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Choose an Art and Design Career

Higher Education opportunities in art and design have never been as rich in diversity, as broad in scope and as useful to graduates in preparing them for a plethora of future career pathways.

A degree in Fine Art does not necessarily consign you to a solitary life in a studio – although graduates do enjoy successful careers as professional practitioners as painters, sculptors, printmakers and digital artists. Fine Art graduates are versatile and their studies prepare them for a wide range of career opportunities in such areas as arts administration, art therapy, art teaching, exhibition curating, and as art directors for magazines and advertising agencies - indeed, the skills they develop can open doors to a whole range of creative industries, and beyond. Design degrees are many and various, and equip graduates for careers as graphic designers, designers of products, furniture, textiles and Web sites, as well as interiors, landscapes and public open spaces. Illustrators can establish careers in many areas of specialism – whether creating political cartoons and pastiches for broadsheets and periodicals; authoring children’s books; designing book jackets or providing illustrations for scientific reference books, packaging or advertising. Similarly, photographers have an enormous array of opportunities to choose from such as photojournalism, portraiture, or fashion, sports and press photography. At Falmouth College of Arts, we even provide our students with training in underwater photography![!--pagebreak--]

 At Falmouth College of Arts, our tutors are practising professionals, and our reputation for excellence attracts visiting lecturers of international renown. We encourage students to undertake work placements, to work on live briefs for external clients, and to collaborate on projects with the local community. All these experiences contribute to the creation of fully-rounded graduates with a wide range of life skills. A recent survey of art and design graduates* revealed that employers are less concerned about the subject studied than with attributes such as communication, teamwork and interpersonal skills, general intellect, willingness to learn, ability to find things out, and flexibility and adaptability, as well as self-motivation, self-assurance and self-promotion. This survey concluded that employers crave new ideas, and desire risk-takers, lateral thinkers and creative problem-solvers, and that art and design graduates have vast potential in this respect, as most of these elements are ‘natural’ to the art and design environment. Falmouth College of Arts places great emphasis on encouraging its students to attain these attributes, and professional practice, problem-solving, teamwork, independent learning and communication skills are embedded within all of its programmes of study. The College is justifiably proud of its interaction with business and industry. It is also highly regarded for equipping its students with specialist skills that have value in the workplace. This, in turn, results in many of our graduates being at the forefront of their many and varied professions - proof indeed that art and design degrees do lead to prosperous and fulfilling futures. Author: Jilly Easterby Public Relations Officer, Falmouth College of Arts * Destinations & Reflections: A Study of the Careers of Art & Design Graduates by the Centre for Research into Quality at the University of Central England in Birmingham