Year One
These two year-long modules run side by side.

Design Principles: Form, Function and Application (100 credit points) 
You will develop skills and knowledge to master the design process. Lectures and workshops will introduce you to key ideas in fashion accessory design that will inform and develop your practical studio work, concept initiation, and research.

Local and national trips to galleries will help you to produce research to develop into briefs, and you’ll focus on developing
your personal style and aesthetic as a designer.

Manufacturing workshops in leather, textiles, and 3D resistant materials are supported and developed by experienced industry professionals. You’ll also get support and guidance in work placement search skills and CV development.

Design, Culture and Context 1 (20 credit points) 
You’ll be encouraged to test your research, presentation, and written skills, and to be socially and culturally aware when considering your own environment and design decisions.

You will learn about the power of images, objects, and materials in visual and material culture, and discover how these are central to the way fashion accessory designers make meaning and communicate.

Year Two
These two year-long modules run side by side.

Design Context: Product, Technology and Innovation (100 credit points)
You will produce a body of 2D and 3D work that will focus on professional practice through live industry briefs, team working activities, and advanced design and manufacturing skills.

You’ll create full collections, with support from industry, and present your work to design teams at high-profile brands. You’ll develop an understanding of commerce, market awareness, customer profiling, and the wider industry.

Workshops in wood, metal, and plastics will allow you to develop innovative products. You will experiment with design challenges, creating a response to projects in footwear, glove design, and fashion accessories, including jewellery.

You can opt for electives, investigating other areas of the industry such as entrepreneurship, ethical fashion, and visual merchandising.

Design, Culture and Context 2 (20 credit points)
In the first half of the year, you will focus on how the commercial context affects design culture. You’ll consider the role played by design in the creation of desire in trend-driven consumer culture in an era of mass production and consumption. In the second half of the year you’ll create a negotiated, individual brief in preparation for your final year project.

Final year
Negotiated Fashion Accessory Design Portfolio and Research Project (120 credit points)
This module is split into a fashion accessory design project and a research project.

For the fashion accessory design project, you will develop a collection of five to eight products and a body of 2D work which will include illustrations, technical specifications, and a professional portfolio. You will also complete two smaller briefs set by industry, or for a competition, at a variety of market levels to show your versatility as a designer. You will exhibit your work at our Degree Show in Nottingham, and have the chance to be selected to showcase your work at Graduate Fashion Week in London.

For the research project, you will explore and research a relevant area of design, completing either a dissertation or a visual product with a short written rationale.