BEING A CSAD STUDENT

BEING A CSAD STUDENT

CARDIFF SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN

ART & DESIGN IS MY PASSION, WHAT WILL THE COURSE BE LIKE?It is our passion too! We are a proper school of Art &Design in a proper University.

We have designed your studies to be centred on: yourunique skills; your creative ideas; and your ability tocontextualise these in a professional situation. In threeyears, you have every chance to become a CSAD graduatewho possesses not only the talent, but also theconfidence, experience, and insight, to thrive as a creativeprofessional in today’s world.

You want to do things your way: the freedom is yours tochoose, to collaborate and make contacts with anemployer, gallery or voluntary organisation or even beginto build your own business or creative professionalpractice. You may elect to join a research group or exhibityour work. You also have the chance to travel and studyin Europe or at one of our partner universities in far awayplaces.

IS EVERYONE LIKE ME?Perhaps not exactly like you, but you need to be amongpeople who will share in your passion. Our entranceexpectations (300 UCAS points), as well as rigorous, butfriendly, interview process, create a community ofstudents who are as serious about their studies in art anddesign as you are.

People who are at the top of their game will teach you.CSAD staff, both academic and technical, as well as someof our administrative team, are creative practitioners intheir own right.

Academic and technical experts will give you theindividual attention you need to build a successful career.You are encouraged to reflect, question, and create,drawing on their experience of leading edge practice,research and professional development. Our brillianthistorians, philosophers and theoreticians will challengeyou to think much wider and deeper.

WHAT ARE THE EXTRA STUDY COSTS?We try to keep additional costs to an absolute minimumand we work hard to ensure that your assessments arenot determined by how rich you are! All cost of materialsassociated with the development of your technical skillsare met by the School. We do not charge for use ofequipment, other than in the FabLab.

Expensive things such as trips abroad are always ‘extras’and not compulsory. You will be charged for materialsneeded for your individual work, where we are unable toprovide these through recycling or by other means. Wekeep the costs down by our ability to buy in bulk andnegotiate with suppliers. Your work is yours to take awayand of course many of our students sell some of whatthey produce.

WHAT EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS WILL I NEED?What you use will depend on what you have chosen tostudy. You might decide to buy some of your own tools, alaptop and a camera. You will certainly need sketch-books.

Your programme will advise you on anything special thatyou might like to have.

HOW MUCH TEACHING WILL I GET?Art & Design is second only to medicine in terms of thecommitment required. We expect our students to spend40 hours per week on their studies. About half of thattime will be some kind of formal teaching: in seminars,workshops or studio. Our studios and some workshopsare open (and occupied) from 8am until midnight. It’s abusy place.

WHO WILL I BE TAUGHT BY?Everyone in the School has some connection with somekind of art, design, architecture and making practice.Everyone who teaches will be an active artist, designer,theorist or technical specialist. Our Professors and seniorstaff in the School teach on our programmes, as dorecent graduates and external specialists.

IS THERE ANY CHOICE IN MY STUDIES?There is a lot of choice. Our modules are designed toallow you to choose where to place the emphasis of yourstudies. You can concentrate on pure creative practice,or veer towards either an enterprise or a researchfocussed career. You can choose from a whole range ofopportunities in the second year from travel andexchange, to starting your own business, working with aresearch team or learning a new skill.

IS THERE A LOT OF WRITING AND THEORY?You cannot study art & design at a good universitywithout understanding something of the historicalcontexts and theoretical ideas that leading artists anddesigners rely upon. You can shape this study too, withchoices of historical and theoretical seminar groups. Youalso have a choice in the form, type and length ofdissertation you write; for example, in your third year, youcan elect to submit a business plan, rather than adissertation.

WHAT ABOUT MY DYSLEXIA OR OTHER DISABILITY?Dyslexia is a very common condition amongst artists anddesigners. If you have it, or think you have it, we canprovide specialist diagnosis and help for you throughoutyour studies.

If you have some other disability, then that is no problemwhatsoever to us, as long as you contact the UniversityStudent Services as soon as you enrol and notify them.It’s much harder to help you, if we don’t know about yourdisability.

WHERE WILL I WORK?Our students work in new and newly refurbishedbuildings, linked by a glass walkway on the University’sLlandaff Campus, close to student accommodation. Weoffer brand new purpose build studios and workshops, inhigh quality architectural spaces, with much designstatement furniture

You need really excellent, well lit, and spacious studiosand workshops and a place to work, without hot-desking– and that’s what we provide.

Come to one of our visit days and see what we meanwhen we say our School of Art & Design is an ideas andcreative factory.

Everything and anything we have in our extensiveworkshops are available for you to use: from traditionalthings like plaster moulding and woodwork to our hotmetal foundry and our computerised rapid prototypingworkshops. We are also home to the only MIT FabLab in aUK university.

WHAT DOES THE LLANDAFF CAMPUS HAVE?Apart from CSAD and being next to the river and parks,the campus has a student union building with a café andbar, a gym, five coffee and snack bars, a shop and playingfields. The campus is also home to the CardiffMetropolitan University Schools of Management, andHealth Sciences as well as the Library, the LearningCentre, Student Services, the UMax job Shop and the i-Zone, plus a bank with a cash machine.

WILL I HAVE A SPACE TO WORK?Yes. The type of space will vary according to what you arestudying and what you are doing. Our studios are zonesof activity based on the kinds of creative work to be foundin the School.

We have a significant number of workstations of differenttypes for makers, designer and artists, within studios thatsimulate professional environments.

CAN I GO ON AN EXCHANGE OR TRAVEL ABROAD?Yes. We have exchange partners all over the world inevery continent, as local as Paris to as far afield asAustralia, Korea, the USA, India and even the ReunionIslands. You can study there and keep the credits youearn.

