online or in-person), pre or post workshop Q&A with a tutor from the BA/BSc Textiles course.

There is also the option of undertaking the (recorded) online session ‘Presenting Textiles’, this includes short conversations with students and alumni of the Textiles course about the range of textile applications they use (relating to the 3 on-line workshops) and a demonstration on how to pull some design boards together with the work they have done in this (or any of the textile) workshop(s) ready for university (or college) interviews.

Mark-Making and Designing

Create a series of paper based-designs focusing on mark-making techniques, cutwork and collage to create a collection that can also include playing with simple repeating motifs. The designs could be suitable for fashion or interior markets.

If students prefer to draw from something, they could bring along reference visuals but this workshop can be nice as a spontaneous session in which you just draw and make marks intuitively.

Initially, we recommend that you do this in one colour i.e. black & white, blue & white, pink & white etc and can then re-run the workshop including more colour if you like. This approach will allow the focus to be on the quality of the marks as opposed the colour.

Students will require:

• Paper
• Pens
• Pencils
• Scissors
• Glue stick

You can also include a broader range of materials if you have access:

• Paints
• Inks
• Different papers
• Tapes

Duration

This workshop usually works with the following time scale:

• 10 minute introduction
• 10 minutes of timed quick drawings
• 30 - 60 minutes of design development (can extend to as long as you have)

Delivery

This workshop will be delivered through a video and you will be supplied with a teaching and student guide as a PDF.

There is also an option for a live (online or in-person), pre or post workshop Q&A with a tutor from the BA/BSc Textiles course.

There is also the option of undertaking the (recorded) online session ‘Presenting Textiles’, this includes short conversations with students and alumni of the Textiles course about the range of textile applications they use (relating to the 3 on-line workshops) and a demonstration on how to pull some design boards together with the work they have done in this (or any of the textile) workshop(s) ready for university (or college) interviews.

Concept Environments Workshop

Create a series of paper concept environments turning shape in to space.

Identify possibilities for interior and architectural spaces through the manipulation of paper and imagination. 

Students will require:

• White card or paper
• a craft knife or scalpel
• a stapler
• a mobile phone camera
• a printer
• a selection of drawing pens and coloured markers (pro markers or similar).

Duration

This workshop usually works with the following time scale:

• 2 minute video introduction
• 45 mins for the task

Delivery

The workshop will be delivered via online video. Teachers and staff from college/school to oversee the workshop. 

Portfolio Building for Interior Design

This session looks at the development of a portfolio for application to our Interior Design BA(Hons) course. We will provide you with tips, advice and information on what to include in your portfolio and why.

Duration

This workshop usually works with the following time scale:

• Pre-recorded 3 minute video
• Followed  up with a  30 min live-link Q&A on portfolios with one of the Interior Design staff team

Delivery

The workshop can be delivered through a pre-recorded video followed by a live, online Q&A session with one of our Interior Design team.

What is the outcome of the workshop?

Viewers will understand how to compile a portfolio for an Interior Design interview without having any prior knowledge or experience of the subject.

Costume Characterisation

We are calling all students with an interest in costume, who enjoy using their imagination!

Using a random object as a starting point, students are required to develop a character, and consider their costume.

Students will develop an in-depth overview of a fictional character, considering the context of their character’s life. This context will be used to develop ideas of the types of garments and accessories the character may wear.
Students can use their character ideas as a starting point for putting together costume mood boards.

Tutors, your students can work individually or in teams depending on your preference.

Once all teams have completed the task, students will share their ideas with the rest of the class.

Students will require:

• Computer / internet, or access to magazines
• A bag of random objects
• Note paper and pen

Duration

This workshop usually works with the following time scale:

• 10 minute Introduction
• 40 minute Character development and costume research
• 10 minute Critique and discussion

Delivery

This workshop can be offered to your school or college online or face-to-face.

We can start the workshop with a live introduction to our course leader from Costume with Textiles or we can email you personally with a list of materials and guidelines.

What is the outcome of the workshop?

The student will have a character development which can be discussed in portfolios or interviews when applying to the Costume with Textiles course.

Costume Illustration

We are calling all students with an interest in costume, who enjoy using their imagination!

Students are required to create a collage costume design for their chosen character.

Students will pick a character to design for, carefully considering their character’s personality, before putting together a costume design. The costume design will be created through collage, so students will need to match their chosen media to their character.

