Fashion Communication and Promotion BA (Hons)
Length:
3 or 4 year options
UCAS Code:
W232 (3 Year)
W234 (4 Year)
Institution Code:
N39
Optional Diploma Years:
Creative Professional Development (1 year, Level 5 diploma), or Creative Computing (1 year, Level 5 diploma), available between years 2 & 3
Create original content and eye-catching campaigns that mirror the marketing strategies and visual communication skills driving the global fashion industry.
Our BA (Hons) Fashion Communication and Promotion focuses on nurturing your creativity and confidence in expressing strong ideas using images and graphics. You’ll blend analytical, editorial and marketing skills across a variety of media– such as graphic design, illustration, film, or photography. You’ll create original and imaginative content for promotional campaigns, events, magazines and media across print and digital platforms.
Our course will offer you insight into the technical expertise and creative strategies that successful fashion businesses use to grab attention. As you build your knowledge of fashion marketing, you will develop skills that will make you attractive to employers, including market segmentation, branding and brand development, promotional strategies and competitor analysis.
From eye-catching logos to stunning advertisements, you’ll gain hands-on experience through live projects and follow in the footsteps of graduates who have undertaken internships with brands like Adidas, Vivienne Westwood and Vogue. There will be opportunities to collaborate with students from other Norwich courses, giving you valuable experience of multi-disciplinary working common in agencies and the fashion industry.
Why study with us
- Share the first-year curriculum with BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing and Business, allowing you to study shared core fashion fundamentals including fashion history, contextual awareness, branding, marketing and effective communication techniques.
- Engage with many topics, grasp complex concepts, and discover how to use new media and digital technologies for creative innovation in fashion communication and promotion.
- Explore both traditional and new media across a wide range of creative practices, with the potential to shape the future of the fashion industry and contribute to the emergence of entirely new creative roles.
- Consider fashion communication from conceptual and commercial perspectives, explore a diversity of products and markets and develop an understanding of the interconnected global nature of the industry.
- Explore graphic design and digital content creation, experiment with fashion styling, photography, moving image and asset design.
- Consider the impact of sustainability and develop forward-thinking ideas to affect social change through fashion ventures.
- Examine the theory and practice of fashion trends and trend forecasting, marketing and branding and explore the world of fashion publications.
2024 graduate showreel
Course Content
Integrated Foundation Year (optional)
Our Integrated Foundation Year is designed to equip students with the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to thrive in their chosen degree subject. The course provides a comprehensive introduction to various disciplines, blending critical thinking and creative problem-solving with practical hands-on experience. This year serves as a bridge to undergraduate studies, allowing students to explore their interests within a supportive and inspiring environment, while familiarising themselves with the campus, workshops, and tutors.
Year 1
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.
This unit introduces you to the concepts surrounding fashion trend reporting, image making, industry innovators and culture. You will share a joint first year with our BA (Hons) Fashion Marketing and Business degree allowing you to explore a broader range of fundamental theories and skills. We will show you how to identify fashion and colour trends, how professional trend agencies operate, how to write trend reports and the social, cultural trends and ethical issues affecting the fashion industry today. You will have the opportunity to explore image making and experiment with fashion shoot production and execution.
40 credits
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 unit will introduce key fashion marketing theories and principles, such as strategic branding, competitor analysis, consumer behaviour and the macro fashion environment. Our creative thinking technique workshops will support you on how to create unique branding solutions, creative assets and content. You will have the opportunity to explore the fashion publication landscape, looking at target readers, business costs, and how to develop media and advertising packs. Through workshops you will explore key graphic design techniques, including layout design and font explorations. In addition, you will consider the impact great design and clear communication can have within a professional industry setting. You will be introduced to new areas of practice and will explore opportunities for working within brands, within creative agencies, and as a freelance creative practitioner.
80 credits
Year 2
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.
This unit will explore the world of commercial fashion campaigns, advertising and PR through photography, videos, and graphics for branding, ads and magazines. You’ll create a digital portfolio to reflect your development for each project including posters, packaging and promotional materials, and digital assets such as fashion films, websites and GIFs. Lectures explore topics including project management, sustainable practice, and new and emerging technology. You’ll be introduced to the different jobs emerging in the industry and given an opportunity to develop a plan to support your career aspirations, ambitions, and overall employability to make yourself stand out.
80 credits
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 unit focuses on collaboration, helping you to develop your strategic thinking, project management, and team working skills to respond to creative client briefs. Experience the fast-paced nature of the fashion industry, working in creative teams to respond to client briefs within a collaborative environment. Explore team roles and dynamics, problem-solving and project management to pitch fresh ideas and innovative solutions. You will begin to investigate your own area of research interest, supported by lectures and workshops exploring research techniques, ethical practice and report writing.
