model making courses:
BA (Hons) Modelmaking for Design and Media	The Arts Institute at Bournemouth	3 years full-time
BA (Hons) Degree in Modelmaking	University College for the Creative Arts at Rochester	3 years full-time
BA (Hons) Model Design & Special Effects	Hertfordshire University	3 years full-time
HND Design (Modelmaking)	Rycotewood College	2 years full-time
BA (Hons) Model Design & Special Effects	Suffolk College	From 4 1/2 - 9 years P/T
BA Modelmaking and Design	Sunderland University	3 years full-time
National Certificate in Modelmaking Design	Glasgow Metropolitain College	1 year full-time
Higher National Certificate/Diploma in Modelmaking: 3D Design		2 years full-time
BA in Model Making and Design for Film and Television	Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology	3 years
other related courses:
Courses in Sculpture	The Art Academy	call for details 0207 407 6959
Prop Making for Design	London College of Printing	16 x 13 weeks, part time
BSc/BDes (Hons)/HND Special Effects Development	Bolton University	3 to 4 years full time (degree) 4.5 years part time (degree) 2 years full time (HND)
BA (Hons) Design for Film & Television	Nottingham Trent University	3 years full-time
BA (Hons) Technical Arts & Special Effects	Wimbledon School of Art	3 years full-time
MA Animation and Special Effects	Sheffield Hallam University	Full-time – three semesters Part-time – typically three years
Other Colleges offering Art & Design courses here

If you know about a model making course that isn't listed above, please submit details here.

The Course

This specialist, innovative course is a European leader in the field of modelmaking. It sets out to be challenging, practical and demanding but also to provide a rich, rewarding, fun and vibrant experience. You will develop technical and aesthetic abilities, experiencing a wide variety of processes and materials in carrying out a range of challenging and interesting briefs - working both physically and digitally in three dimensions. Creative, analytical and interpretive thinking is continually encouraged throughout the course. Design methodology and critical analysis is promoted alongside visual and aesthetic judgement. You will be encouraged to develop an independent approach to learning, designing and problem solving. The course prides itself on its learning and teaching approaches and has a strong team of ex-industry professionals which is further supplemented by visiting industrial specialists.

The course has strong links within the creative industries and graduates are in high demand. Importance is placed on the promotion of students, strengthened by links with former graduates and industry contacts. The course values work experience enormously and students are encouraged to carry this out with significant companies at home and abroad. Live projects and interdepartmental assignments with other courses, such as Animation, are encouraged. You will also have the opportunity of attending annual overseas trips to galleries and industrial venues in destinations such as New York, Prague and Rome. These cultural and historical insights provide an appropriate critical basis for understanding and contextualization. The role of modelmaking is rapidly changing and increasingly modelmakers are required to take responsibility for project management in broad areas of media production, architectural interpretation and exhibition design. The course reflects this change, providing graduates with the necessary skills to be able to take on the demands that contemporary industry presents.

What We Look

For This course aims to develop highly skilled, insightful and creative graduates and students will need to show creativity, passion and enthusiasm towards a modelmaking career. You will be able to demonstrate three-dimensional ability, observational drawing skills, curiosity and problem-solving skills, theoretical understanding and a real interest in design.

Interviews and Portfolios

Interviews are an opportunity for you to demonstrate to us your self-motivation and commitment to your area of study. We will be particularly interested in exploring how you have responded to a given brief from your school or college. We will expect to see written as well as contextual work, with samples of three dimensional pieces you have produced (ideally the pieces themselves or a photographic record of them).We would also like to see sketchbooks which demonstrate thinking and curiosity, and some observational drawing. If you can provide samples of work which you have produced outside of your studies this will also help reinforce your portfolio.
e-mail
Course Structure

The course units are designed to enable you to gain numerous creative, technical, digital, visual and intellectual experiences and to develop and explore your newly acquired skills with an emphasis on a hands-on approach. You will be introduced to creative making, technical processes, material manipulation, mould making, finishing techniques, digital modelling, designing, problem solving and aesthetic understanding. Practice is always underpinned by theory.

Year 1:
Provides an introduction to the basic fundamental relative, technical, visual and intellectual skills and knowledge that you will need to build a successful career as a modelmaker. This is combined with an exploration of design ideas, critical thinking, visualisation skills and interpretation. Specialist demonstrations and practical studio and workshop sessions are also undertaken.

Year 2:
Builds on the development of skills; knowledge and understanding started in Year 1, and encourages students to develop as creative intelligent makers. You will explore models as devices for explaining ideas, representation and interpretation of design and further your understanding of the demands of modelmaking in architecture, communication and interactive museum design. Within this year, professional practice is introduced, work experience is encouraged and the commercial design industry explored. Team working is promoted through various projects-imitating the team ethos of the commercial world.