Once the collaged design is created, students will be encouraged to research how the costume could be made using textiles or other less conventional materials.

Tutors, your students can work individually or in teams depending on your preference.

Once all teams have completed the task, students will share their ideas with the rest of the class.

Students will require:

• Computer / internet
• Drawing template (supplied by us)
• Mixed media for collage (paper, scraps, feathers etc.)
• Scissors and glue

Duration

This workshop usually works with the following time scale:

• 10 minute Introduction
• 40 minute Design development
• 10 minute Critique and discussion

Delivery

This workshop can be offered to your school or college online or face-to-face.

We can start the workshop with a live introduction to our course leader from Costume with Textiles or we can email you personally with a list of materials and guidelines.

What is the outcome of the workshop?

The student will have a costume illustration which can be discussed in portfolios or interviews when applying to the Costume with Textiles course.

Adobe Photoshop Costume Texture Mapping

This workshop will use Adobe Photoshop to explore how to warp, transform and play with designs into different performers’ costumes. You will add a shadow and some final touches to make the designs set for stage and screen.

Photograpy - Divergent Thinking

This workshop introduces the idea of divergent thinking with visual examples and encourages participants to embrace the limitations of photographing the same subject repeatedly. Make as many photographs of a chosen object as you possibly can. Photograph the object in as many scenarios as you wish and turn it into as many things as you can think of. Use the photographs you make as visual records of your ability to make interesting photographic decisions and consider how to make “something out of nothing”.

To participate in this workshop you’ll need a PC or Mac to follow the presentation/ task and no prior knowledge or experience in photography is required. It's all about having fun! The photographs for this workshop can be taken with your mobile phone.

Branding goes Bananas!

This workshop introduces the core values of branding through drawing on bananas! YES REALLY! We will investigate what really makes a fashion brand by exploring the tangiable and visible elements through to the invisible yet apparent qualities. You will use your creative skills to create a branded banana with a difference. You will also have a healthy snack left over for lunch!

For this workshop you will need to have a banana (more yellow than brown) and a biro (please make sure it is a biro rather than an inky pen or pencil which won't work for this task). You will also need a device or computer to be able to view the presentation. Also it's great for you to have your camera on

An Introduction to 3D Printing in Textiles, Costume and Fashion and Blender 2.91 software

This workshop will give you an insight into how 3D printing is used in textiles, fashion, and costume, followed by an introduction to Blender 2.91, an open-source 3D computer graphics software.

You will need:

• A PC, Mac, or a suitable device to follow the presentation
• A notebook for any notes.

Monoprinting DIY

The monoprinting workshop will focus on experimenting, and as ever in art, anything is possible.

The great thing about monoprinting is that there are no rules. You can utilise a whole range of mediums and freely experiment with different techniques. So, don't worry if you don't have any traditional art materials to hand.

You will need:

• Paper (e.g. printer paper, newspaper, old envelopes)
• Medium (e.g. inks, paints, oil pastels, soy sauce, ketchup, mustard, food colouring)
• Printing sheet (e.g. acrylic, plastic tray, metal tray, plastic bag, crisp packets, greaseproof paper)
• Tools (e.g. pencils, brushes, palette knife, bits of card, twigs, fingers!)
• Optional extras (e.g. masking tape, string, scrap paper, egg shells, scrap fabrics, bubble wrap, pasta, rice, leaves, feathers)

Still movies: Photography and Narrative

This workshop focuses on storytelling and narrative production through photography. Create a visual story in 5 pictures in response to your immediate surroundings.

Students will need a mobile phone and an Instagram account if possible. No prior knowledge of photography required.

Photography: The 4 Minute Game

An exploration of photography, walking and working with limitations. Make random turns, get lost, find yourself in an unfamiliar place. Impel yourself not to just to look, but to turn what you see into an engaging composition, to make a decision. You’ll either fail or succeed, but you’ll amass an archive of pictures to evaluate.

You will need:

• A mobile phone
• A willingness to head outdoors
• An Instagram account, if possible.

Sharpie dyeing yarn and fabric for Textiles, Fashion & Costume

Learn how to use Sharpie pens to dye textiles. Experiment with colour and dye effects. 

Students will require:

• Sharpie pens or other solvent based markers.
• Rubbing alcohol or vodka.
• Yarns/Embroidery threads
• Fabrics/old t-shirts.

