Interior Design & Styling (Extended Degree)

UCAS code: B68G

Here's what Arts University Plymouth says about its Interior Design & Styling (Extended Degree) course.

If you want to pursue a creative degree at Arts University Plymouth but feel you have yet to acquire the experience and range of skills necessary, our Extended BA programme will prepare you for entry to one of our BA (Hons) undergraduate courses.

What is Extended BA? Our Extended BA (Hons) Degrees offers a unique four-year route for students aiming to delve into the diverse realm of art, design, and media. This programme provides an initial exploratory year, where you'll cultivate insight into various creative skills and approaches, laying a robust foundation before advancing to a specialised degree of your choice. Whether you're returning to education after a hiatus or entering without formal qualifications, our Extended BA equips you with the requisite skills, knowledge, and experience to secure a place in our full undergraduate program.

Our Intensive Extended Degree program is a dynamic blend of lectures, workshops, and practical studio sessions designed to challenge and inspire. Our diverse student body spans from fresh-faced eighteen-year-olds to seasoned creatives in their seventies, fostering a rich collaborative environment. With the freedom to take risks and experiment, you'll develop a diverse skill set through hands-on experimentation with materials, processes, and methodologies. This transformative journey hones critical skills essential for degree-level study, expanding your proficiency in drawing, visual research, contextual studies, digital imaging, and design methods. Gain invaluable experience in a supportive atmosphere that encourages creativity, collaboration, and innovation.

Why Choose BA (Hons) Interior Design & Styling? This course has been devised to develop your skills in interior design and styling, emphasising the impact of colour, texture, materials, surface, and ambience in a range of environments. We will ensure you enter industry as a well-rounded interiors specialist, ready to work on projects from super yachts to magazine photoshoots.

This degree generates inspired graduates, who are both visually intelligent and well acquainted with technical drawing packages. Cutting across a range of interior disciplines, here you’ll gain a great introduction to designing interiors for a variety of environments – from residential and commercial spaces to the public realm and even transport.

Your studies will place special emphasis on trends, colour, materiality, sustainability, and accessibility in a range of interior contexts, both public and private. You’ll develop your own distinct taste in style curation, exploring lighting, furnishing, materiality and textural finishes to make your design concepts a reality.

Through a variety of projects, you'll find your own interior specialism, which could range from hospitality design or styling for editorial to designing yachts or aeroplanes. You’ll also develop a keen understanding of consumer trends and learn how to design for different levels of the market, whilst refining your presentation skills. Specialist modules cover interior project management, history of design, event planning, and live design briefs. Hard skills that you will develop include technical drawing, visualisation, editorial photography, and use of CAD software.

You will work within dedicated design studios, with skilled technical support staff. You will have access to our Fab Lab for digital prototyping, as well as wood, metal and glass workshops, digital print facilities, AutoCAD design software and design intelligence facilities. Our extensive photographic resources include large-format scanners as well as an infinity cove - a seamless curved studio with solid backdrop for commercial-standard photography.

On successful completion of your Extended Degree year, you will be guaranteed a place on one of our full undergraduate BA (Hons) programmes. Many of our past students have gone on to achieve high grades in their degrees, including a large number with First Class Honours.

The first year of an Extended Degree is not a qualification in its own right, but when you successfully complete it you are guaranteed a place on our full undergraduate programme.

You’ll develop confidence in your use of drawing, visual research, contextual studies, digital imaging and design methods, and you’ll have the chance to experiment with a range of materials, equipment, processes and software.

As the year goes by you’ll specialise in your chosen undergraduate subject (illustration, graphic design, fine art, etc.), helping you to become a confident, independent and creative artist, designer or maker.