The Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours is a practice-based undergraduate award in art and design practice and theory, based on studio practice and the digital environment. This single-honours programme develops a learning structure in which historical traditions and new practices confront and influence each other within a contextual, cultural and theoretical framework. If you aspire to become professional artists within the areas of Graphic Design, Digital Games, Web Development, Animation, Illustration and Photography, then this course is aimed for students like you. The course provides you with a holistic artistic education, with specialisation in Graphic Design and Animation (both of which involve photography and illustration). Through a combination of practical and theoretical modules, the course encourages the development of critical and original approaches to contemporary creative production and enables students to actively investigate the influence of new digital technologies in relation to creativity and visual communication.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Honours in Digital Arts programme is a practice-based undergraduate award in art and design practice and theory, based on conventional studio practice and applied within the digital environment. It is a three-year, full-time, single honours programme that develops a learning structure in which historical traditions and new practices confront and influence each other within a contextual, cultural and theoretical framework.
The course is aimed if you aspire to become a professional artist within the areas of Graphic Design, Digital Games, Web Development, Animation, Illustration and Photography. The course provides you with a holistic artistic education, with specialisation in two main routes in the second and third years, namely:
- Graphic Design (Visual Communications, Web and Screen Design), and
- Animation (Digital Games, Web, Television/Film and Digital Video Art).
The areas of Illustration and Photography are common and overlap both streams.
Through a combination of practical and theoretical modules, the course encourages the development of critical and original approaches to contemporary creative production and enables students to actively investigate the influence of new digital technologies in relation to creativity and visual communication. The programme provides a framework within which you are prepared for further academic research as well as integration into the various graphic design, illustration and animation industries which require a high degree of digital creativity.
Communication and Academic Skills Programme
The communication and academic skills programme complements students’ main course of study. It introduces them to writing and presenting as situated within academic contexts sensitive to specific disciplines and develops their competences for future careers.
| Semester 1 | |||||||||||
| Compulsory Units (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||||||||
| DGA1003 | Research Methods in Art and Design | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1004 | Introduction to Text and Image | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1007 | Introduction to Visual Narrative | 2 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1018 | Storyboarding and Sequential Art | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1019 | Introduction to Software and Hardware | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1021 | Intermedia Studio 1 | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1022 | Ideas Generation and Development | 2 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| Elective Units (Elective units are offered subject to availability, a minimum number of student registrations and time-table constraints) | |||||||||||
| DGA1012 | Introduction to Design Thinking | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA1013 | Comparative Approaches to Art, Design and Visual Culture | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA1014 | History of Photography | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA1015 | Contemporary Art Photography | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| ELP1063 | English Speech Fluency | 2 ECTS | |||||||||
| IOT1008 | An Introduction to Creativity | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| LIN1063 | Academic Reading and Writing in English | 2 ECTS | |||||||||
| MCS1012 | Introduction to Analogue Photography and the Darkroom | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
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| Semester 2 | |||||||||||
| Compulsory Units (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||||||||
| DGA1008 | Introduction to Illustration | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1010 | Introduction to Animation | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1017 | Introduction to Computational Art | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1020 | Applied Software Practices | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1023 | Intermedia Studio 2 | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA1024 | Introduction to Photography | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| | |||||||||||
| Semester 1 | |||||||||||
| Compulsory Units (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||||||||
| DGA1006 | Contemporary Image Making | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA2000 | Intermedia Studio 3 | 6 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA2003 | Audiovisual Language and Film Analysis | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| Compulsory Units - Visual Communications Stream | |||||||||||
| DGA2005 | Editorial Design | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA2009 | Designing for the Screen 1 | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA2019 | Applied Photography 1 | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| Compulsory Units - Animation Stream | |||||||||||
| DGA2011 | Visual Narrative | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA2012 | Animation Principles | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
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| Semester 2 | |||||||||||
| Compulsory Units (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||||||||
| DGA2016 | Intermedia Studio 4 | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA2017 | Introduction to Interactive Art | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA2018 | Immersive Experience Design | 8 ECTS | |||||||||
| IDG3000 | Game Design and Conceptualisation | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| MCS2050 | Cultural Theory and Semiotics | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| Compulsory Units - Visual Communications Stream | |||||||||||
| DGA2020 | Applied Photography 2 | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA2021 | Brand Identity and Packaging Design | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| Compulsory Units - Animation Stream | |||||||||||
| DGA2013 | Digital Animation Production (3D) | 6 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA2014 | Motion Graphics and Compositing | 4 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
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| Semester 1 | |||||||||||
| Compulsory Units (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||||||||
| DGA3004 | Negotiated Practice | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA3014 | AI Concepts for Artists and Designers | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA3018 | Managing a Research Project | 6 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA3021 | Professional Practice | 6 ECTS | |||||||||
| ELP3001 | Communicating Practice-Based Research | 2 ECTS | |||||||||
| Compulsory Units - Visual Communications Stream | |||||||||||
| DGA3016 | Designing for the Screen 2 | 6 ECTS | |||||||||
| Compulsory Units - Animation Stream | |||||||||||
| DGA3017 | Character and Simulated Animation | 6 ECTS | |||||||||
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| Semester 2 | |||||||||||
| Compulsory Units (All students must register for this/these unit/s) | |||||||||||
| DGA3011 | Final Project and Dissertation | 12 ECTS | (NC) | ||||||||
| DGA3019 | Future Perspectives | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA3020 | Research Symposium | 4 ECTS | |||||||||
| DGA3023 | Degree Exhibition | 12 ECTS | |||||||||
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Requirement for award of Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in Digital Arts: 180 ECTS credits.
This programme of study is governed by the General Regulations for University Undergraduate Awards, 2019 and by the Bye-Laws of Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Digital Arts (Honours) under the auspices of the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences.
