Integrated Foundation Year

We hope that you are having a good summer and we look forward to welcoming you onto the course in September.

This is your Welcome Information which tells you a little bit more about how to prepare and what to expect when you are here.

Our first opportunity to meet you will be on Monday the 16th of September at the start of Welcome Week. Within this meeting we will be able to talk through the Welcome Week activities and inductions and answer any initial questions. We will be seeing you in small groups so that we can get to know you better and so that we can welcome you properly.

At the Welcome Meeting we will give you a task to complete and a checklist of things to engage with over the next two weeks. Do not worry, it is nothing too taxing. We just want to make sure that you get to know about the course and the University as a whole. Activities will be designed so that you can meet each other, get to know the campus and learn about other services that the University offers.

Within the first two weeks we will show you how to access your timetable and how to find all the key bits of information that you will need. You will all have personalised timetables that explain which days of the week you will be on campus. (The days you are on campus will vary, depending on you course).

On independent study days you will still be able to access the campus to continue your work as needed. If necessary we will help you plan your time.

Within the first term there are a lot of workshops which will be introducing you to different practical, creative, and conceptual processes. These will introduce you to new ways of working, and new ways of thinking about your work. Usually, we will provide all materials and equipment for these workshops.

You will need a sketchbook/notebook and pens/pencils, regardless of your discipline. In addition to this, we recommend that you have two new memory sticks or a similar portable drive.

As you progress through the course, and as your work develops, you may need to build upon your own toolkit. The University does have a shop, and you will be able to purchase additional items as your work progresses.

Below, you will see that we’ve included some suggestions of things you might like to look at before you arrive.

Be curious and feed your ideas.

We look forward to seeing you in September.

Things to watch and read

Watch

How Drawing Helps You Think

Drawing sits at the heart of most disciplines – it is important

Taking Risks in Art and Life

You will hear us talk about risk often; what does it mean to take risks?

The Power of Practice: Lessons From 10 Years of Pushups

Again, you will hear us talk about ‘your practice.’ What does it mean to have a practice? Hint: Do not take this too literally!

What is design … the process

Being creative is to engage in a process. How does one creative process differ from another.

This is How to Overcome Your Fear of Failure.

None of us like to be seen to fail. Nonetheless, to be truly original and to break new ground, or discover new things, you need to be prepared to sometime fail and not be afraid to do so.

The Art of Creativity | Taika Waititi

Filmmaker Taika Waititi shares his thought on what it is to be creative.

Zaha Hadid: Sketching the Future.

How the grandest architectural statements begin as a single mark on paper.

Read

• Designboom is a daily web magazine covering the fields of design, architecture, and art.
• It’s Nice That is a daily web magazine that serves as a contemporary survey of a broad range of creative disciplines.
• No Film School is a valuable resource for all things filmmaking.
• Skwigley Website that is a complete survey of animated shorts travelling the festival circuit.
• Source is a web magazine that is a contemporary survey of photography.
• Selvedge is a journal of all things textiles.
• Doublefine Documentary is an account of game production process from inception to release.