40 credits
Diploma Year (optional)
Students have the opportunity to spend a year after the second of their degree (or the third year if studying for a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year) enhancing their employability options through a Level 5 Diploma. They can choose from courses designed to provide:
- opportunities to gain industry insight, developing employability skills through a series of supported experiences, expanding professional networks and building confidence in the workplace, or
- an introduction to creative computing, building an understanding of how coding skills can be used to advance and complement creative practice.
Final year
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.
This is the first and shorter of the two units that make up your final year of study. You will continue to build a diverse portfolio of contemporary work that demonstrates your capabilities as a professional fashion communicator through your choice of creative practice routes, including promotional campaigns and brand strategy, image making and styling, publications and trend forecasting. Studio sessions will explore creative ideas generation, finding original sources of inspiration and pushing boundaries. The unit gives you the opportunity to identify, investigate and plan a self-determined, critical research project, culminating in a 5,000-word written report. Our industry lecture series will explore key talking points, theories and issues affecting the fashion industry today.
40 credits
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.
Your final unit gives you the opportunity to research, conceptualise and create a self-determined final year project, building on the skills, knowledge and understanding that you have gathered throughout the programme. You will be able to focus on one of the following pathway areas: image making and creative direction, promotional campaigns and branding, publications and digital platforms. Workshops will cover professional pitch, portfolio, and website design. Careers and employability sessions, like My Fashion Future, explore industry platforms, job roles, CVs, cover letters, interviews, and self-promotion so that you are industry-ready once you graduate.
80 credits
Course Content
Year 1
- Examine the theory and practice of fashion trends and trend forecasting, marketing and branding as well as historical and contemporary fashion writing and journalism
- Explore a range of graphic and illustration skills using traditional drawing techniques and digital applications
- Undertake an introduction to photography
- Apply your creative and conceptual abilities to fashion styling and illustration projects
- Undertake critical and reflective writing exercises to underpin your industry understanding and self-awareness.
Year 2
- Extend your conceptual and theoretical awareness of campaign strategy techniques, visual merchandising and the use of film and video as a promotional tool
- Develop collaborative working practices with students from other courses to explore the interaction between different design media and genres
- Undertake an introduction to digital film making and 3D digital modelling
- Design and create a 360-degree fashion campaign
- Develop an understanding of professional practice in areas of professional pitching, network building and self-promotion.
Year 3
- Identify an area of study that reflects your intended professional practice culminating in a substantial and focused body of creative work
- Expand your technical, creative and management skills relevant to your practice
- Take part in live projects and competitions such as briefs from Graduate Fashion Week and the British Fashion Council
- Compile a professional portfolio of work in appropriate physical and digital formats
- Write a Research Report on a topic broadly related to fashion and your own individual practice.
Careers Information
BA (Hons) Fashion Communication and Promotion encourages work-related learning and work placements. Dedicated employability workshops covering networking, personal brand building, CV and cover letter writing will help you to find appropriate opportunities within the industry.
Graduates have gone on to secure employment at high-calibre fashion brands/organisations such as Archant, Selfridges, Net A Porter, Saatchi & Saatchi, Jimmy Choo, Hunter and Wonderland.
Typical career paths include
- Fashion stylist
- Style scout
- Trend forecaster
- Visual merchandiser
- Fashion marketer
- Brand strategist
- Social media strategist
- Creative/Art director
- Promotion and PR
- PR and event manager
- Fashion writer
- Fashion editor
- Fashion blogger
- Fashion vlogger
- Fashion illustrator
You’ll also get specialist creative careers advice from our Business and Employability Team to help support you as you plan your career.
Ellisha Mason
Tabbed Section
Typical UK offers
A / AS Levels – GCE
GCE A/AS Levels 3 A-level qualifications at grades BCC (104 UCAS Tariff points) or above. Where candidates are not taking 3 A-levels, Norwich University of the Arts will consider combinations of A-level/AS-level and other Level 3 qualifications.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction*, Distinction* in an art, design or media related subject
T Levels
A T Level in any subject with overall grade Merit or above
UAL Extended Diploma
Merit
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 26 points
Norwich University of the Arts welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds. Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio (if required), responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.
If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.
If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications. Please do contact our Student Recruitment Team if you have any queries.
International applications
We accept qualifications from all over the world. To find our entry requirements from a specific country, please check our dedicated international pages.
Most international students are required to hold an English language qualification. Applicants are required to have a minimum UKVI approved IELTS exam score of 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each section. Equivalent English language qualifications are acceptable such as, IB English language syllabus A or B/English Literature (Grade 4).
