Credit Points: 30
Study Time: 300 Hours

The unit Contemporary Textiles for Professional Practice gives you the opportunity to engage in a range of practical projects that enhance your creativity and extend your knowledge and practical skills. It encourages an autonomous approach centred upon one chosen specialism within textiles. Some projects may be set by tutors, some by industry professionals, and others may be led by competitions, live briefs, or cross-course collaborations.

You are also encouraged to collaborate with students and /or professionals of other disciplines/courses, e.g. Fashion Design and Technology/Fashion Studies, Costume etc. This approach to learning will prepare those students who wish to work in design studios, as part of a team, or generally when communicating your ideas with others after graduation.

Students are expected to work within a specific professional context that has to have been researched and can be justified. This will encourage relationships between the design, making, production, use and audience of the textile outcome.

Outline Syllabus
(An indicative guide to the content covered by this unit) 

This will vary according to the interests of individual students and their chosen specialism.

Awareness of current practice and developments within industry will be developed through working on tutor devised projects reflecting a range of textile disciplines.

• Textiles for Fashion - Application to the body: women's/men's/children's/accessories
• Textiles for Interiors - municipal/home/public space 
• Textiles for Art/Craft - artefacts/objects 
• Textiles as surface Design - gift wrap/cards

Student-devised work will vary according to individual needs and interests. The research and preparatory work for your projects will be articulated in a Learning Agreement in which you will outline the timetable for the development and completion of work.

Method of Delivery
Presentations, projects, studio and workshop practice, independent study, tutorials, critiques.

Aims

A1 To enhance your creativity and practical skills through the application of learning in your chosen specialism therefore developing your professional understanding and competence.
A2 To consolidate research and problem solving in the creative process.
A3 To develop your ability to devise, initiate, and respond to personal projects.

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this unit you will be able to: 

LO1 Demonstrate enhanced creative and practical skills, including:

• Project work that shows a high degree of technical skill and creativity.
• The ability to produce textile outcomes that are designed and produced for a particular context.

LO2 Demonstrate the ability to apply research in problem solving and development of solutions to project briefs, including:

• The knowledge and ability to access various relevant forms of both visual and theoretical information. 
• Critical understanding of chosen textile specialism. 
• Critical evaluation of own and others work.

LO3 Plan, develop and bring personalised textile projects to fruition, including:

• A professional attitude to time management.
• The ability to co-ordinate the necessary needs of a successful textile project.

LO4 Collaborate with others in the development of the creative process.

LO5 Inform your creative ambitions with realistic career and future planning.

LO6 Through the PDP, evaluate and reflect on your own learning achievements.

Reference Materials

This will vary according to the needs of individual students. You will define reference material through negotiation with staff and list it in your Learning Agreement.