Year 3:
Will see you undertaking more in-depth and complex studio projects and you will also carry out a major theoretical piece of research. You will be encouraged to carry out a 'live' or simulated project, working to a client-led brief from the creative industries which must succeed within the constraints and expectations of this commercial world. Your final major project is designed to promote your professional intent, direction, creativity, individuality and strength in your specialist area. You will also learn about the professional practice aspects of the profession and experience business practice. Year 3 culminates in a show in London where you have a chance to meet employers.

Resources

Every student gets their own workspace, which is important for personal development and a sense of 'place'. The spirit of community here is strong - as is our active studio culture. Students will work predominantly in the studio base room environment, but will also use the well-resourced 3D workshops to produce outcomes, realisations and solutions to support their studio work. There is a computer suite located within the base studio with the aim of encouraging students to integrate digital understanding and outcomes into their processes.

Developing your Skills

You will enhance and develop your creative, visual, manipulative, interpretive and technical skills. Not only will you acquire these valuable talents but also other peripheral skills such as team working, communication and time management.

Future Careers and Graduate Success

Graduates may find themselves working on major Hollywood films or at internationally celebrated design companies and studios; they are highly sought after and enjoy ascendant careers in many different creative and commercial fields. Previous graduates have gone on to work in architecture, animation, film, product design and museums, for companies such as Foster and Partners Architects, Richard Rogers Partnership, Aardman Animation, Dyson and Hot Animation. They have worked on such films as Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Harry Potter series.

Course Details

Mode of Study: Full-time Course
Duration: 3 years
Institution Code: B53 UCAS CODES
Route A: W291 BA/MDM
Route B: E291 BA/MDMb

Course Leader

Paul Johnson

Contact

Courses Office Tel: 01202 363 228
Email: courseoffice@aib.ac.uk

This course is affiliated to the Bournemouth Skillset Screen & Media Academy

Web sites:
www.bmakers.co.uk

www.aib.ac.uk

Examples of coursework

This degree enables you to combine design creativity with craft skills and gives you the skills to work as a professional designer/model maker in industry and related model making activities. It offers a wide spectrum of opportunities in model design work, ranging from the highly accurate engineering approach of the product modeller, to the imaginative and inventive solutions of visual effects designers in advertising, film and TV.

Special Features of this Degree

This degree is highly regarded by potential employers. In recent years, students have undertaken work placements during the programme with leading special effects companies such as Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, Artem, Asylum and the BBC Visual Effects Department; architectural model makers such as Ove Arup, Skidmore Owings Merril, Richard Rogers and Sir Norman Foster’s Partnerships; design consultancies such as Ogle Design, Therefore, London Associates, Seymour Powell, and Land Rover.

On graduation, many students have found employment on visual and special effects films such as James Bond (past and present), Tomb Raider, The Mummy, Gladiator, Enigma, Blackhawk Down, Star Wars, The Phantom Menace, Harry Potter, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and many others.

In recent years, our students have also won the best model category and runners up award in the New Designers Exhibition at the Business Design Centre, London.

Year One

Materials Technology Processes: machine shop, materials, construction and finishing, technical illustration.

Scale Buildings and Environments: representation by drawing, photography, and models.

Product Model and Property Design:‘prop’ of manufactured product.

Special Effects Model Design: model design for photography. Critical and Cultural Studies: introduction to issues of analysis in design, study skills.

Year Two

Turbo Projects: short duration projects for model design practice.

Exhibition/Presentation Models: research, models for specific audiences.

Explanatory Aid/Advertising Models: develops communication, persuasion and entertainment skills.

Work Experience: placements in industry. Critical and Cultural Studies: develops aesthetic and theoretical frameworks underpinning model design.

Year Three

Independent Model Design Project: research, feasibility study, making, fitness for purpose.

Collaborative Project: model design project related to outside client/specialist adviser. Degree Essay: in-depth study related to practice.

Portfolio Project: compilation of material, portfolio suitable for interview.

 

Course Details:

Modelmaking plays a vital role in architecture, product development and the media by providing an essential visual link between the designer and production.

In the first year you will be introduced to the materials and processes used within the modelmaking industry and receive tuition on Architecture, Product Development and Special Effects, the main industry specialisms. Field trips during the first year include a visit to a European city, which will place your studies in a wider cultural context.

In the second year you will gain advanced technical knowledge through financially sponsored 'live' projects and develop your interpersonal skills with project management and teamwork. You also have the option of studying abroad within a student exchange scheme, studying units from other courses or taking the professional practice unit that involves working within industry.

In the final year the experience and knowledge gained in the first two years are applied to specialist projects of your choice.

