Introduction
Design and create innovative, engaging digital multimedia content on our BA (Hons) Digital Media Production degree at Cambridge School of Art.
New technologies and changing platforms mean there’s a growing demand for people with the skills to develop creative digital content across social media and many other digital platforms with a specialist understanding of user experience and design and emerging technologies like VR.
Whether it's for businesses, charities, arts organisations and beyond, our BA (Hons) Digital Media Production degree will give you a transferable toolkit to take you on your digital journey. The course will help you develop your artistic vision and technical abilities, while giving you research and analytical skills to strengthen your creative ideas.
You’ll be based in Cambridge School of Art, with access to all our industry-standard software, hardware and extensive facilities. Cambridge is the perfect place to study. It’s a tech hub at the forefront of the digital revolution, often called ‘Silicon Fen’, with digital agencies and companies including Sookio, Onespacemedia, Google, Microsoft and Amazon opening divisions here, as well as creative organisations such as Collusion and our very own StoryLab Research Institute. Thanks to our links with such companies, you’ll follow briefs and challenges that come straight from industry, and get ongoing support to find placements and work experience. You can also take an optional placement year.
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As a BA (Hons) Digital Media Production student at ARU, you’ll develop your digital design and visual communication skills. Our teaching staff and technicians will help you explore, and keep up to date with new industry developments, in areas such as interactive design and animation; video production; digital photography; web design; mobile apps; sound design; physical computing; user experience and interfaces; motion graphics; Virtual Reality; 360 film-making and other technologies.
Throughout your course you’ll have the chance to work on collaborative projects. This is a great way to develop highly sought-after transferable skills such as team working, project planning, digital portfolio creation and marketing. These are among the skills highlighted by Microsoft as the 'future of work'.
At the end of your Digital Media Production degree, you’ll showcase your work in our Degree Show, which is attended every year by industry professionals and recruitment agencies. You can see work by our 2020 graduating students on our PRESENT showcase site.
Our Art and Design courses ranked 8th in the UK for 'Satisfied with Course' and 3rd for 'Satisfied with Teaching' in The Guardian University Guide 2020.
Facilities and showcase
Industry-standard equipment
As a Digital Media Production student at ARU you’ll have use of:
- the full Adobe Creative suite
- Apple iMacs
- wide-format printers and scanners
- photography equipment, including digital cameras and lighting kits
- video editing suites
- sound studios
- film studios
- VR and 360 cameras.
Our team of technical officers will be on hand to offer training and support.
Studio and workshops
All our facilities at Cambridge School of Art are open to you as a Digital Media Production student, including:
- a printmaking workshop
- a 3D workshop
- a digital photography lab
- photography studios and darkrooms
- vintage printmaking presses
- letterpress machine
- Mac and PC suites.
Take a closer look
Our Creative Showcase shines a spotlight on what makes ARU creative and cultural – our spaces, places and people. Find out more about our community, the difference we make, the stories we tell, and the things that inspire us.
Meanwhile, Present is an exhibition that you curate for yourself. Explore the work of our graduating students in this eye-catching virtual degree show.
Careers
By completing our BA (Hons) Digital Media Production course you'll be prepared for roles including digital media design, web design, social media analysis, content writing, videography, motion graphic art and interactive design. But you’ll also be ready for near-future careers such as digital culture commentator or designer. You might even invent your own new role in this exciting cultural landscape.
We work with employers to make sure you graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities for you to learn through work-based projects, internships and placements.
Our links with major companies in Cambridge – such as Sookio, Brandanonymous, Frontier and Jagex – allow you to engage with live briefs and competitions, enhance your portfolio and get experience of working life.
We also work closely with local arts organisations and practitioners, including Collusion Arts Organisation and future storytelling research group StoryLab. This will give you opportunities to engage with Interactive Arts practitioners. Both Collusion and StoryLab contribute and support projects throughout the course.
What’s more, our employability advisers run workshops, seminars, networking events, portfolio reviews and design challenges. They'll also help you find placements and work experience, so that you can graduate with the creative skills and confidence to succeed.
4 years with placement
This year will support you in developing your digital media practice, so that you are prepared for life beyond University. We will set you challenges that begin with experimentation and exploration within digital media practice. You will be encouraged to solve challenging digital media practice briefs, you will then be able to design your own final project, which can be in any area of digital media and can include working with an Industry partner. You will be expected to display, in both preparatory and finished work, an advanced understanding of the methods, techniques, materials and processes appropriate to your chosen media, along with an understanding of the cultural context.
You will also have the option to gain work experience which will enhance your employability, as work-based learning offers you the chance to gain industry knowledge, skills, contacts and networking opportunities.
We will encourage self-managed learning, and enhance your employability by developing your communication, personal organisation, team-working, and networking skills, as well as giving you opportunities to apply those skills to real-world experiences, thereby increasing your self-reliance and confidence.
Assessment
Our modules allow you to demonstrate your progress by producing coursework to set projects, and formal briefs. At the end of each semester you’ll submit a portfolio of work for practice-based modules, and a written document for contextual/theoretical modules. These will be graded and you’ll receive written feedback.
You’ll also receive ongoing feedback on your design project concepts and develop your learning in taught sessions, one-to-one discussions, project reviews, peer to peer feedback and group critiques.
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