Art College offers taster sessions to A-Level students

Swansea College of Art at University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) welcomed 40 local students from Gower College to taster sessions of two creative courses.

The BA (Hons) Illustration and BA (Hons) Graphic Design tutors provided half-day sessions, where Gower College students were split into groups to try their hand at the two disciplines, switching over after lunch.

The aim of the activities was to give the students real experience of the type of tasks and processes that they would be introduced to and develop further on a degree programme, and to show them the facilities and materials available at the University.

In the illustration workshop, Programme Manager Jonathan Williams and Lecturer Ian Simmons got the students to work together to create a double page spread for a graphic novel, giving each individual a line from a script to turn into a panel. After illustrating their line, students created colour overlays before assembling the page and printing using the Risograph printer, assisted by Technical Demonstrator Morwenna Chapman, to take a copy home at the end of the workshop.  

The Graphic Design workshop run by Programme Manager Donna Williams and Technical Demonstrator Cameron Ridgway got the students working with typography to create their own word art. Each student was given a word and had to use paints, markers, collage and other materials to create an artwork which was then scanned and turned into a badge that they could take away.

Technical Demonstrator Cameron says: “Students had an enjoyable and creative time using Graphic Design to play around with text during the ‘Values’ workshop. They explored and experimented with typography, meaning and words to create visual representations of their chosen values in a format they could display and take home afterwards.”

Jonathan Williams adds that the Illustration sessions made it easier for the students to understand the “wide scope of the illustrative practice” and gain an insight into new printing processes. The students left happy and excited, describing the workshops as “interesting”, “enjoyable” and “fun”.

Gower College Lecturer Gary Hope says: “Days like these are a fantastic opportunity for my students to experience what Swansea College of Art has to offer them. They loved the workshops, really enjoyed the whole day and have provided some extremely positive feedback. We are hoping this becomes a regular event!”

Swansea College of Art at UWTSD prides itself on providing excellent teaching and learning experiences for students from all backgrounds, with its creative programmes consistently placed in the highest bracket of British universities. Swansea College of Art is currently 1^st in Wales for Graphic Design and top 10 in the UK, from Guardian Rankings 2022.  

Further Information

Ella Staden

Swyddog y Wasg a'r Cyfryngau

Press and Media Officer

Cyfathrebu Corfforaethol a Chysylltiadau Cyhoeddus

Corporate Communications and PR

E-bost | Email : ella.staden@uwtsd.ac.uk

Ffôn | Phone : 07384467078