Your main studies are enhanced with design, culture and theory units, with digital modelmaking a key element at all stages of the course. You will learn 2D digital drawing and image skills, which leads to 3D digital models and animation. You will discover how traditional techniques interact with digital technology and the importance of new methods of manufacture using computer data.

Project commissions come from Norman Foster and Partners, RHWL architects and local concerns, such as Adam Rouilly and SEEDA. Recent successes have included graduate work exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Maidstone TV Studios and the Thames Gateway Unit, Docklands, hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister's office.

Where could it lead?

Many graduates progress to a professional career working in-house with a design practice or with modelmaking companies with expertise in the areas of architecture, film and TV special effects, stills advertising or creating museum exhibits. Alternatively you can study for a Masters degree or take a postgraduate course in teaching.Recent graduates are working for Norman Foster and Partners, the Natural History Museum, working on the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory film or set building for TV productions.

Entry Requirements

and you will develop creative skills, aesthetic judgment and an understanding of model making in a cultural context.

This programme examines all aspects of creative model making utilising traditional, craft-based, machine and hand skills as well as up-to-date computer-based visualisation and virtual model making techniques.

A variety of specialist modules allow students to explore their own creativity whilst learning the fundamental processes and skills necessary to become a professional in this wide-ranging industry through the production of representative, interpretive and inventive models.

Main Staff who contribute to this programme

Sean Robinson (Programme Leader)
John Tyrrell (Admissions Tutor)
Andrew Millington (Design Team Leader)
Gurpreet Singh (Electronic Media)
Manny Ling (Electronic Media)
Angela Forsyth (Design)
Rob Burton (Information Illustration)
Shirley Wheeler (Environmental Illustration)
Doug Easom (Model Making Technician)
Graeme Milburn (Senior I.T. Technician)
Andrew Barker (I.T. Technician)

Entry Requirements

In the design industry, your portfolio speaks as loud as your qualifications. We are looking for creative potential, and so we interview applicants to view your portfolio of work.

Your portfolio should show examples of your drawing skills (including life drawing if possible), as well as examples of how you have creatively solved design problems or design briefs in past projects. These may be live projects if you are entering from the world of work, or past college projects. We are more interested in how you approach a problem and solve it, than professionally finished designs at this stage.

In some circumstances you may be considered for direct entry to level two of the programme, depending on your experience and portfolio, Procedures also exist for the accreditation of prior learning. Standard University entry requirements apply, although our approach to entry is based mainly around your portfolio. Applications are through UCAS.

Main Contacts

Web Site

ADMISSIONS TUTOR

E-mail
or telephone John Tyrrell on +44 (0)191 5153210 to arrange an interview.

PROGRAMME LEADER

E-mail
or telephone Sean Robinson on +44 (0)191 5152000 ext. 4125 for an informal chat about the programme or your suitability, or any general matters relating to this programme.

The course aims to produce multi-skilled model makers capable of working with a broad range of materials and processes within the industry. The skills developed will enable the students to articulate both existing and national thoughts into a dimensional state of being.

Introduction/Subject Area

The course covers the vocational, theorectical and practical areas of study necessary to prepare students for employment in the industry. This includes product model making, architectural modelmaking, animatronics, special effects, professional practice, CAD, contextual studies and visual studies.

Course Content

The course enables you to use a wide variety of materials and processes. The projects aim to reflect the continuous commitment need to achieve professional standards. A wide variety of materials and processes are employed including: latex, foaming latex, expanding polystyrene, jelflex, resin, dental alginate, vacuum forming, plus a wide variety of hard materials such as wood and metal. The course is delivered through a combination of formal lectures, demonstrations, critiques, workshop practice, self directed study and tutorials. Students' contextual awareness is developed through the study of theory, business and the history of design. Technical drawing, visual studies, CAD and information technology units enables students to develop the communication skills necessary for employment within the design industry. At the end of the first year students are encouraged to participate in work experience activity.

Assessment

The course is continuously assessed through a range of projects, assessments and presentations.

Progression/Career Opportunities

On completion of the course many students progress to employment, self employment or further study at degree level.

Entry Requirements

Any of the following qualifications:

2 A levels
GNVQ Advanced Art & Design
Foundation Art & Design
BTEC National Diploma
City and Guilds qualification

application through UCAS

Model design covers the design and construction of physical models, props and effects for the film and television industry. Whether it's a talking dog for a TV ad, a space trooper's armour, a miniature city or a simulated location re-construction, a model designer is responsible for bringing ideas into 'reality' through the lens of a camera.

Through many years' experience, the degree has been developed to be sequential and progressive to introduce, develop and sustain the learning experience. The multi-disciplinary approach also adds variety and interest, which encourages the opportunities to explore and re-define model design outcomes.