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- BA (Hons) Fashion Communication
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BA (Hons) Fashion Communication
- Duration: 3–5 years full-time
- Placement year: Optional 1 year
- Course code: W111 (UCAS)
- Institution code: A66 (UCAS)
BA (Hons) Fashion Communication course information
On BA (Hons) Fashion Communication, you’ll gain theoretical and practical skills by exploring the process behind creating effective and responsible fashion communication. You'll create forms of still and moving image and develop visual identities using the latest creative software. The course will help you to understand the theory and thought process behind everything from creating a narrative for an image or campaign, to building a brand identity.
Great fashion communication requires collaborative thinking and teamwork. In AUB’s creative community, you'll be introduced to, and encouraged to work with, students on other BA (Hons) courses, including Fashion, Commercial Photography, Textiles Design, Film Production and Make-up, Hair and Prosthetics, so the opportunities to collaborate and apply your skills are limitless. This will also allow you to gain confidence is creatively directing others to realise your own vision.
According to the British Fashion Council, the UK Fashion Industry supports 797,000 jobs. With a degree from AUB, you'll be able to make your own unique mark in this exciting space.
Our teaching and technical staff are exceptional. They're inspiring teachers, industry practitioners, technicians and researchers who are here to support you with your studies and help you to achieve outstanding outcomes.
Integrated Foundation Year
On BA (Hons) Fashion Communication, you have the option to take a specialised Integrated Foundation Year, or Year 0.
The Integrated Foundation year allows you to explore and develop your skills and knowledge at an introductory level, gaining a better understanding of what the subject area has to offer before joining the degree.
Placement year
All undergraduate courses at AUB offer an optional placement year, to be taken between your second and third years of study.
If you’re unsure about this optional placement, you don’t need to decide now. Once you’re here and studying with us, the course team will discuss the placement options with you, so when the time comes, you can make a decision that’s right for you.
Exchange and international summer programmes
Students on BA (Hons) Fashion Communication have the chance to broaden their horizons through exciting exchange and international summer programmes. These opportunities allow you to study abroad at one of our brilliant partner institutions, experience different cultures, and enhance your academic journey.
Level 4 (first year)
Exploration
Through the BA (Hons) Fashion Communication journey, you'll be challenged to problem-solve and explore possibilities to seek innovative and responsible solutions to concept origination, application and final outcomes. On this course, you’ll develop a creative tool kit of skills, knowledge and practice, which will underpin and inform your personal and professional growth to develop your sense of place within the creative industry.
The units will allow you to critically reflect on the study of fashion communication from the beginning of the course by exploring design and fashion theory from the past and present to inform the future. Your first unit unpacks how fashion can be used as a communication tool. Your second unit uses the mediums of photography and styling to consider the meaning behind images that are communicated in fashion. At the end of your first year, you'll create an individual project concept that may involve aspects of collaboration, where you’ll begin to define strengths and specialist choices through the production of a publication that embeds the core skills learned in the first two terms.
By studying three core units across the year that underpin the discipline of fashion communication, you'll investigate and experience the range of possible practices and areas of study you may want to engage with as a fashion communicator during your time on the course.
The Level 4 journey will not only shape your experience through learning new skills and knowledge – it'll also identify your strengths, interests and areas of specialisms, as well as introducing you to relevant and contemporary creative practices. It'll also ensure that you engage with a broad range of experiences, which will support specialist decisions in the future.
Level 5 (second year)
Innovation
During your second year of study, you'll develop a critical understanding of consumer behaviour and market diversity, while also directly informing your approach to focused communication development and market analysis. You'll engage with distinct and challenging research methods and visual communication techniques through problem-solving and live briefs.
You'll be encouraged to question existing practices and look for new and innovative solutions, exploring diversity, ethics, niche market opportunities, and by developing empathic consideration for the local and global fashion industry. You'll develop a portfolio of visual and written communication material to promote yourself in your continued personal and professional development.
The first unit explores moving image through a live client brief by considering how fashion films form a large part of contemporary marketing campaigns, especially via social media. The second unit is a live client brief that requires radical thinking to come up with your own fashion communication campaign and allows you to begin to focus on the communication mediums that you prefer, such as photography, film, graphic design, illustration, or publication. The third unit aims to explore research methods fashion communication practice, allowing you to develop a ‘passion project’ that reflects your creative identity and interests.
At the end of your second year, you'll be able to undertake an optional UK or international work experience placement year to help prepare you for your graduate future by giving you firsthand experience of the expectations around creative industry practice.
Level 6 (third year)
Application
In your final year, you'll undertake a Research Project unit and a Final Major Project that's relevant to your desired graduate future. Your projects will be appropriate for your portfolio and for your graduate show, relevant exhibitions, and related graduate fashion events.
