Games Art and Design BA (Hons)

This unit will introduce you to the fundamental principles of ideation and iteration in game development through concept art. You’ll be introduced to industry-standard pipeline processes and fundamental iterative design techniques, which is crucial for developing unique ideas. You’ll be introduced to 2D digital painting techniques such as lighting, composition, colour, texture, narrative, mood and intent. Emphasising research, communication, and critical thinking skills important to a creative practice, seminar discussion and lectures will invite you to begin to interrogate and understand the wider contexts within which games sit and introduce you to the critical and creative debate.

40 credits

In this unit, you will explore and experiment with techniques, materials, media, and ideas. Building on the introduction to game development pipelines in your concept art project, you’ll explore 3D modelling techniques and indie game development process. Project briefs enable you to explore storytelling, form, pacing, play, presentation and audience interaction. You’ll expand your knowledge of the principles and technical skills required to create 2D and 3D content for video games and other creative industries. You’ll build on established iterative design processes by applying them to 3D modelling and asset production, and games design and development. You’ll also study professional developers and their product standards to contextualise and understand current market trends and platform limitations. You will build your research skills to support idea generation and development, review and understand the wider games industry, and incorporate games studies into your studio practice.

80 credits

The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.

An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus.  The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.

Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.

In your second year, you will progress your knowledge of 2D and 3D content creation in a range of specialist areas, including environment art, character art, asset production, and indie development, to name a few. You’ll be introduced to a broad range of professional software, such as Maya, Unreal Engine, Substance Painter, Photoshop, and ZBrush, as you start to specialise in an area of game art or games design and development that suits your career development plan. You’ll consider your work within the context of different audiences and a variety of platforms, including console, web, mobile, computer, and augmented and virtual reality. You’ll approach design and content creation with a focus on originality, experimenting with form and function of your creative practice to begin to push the boundaries of game making. You’ll research into historical, cultural and broader creative influences, and how they can be used to promote equality, diversity and inclusion, to add depth and complexity to your ideas.

80 credits

This unit will introduce you to the ways collaboration can help you focus and enhance your creative strengths by working with fellow students and our creative community. Working in mixed teams on a project, you will use your creative ideas to generate solutions to the challenge or brief, to mimic a games development studio. You’ll participate in an internal and external game jam brief to create fully working game prototypes. You’ll develop your understanding of game pipelines by developing your own games, utilising production methodologies such as Lean, Waterfall, and Agile, to navigate through production challenges. This unit aims to enhance your career development by fostering problem-solving, critical thinking, teamwork, listening, negotiation, and reflection skills.

40 credits

The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.

An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus.  The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.

Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.

This is the first and shorter of the two units that make up your final year of study. You’ll define yourself as a game artist or designer. Working individually or in groups, you’ll undertake a number of projects using industry-standard digital tools to create stunning visual aesthetics or gameplay experiences that demonstrate your ability to critically evaluate and engage with important contemporary topics. The unit provides an opportunity for you to study a topic of your choice through a research project, enabling you to enter into the critical debate on an important area within games studies. Group and individual tutorials will provide stimulating and supportive sessions to help you develop your research ideas, and you’ll also be introduced to research methods and the principles of data summary and presentation.

40 credits

The unit will allow you to consolidate your learning from your degree programme into two final projects, bringing together ideas and techniques from throughout your study. These projects will be the focal point of your portfolio, showcasing skills and abilities to future employers or clients. Students will create a creative, industry-standard and/or experimental work demonstrating their practical and theoretical skills in their particular field or specialism. You’ll have the opportunity to display your final year project as part of our degree show, Grad Fest, which allows you to showcase your work to our network of industry professionals and prospective employers.

80 credits

The first week of each academic year is called Wayfinding week. It’s an opportunity get your bearings, establish new connections and, after your first year at Norwich, re-establish old ones. Your course team will talk you through the year ahead and explain the expectations for the year. We’ll help you navigate new encounters and identify areas to focus on as you progress through your course.

An important element of Wayfinding Week is taking part in our annual ‘Make it Manifest(o)’ project. Your course team will introduce the project in which we’ll ask you to consider your hopes and vision of the year ahead at Norwich and work with students in other year groups to bring your ideas to life. The project culminates in a celebratory display of work across the campus.  The project will help you to develop your critical creativity through different approaches, concepts, and mediums. You’ll encounter diverse perspectives and build friendships and networks within our university community.

Interchange weeks are opportunities to step away from your disciplinary studies and engage in projects, workshops, visits and talks that extend your knowledge and understanding of the world. Whether you learn a new skill or take part in a global challenge project with students from other courses, you will come away with new insights to take back to your course. Interchange is part of the schedule for all Norwich students with sessions held across and beyond the campus led by university staff, visiting lecturers and students.