We also accept some alternative English qualifications. Learn more about our English entry requirements.
You can email us on international@norwichuni.ac.uk if you’d like to discuss your application individually.
2024/25 University fees for new entrants
Norwich University of the Arts will assess students’ tuition fee status using the guidance provided by the UK Council for International Student Affairs
Students from the UK or Ireland and EU students with ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status will be charged ‘Home’ fees if they meet the relevant residency requirements. They will usually be eligible for a tuition fee loan from the UK government, meaning that they won’t have to pay Norwich University of the Arts’ tuition fees upfront.
Students who do not meet the necessary residency requirements will usually be charged ‘Overseas’ fees and will not be eligible for the UK government tuition fee loan. Since 2021/22, this includes new entrants from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland who do not have ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status, because the UK has now formally left the EU.
| Fee status | Course | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree) | £9,250 |
| Overseas | Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree) | £18,000 |
Inflation in subsequent years
The rules for inflation on fees in subsequent years depend on the type of fee status and level.
- For Home undergraduate students starting in 2024, inflation may be applied to your fees in later years, if the UK government were to increase the fee cap beyond the current limit of £9,250 per year. If such an increase were to apply, we would confirm this in advance to you of each academic year, and we would limit the increase to the maximum allowed by the Office for Students.
- For Overseas undergraduate students starting in 2024, inflation will be applied to your fees in later years. We will confirm this in advance to you of each academic year, and we will limit the increase to no more than the Office for Students’ recommended inflationary measure, which is RPI-X. RPI-X is calculated by the Office for Budget Responsibility. In setting fees for the following year, we will use the Office for Budget Responsibility’s RPI-X forecast for quarter 3 of the relevant year.
For Home and overseas postgraduate degree students starting in 2024, fees will remain the same for each year of your course.
Financial support for UK students in 2024
Tuition fee loans and loans for living costs are usually available to UK and some EU students, as well as non-repayable Norwich University of the Arts bursaries based on family income. Find out more about applying for funding.
International students
We offer a range of scholarships for international students to support your studies with us.
- Group briefings
- Academic tutorials
- Group tutorials
- Lectures
- Workshops
- Critiques (crits)
- Seminars
- Finished pieces of work
- Presentations
- Written work
- Your research
- A reflective journal
Work-based Learning Opportunities
Between Years 2 and 3 of this course, you’ll have the opportunity to undertake one of the following additional qualifications:
Creative Professional Development (1 year, Level 5 Diploma)
Our Creative Professional Development Diploma gives you the chance to spend a year exploring your post-uni job options through a structured programme of input sessions and work-based learning. This year offers two much-sought-after industry placements – the first lasting six weeks, the second 12 weeks, and a group project or ‘hackathon’ exploring freelancing and business start-up.
Creative Computing (1 year, Level 5 Diploma)
Our Creative Computing Diploma introduces you to coding and computational skills that will advance and complement your creative practice. No prior experience of coding is needed, just a curiosity about creative computing and a desire to push your own practice into new realms. You’ll also develop a wider knowledge of the creative tech industries, available roles and opportunities.
Integrated Foundation Year – BA (Hons) Fashion Communication and Promotion
An Integrated Foundation Year offers students a chance to build on their experience within their undergraduate course of choice.
An Integrated Foundation Year will help to build confidence and develop subject specific practical, creative and conceptual skills – making full use of University studios and workshops.
Typical UK offers and entry requirements for Integrated Foundation Year entry
GCE A/AS Levels
2 A-level qualifications at grades CC or higher.
BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Merit, Merit, Pass in an art, design or media related subject
BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit in an art, design or media related subject
T Levels
Pass (D or E on the core)
UAL Extended Diploma
An overall Pass
UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
An overall Pass
Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass
Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass
International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 24 points
Norwich University of the Arts welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds. Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio, responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.
If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.
Find out more about four year degrees at Norwich
Teaching Staff
News
@norwichuniarts
Norwich University of the Arts is proud to announce that it has been named the inaugural Arts University of the Year by the Daily Mail University Guide…
View this post
Norwich wins at Graduate Fashion Week 2024
Congratulations to Norwich University of the Arts students Zara Tuck and Lillie Westgate for their awards at Graduate Fashion Week 2024 which took place at Truman Brewery, London.
View news article
Body Matters AHRA International Conference
Thursday 21 November – Saturday 23 November 2024
The 21st Architectural Humanities Research Association International Conference is taking place at Norwich this November, with the theme ‘Body Matters’.
View event
In conversation with
Adrian discusses what it’s like to study BA (Hons) Fashion Communication and Promotion.
View blog