Beyond Plain: Colour and Weave for Fashion Fabrics

Dogstooth and beyond, an introduction to the world of weave and optical illusions synonymous with iconic fashion fabrics.

You will need:

• A selection of constrasting coloured papers. Black and white papers are ideal - 2 x A4 sheet of each cut into strips (approx 1cm wide)
• A board or piece of cardboard
• Sellotape or masking tape
• A felt tip or marker pen. 

Expressive Embroidery Stitches in Contemporary Art and Textiles

Consider the range of line and filling stitches to create an expressive gesture. This process can have endless creative possibilities within Textiles, Fashion and Contemporary Art.

You will need:

• A piece of fabric about 30cm x 30cm (ideally medium weight and made from natural fibres such as cotton, linen or wool)
• Sewing needle
• A range of threads.

The Home Photographic Studio

This sesson will bring together the fundamental skills and techniques we consider when taking studio like photographs at home. We will also look at ways to promote quality, consistency and subject exploration using light.

You will need:

• A phone with a camera
• Snapseed app installed (optional)
• A4 or A3 white paper
• Blu tack or tape
• Coloured paper or a coloured wall
• Tin foil or reflective surface
• An ironing board (optional)

Breaking down costumes

An introduction to the thought process and techniques behind 'breaking down' costumes, to give the impression of use.

You will need:

• An item of clothing, or accessory that you are happy to wear out
• Acrylic paints
• A shaving brush or similar
• Newspaper
• A plate
• Sand paper

Fixing Fashion

Learn how to repair your clothing using simple hand-sewing techniques, inspired by Sashiko mending.

You will need:

• Patch of demin or similar weight fabric (approx. 20x20cm)
• OR clothing item in need of repair
• Under-patch (approx. 10x10cm) in a lightweight woven fabric (to patch repair)
• Needle and thread
• Pins
• Scissors

Designing for People (3D Design)

This workshop looks at three user profiles and asks participants to design a chair for a specific user using their specific needs to determine its function and aethestics.

 

Duration

This workshop usually works with the following timescale:

• 1.5 hours (90 minutes)

 

Delivery

• The workshop can be delivered on our campus, in your school or online (max. 40 participants in person).
• You will need A3 paper, drawing pens and coloured pens.

 

What is the outcome of the workshop?

Participants will gain an understanding of how to design for people by creating a chair design in groups which they will then present at the end of the session.  

Concept Collage

This session will guide participants in using the basic principles of Deconstructivism to create concept collage’s for interior spaces, furniture, materiality and design detailing.

 

Duration

This workshop usually works with the following time scale:

• 1 hour (60 minutes) 

 

Delivery

• The workshop can be delivered on our campus, at your school or online (max. 40 participants in person)
• You will need interior design magazines, scissors, A3/A4 paper and glue.

 

What is the outcome of the workshop?

The workshop will disrupt how learners approach the design process. Participants will create a series of collages.

Paper Scrunch Miniature Environments

Workshop participants will identify possibilities for interior and architectural spaces through the manipulation of paper and imagination.

 

Duration

The workshop is expected to run for:

• 1 hour (60 minutes)

 

Delivery

• This workshop is available on our campus, in your school or online (max. 40 participants in person).
• You will need A4 paper, drawing pens, tracing paper, coloured pens.

 

What is the outcome of the workshop?

Participants will create a series of drawings which depict concept environments.

Freehand Sketching for Product Design

In this workshop participants will improve their  freehand sketching skills with a series of exercises and tips that will dramatically help them take the communication and representation of your ideas to the next level.   

 

Duration

This workshop is espected to run for:

• 1 hour (60 minutes)

 

Delivery

• This workshop can be offered to your school or college face-to-face on our campus or in your school, or online.
• You will need pencil, pen, felt tip pen, fineliner or literally anything that can leave a trace behind . Some paper, if recycled even better. 
• Post workshop Q&A with a tutor from the BA/BSc Product Design course. 

 

What is the outcome of this workshop?

Our creative workshops introduce the concept of Human-centred design and encourage young students to develop product design ideas that meet real needs. 

An introduction to pattern making using Adobe Photoshop

This workshop will give you an introdcution on how to make simple pattern repeats used in Textiles, Fashion and Costume design.