In the first term, you'll produce a research project in which you'll demonstrate an advanced range of research and writing skills. You'll also experiment for your Final Major Project through researching ideas and creating prototypes, culminating in a ‘work in progress’ exhibition at the end of the first term. Your second term is dedicated to the completion of your Final Major Project, which you'll use to showcase your own creative identity.
The third term focuses on preparing you for your graduate future by exploring your personal brand and your portfolio. Whether you're looking to start your career or move into further study, the course will help you to transition to the next steps and showcase your work by working with you as an individual.
Ultimately, the final year requires you to define the final direction of your theory and practice. It encourages you to be focused and innovative. You'll graduate with the knowledge, understanding, skills and creative agility necessary to further develop your specialist practices for your chosen graduate future.
We actively encourage you to form collectives, freelance, start your own business, organise events and exhibitions, complete internships, enter competitions and work collaboratively.
APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN
Now that you've found the perfect course, it's time to apply.
Check out our handy 'how to apply' guide and our portfolio top tips.
OPEN DAYS
Open Days are a great way to get a feel for undergraduate life at AUB. At an Open Day, you'll be able to explore the campus, talk to course teams and discover our industry-standard facilities.
Visit us on:
- 6 December
- 10 January
AUB SHOWCASE
We're proud of our alumni, and rightfully so.
Explore the incredible work of our graduates in our online AUB Showcase.
Browse work by course, student or theme.
Teaching, learning and assessment
The course combines both independent learning and taught sessions throughout all levels.
Each unit is assessed separately, and the assessment forms part of the unit. Assessment both provides a measure of your achievement, and also gives you regular feedback on how your learning is developing.
Taught sessions are designed to support, underpin and inform independent learning and are delivered in a variety of styles, including a diverse range of ongoing practical workshops, demonstrations, lectures, group and individual tutorials, seminars, critiques, unit briefings and optional study visits. These are delivered by the course team and supplemented by visiting practitioners from the fashion and related sectors.
The study time allocated to each unit in the course incorporates a balance of formal teaching, tutorial support and independent learning.
The course team has developed a variety of learning and teaching methods which support different learning styles, inclusivity and access to learning. The main focus for the learning and teaching methods is through the assignment(s) undertaken for each unit, which reflect the level of study.
The course team has developed team teaching opportunities, both within the core team and in collaboration with Visiting Tutors and industry professionals, to enhance learning opportunities and to further your knowledge and awareness of industry practices and expectations. The team also regularly attends new and updated training, seminars and conferences in order to keep delivery current and in line with industry requirements.
The course is structured progressively to provide increased opportunities for independent learning as you reach the later stages of the course. The progressive promotion of independent learning and self-reflection encourages anticipated maturity and allows you to direct learning towards individual goals. Emphasis is placed upon reflective practice where you'll be expected to progressively take personal responsibility for your learning.
Teaching is directed at supporting individual engagement in learning, although there are opportunities to work in teams to enable you to learn the value of peer co-operation. As a member of the cohort, you'll be an active participant in learning and teaching and through this, the sharing of good practice is established. Peer learning is facilitated through group critiques and feedback sessions, collaborative projects and more informally within the studio environment.
Contact hours include all scheduled teaching sessions, but also supervised time in the workshop or studio. In line with national guidance, we include in our calculation of contact hours all the time which is scheduled in the studio for independent study which is also supported by staff (either academic staff, or technicians).
The information provided below gives the proportion of your study time which constitutes contact hours. Where there are optional routes through the course, we've used the figures for the most popular option.
For every unit of your course, we'll inform you of what you're expected to learn, what you have to submit, how your work will be assessed, and the deadline for presenting your work for assessment. This is made available through Unit Information, which is on your course blog.
You'll receive a final mark for each unit in the form of a percentage, which will be recorded on your formal record of achievement (transcript). Each component of assessment is graded using a notched marking scale, whereby only certain marks are used within each grade. The only marks available within any ten-point band are *2, *5 and *8 (e.g. 62, 65, 68). These marks correspond to a low, mid, and high level of achievement within each grade band.
All learning outcomes must be passed to successfully complete the unit.
On successful completion of your Honours degree course, you'll be awarded a degree classification based on your unit marks. The final classification is determined using all unit marks at Levels 5 and 6 using two different algorithms, which are detailed in the HE Student Regulations. If the two algorithms produce different results, you'll be awarded the higher class of degree.
If you've joined Level 6 through either the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) route or having completed a Foundation Degree (FdA), the final classification is determined using only your unit marks at Level 6.
For further information on assessment, progression, awards and classifications, please visit viewpoint.aub.ac.uk.