At various times, we run trips abroad, to places likeRajasthan, Morocco, Berlin, Venice and to a workshop inthe Dordogne.

ARE THERE ANY WORK EXPERIENCEOPPORTUNITIES?You have the chance throughout you studies to work withprofessional artists, designers, employers, buyers andgalleries. We can arrange work placements. Many of ourprogrammes use ‘live’ projects for real clients.

You have the opportunity to learn how to start your ownbusiness and everyone learns what it takes to beemployed or to support their own practice aftergraduation. We even have an incubator unit to helpgraduates build their own business.

FAQS ABOUT BEING A STUDENT AT CSAD

CARDIFF SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN

TAUGHT POSTGRADUATE• Master of Fine Art (MFA)• Master of Design (MDes)• Master of Design (MDes) SADI

• MA (Cardiff School of Art & Design) Specialist Pathways only• Art & Science• Philosophy• Ecologies• Death and Visual Culture

• Postgraduate Certificate in Research Skills:Art & Design

• MA Ceramics• MSc Advanced Product Design

UNDERGRADUATE• HNC Building Technology and

Management (Ystrad Mynach)

• HND Architectural Design & Technology

• BSc (Hons) Architectural Design &Technology

• BA (Hons) Artist Designer: Maker• BA (Hons) Fine Art• BA (Hons) Ceramics• BA (Hons) Textiles• BA (Hons) Graphic Communication• BA (Hons) Illustration• BA (Hons) Product Design• BSc (Hons) Product Design• BA (Hons) Photographic Practice

(Bridgend)

RESEARCH DEGREES• MPhil• PhD• Professional Doctorate in Art• Professional Doctorate in Design

www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/csadwww.cardiffmet.ac.uk/studywithus

CARDIFF SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN, LLANDAFF CAMPUS, WESTERN AVENUE, CARDIFF, CF5 2YB44 (0)29 2041 6070

+44 (0)29 2041 6640

csad@cardiffmet.ac.uk

FOUNDATION• Cardiff Diploma in Foundation Studies

(Art & Design) (Bridgend) - allied programme only

• Foundation Degree in Applied Art & Design(Bridgend)

• Foundation Degree in Ceramics (Cardiff and The Vale College)

• Foundation Degree in ContemporaryTextiles Practice (Cardiff and The Vale College)

• Foundation Degree in GraphicCommunication (Cardiff and The Vale College)

I’M CHOOSING CARDIFF BECAUSE OFITS SPORT – CAN I DO THAT ANDSTUDY ART & DESIGN?Absolutely, yes. The University has had several ofstudents representing GB at the Olympics and/or theirhome nation at the Commonwealth Games. We havestudents who train for every type of sport at a high leveland our University systems allow us to help them tobalance that with their studies.

If you are just looking to play for fun and keep fit, theUniversity has a full commitment to sport for all itsstudents.

I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION BUTITS NOT ANSWERED HERE.Come to one of our open days or give us a call and ask,we are always happy to help. Or look on our website orFacebook pages. cardiffmet.ac.uk/opendays

CAN I GO SWIMMING IN THE RIVER?No!

IS ALL THIS REALLY TRUE?Of course it is. Come to an Open Day and ask one of ourstudents if you don’t believe us.!

WHAT IS THE SOCIAL LIFE LIKE AT CSAD?We are a small and lively community of artists anddesigners who are part of a medium sized University in acity with three Universities. You can use our student unionas well as the student union of Cardiff University, so thereare plenty of chances to meet people as wild, serious,sporty, mainstream or as alternative as you.

WHAT ELSE DOES CSAD GET UP TO?There’s always a lot going on here. We have heaps onoffer through our Cardiff Open programme of eveningclasses, in everything from writing poetry to life drawing.We have a weekly seminar programme on a Wednesdayevening, open to all, where our staff and researchstudents talk about their research. We also have links toorganisations such as the Lumen Prize, which bring inspecial events and exhibitions. Then there’s the FabLaband our involvement with the Wales Institute for Researchin Art & Design. It’s a busy place.

WHAT IS CARDIFF LIKE?It is a modern, European capital city. From here you canreach the mountains and the sea. If you are a walker or asurfer, you will have nothing to complain about. The cityhas world class sporting and cultural venues. It’s home tothe SWALEC Stadium, the Millennium Stadium, theNational Museums of Wales and the Wales MillenniumCentre, plus much else. It’s a city that truly thrives on bothsport and culture, with a lively alternative scene.Student housing is relatively cheap and clusteredtogether in a lively student community. There is a greatbus and local train service.

WHAT ABOUT AFTER I FINISH, WHAT CAN I DO?Last year, Cardiff Metropolitan University ranked 6th outof the UK’s top 12 universities in terms of graduateemployment, with 95% of leavers getting jobs or pursuingfurther education within six months of graduation [source:The Telegraph; Higher Education Statistics Agency].

In your final year, you can elect to produce a researchdissertation or a detailed business plan. You can navigateyour three years with a business or an academic focus. It’sup to you. We give you every opportunity to lay thestrongest possible foundations for realising yourindividual ambitions after CSAD; not least through ourincubation unit which supports graduates in theestablishment of their own companies.

All of our Undergraduate programmes can be extendedto study up to Masters level as an MDes or MFA(Professional Masters), MA (Academic and CreativeMasters) or MPhil (Research Masters). All studentsachieving a 2:1 or above are guaranteed a place on one ofour Masters programmes if they want.

CAN I TAKE A YEAR OUT TO TRAVEL OR WORK?The design of our programmes makes this easy. So longas you complete your studies within five years of startingthem you can take time out to work or travel.