Students will require:

• A selection of drawings or photos to work from
• Access to Adobe Photoshop

Women and the Crusades

Dr Katherine Lewis re-evaluates the common assumption that the Crusades were the preserve of male warriors and kings. Instead, she focuses on how women were involved from the very beginning. Katherine was recently invited onto BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time series to discuss Melisende, the Queen of Jerusalem. She offers a session addressing the “motivation” behind Crusading which features on both A-Level exam boards.

The Tudors – Henry VIII and the Reformation [online only]

Our resident experts on early-modern Britain, Dr Sarah Bastow/Professor Tim Thornton consider the extent to which Henry VIII’s divorce of Catherine of Aragon ignited the English Reformation. A-Level themes: authority, religion, and nation in Britain during the early modern period.

Soviet Russia

This session entitled “Marx, Lenin, Stalin: Understanding the Differences” speaks to the A-Level themes of revolutionary ideas and practice as well as the consolidation of the Soviet state under two very different leaders.

 

The 1918 “Spanish” Flu Pandemic

He was recently invited on a number of regional and national radio shows to share his expertise. This relates to a number of global topics during this period on the A-Level and GCSE syllabi and may also be of general interest.

Nazi Germany

The lecture/workshop can focus on particular themes or episodes like the demise of the Weimar Republic, the Nazi consolidation of power, the impact of Nazi rule on society, the Holocaust, and the de-Nazification of Germany.

Media and the Everyday

A talk about how we use media, and media uses us, at different times of the day, how and why - with questions as starting points for a follow-on discussion. This will require analytical and critical thinking skills.

Magazine Design

A practical guide to all the considerations and decisions involved in designing a great magazine front cover - with a task to put together your own cover, using whatever software you have (Word will do!) or even paper / collage. This will develop visual communication and technical skills as well as commercial and audience awareness.

Music Fans and Gender 

This gendering of culture can lead to discrimination when a 'serious' fan doesn't fit the expected demographic - with questions as starting points for a follow-on discussion. This will require analytical and critical thinking skills.

Interviewing for Radio 

A practical talk on why great interviews are vital for radio programmes and how to set them up, for example thinking about questions to ask in advance - with a task in which students interview each other, using their smartphone as a recording device. This will develop audio communication, technical skills and audience awareness.

Films and Paratexts

A talk about how Hollywood movies are surrounded by 'paratexts' - trailers, merchandise including toys, books, computer games, media reviews etc - which all work in different ways to draw your attention to the movie and influence what you might think about it - with questions as starting points for a follow-on discussion. This will require analytical and critical thinking skills.

Football Match Reporting 

A practical talk on the building blocks of football match reporting - with a writing challenge task to do just that! This will develop sports journalism skill and knowhow.

Bach Chorales Without Tears

This session will explore ways of tackling Bach Chorales, understanding their function in Bach’s time, how they were conceived by Bach and how this knowledge can help us to write them effectively today. The session will cover using both Roman-numerals and figured-bass symbols to analyse and harmonize chorales.

Getting Started with Analysis

Students will look at the first movement of a Mozart piano sonata and examine approaches to analysing it, looking at melody, rhythm, tonality (key) and form. The session is intended to build students’ confidence in score-based analysis and to develop their understanding of key features of late-eighteenth-century musical style. Knowledge of standard music notation. Some basic familiarity with 18th century music would be useful but not necessary.

Music and Drama in Mozart’s Don Giovanni

This session will look at how Mozart uses music to shape the drama in this most celebrated of his operas. The session will also look at how Mozart uses music to distinguish between characters on the basis of their social class and gender.

Classical Music Performance Workshop

This will be of particular benefit to those preparing for performance exams. Students should indicate what they are performing ahead of the workshop and bring their instruments with them.

Working with Limitations [online only]

Awaiting further information.

Thinking About Musical Parameters [online only]

How might rhythm, harmony, melody, timbre and texture be best used to accommodate your musical ideas?

Introduction To Film Music

What does music bring to film and television? This session introduces some of the key areas involved in studying multimedia music, using scenes from a range of Hollywood blockbusters to structure discussion.

Music of Fantasy Worlds

Starting off in the film-worlds of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, students get to grips with some of the key concepts and features of musical language before following the music into theme parks, videogames, museums, plays and the weird and wonderful world of 'filk'.

Why Study Music at Uni?

Including the different courses and pathways available and the skills that are developed through both independent and collaborative learning, leading to high employability as well as course satisfaction and enjoyment.