BA (Hons) Interior Decoration, Design & Styling

Applying to study with us in September 2021?

This course is currently under revalidation, with the new title BA (Hons) Interior Design & Styling. Degrees listed as subject to revalidation are in the final stage of our rigorous approval process, ensuring our well-established undergraduate curriculum accurately reflects the excellent academic and employment opportunities available to students. Through close consultation with industry experts, academics, students and alumni, you can be sure the course you study will prepare you for a bright future in the ever-changing creative industries.

This new programme is one of very few in the UK to develop your skills in interior decoration, design and styling, emphasising colour, surface, decoration and ambience in a range of interior environments.

The focus of this programme is design, in both public and private spaces – the look of a place, and what it feels like when you walk into it. From the moment you enter a space, the first point of contact – a door handle or a light switch – to the bigger impact of colour, texture, materials, lighting, and the juxtaposition of objects and decoration, the interior can become your space in which to experiment, style and design.

Our programme aims to develop talented, visually intelligent graduates, who are inspired by interior decoration and design and acquainted with manufacturing techniques. 

The projects you’ll work on will introduce you to a diverse range of interior situations – from contract and retail to domestic, large and small, luxurious and purely functional. Given our unique geographical location, the design settings that you’ll consider will also include high-end luxury cruisers and other marine vessels.

What will I achieve?

Through this programme, you’ll learn how to develop ideas and present them to clients.

You will develop products, including upholstery, accessories and furniture, and gain smart manufacturing skills through the use of 3D and digital equipment in our Fab Lab. 

You will learn how to design for different levels of the market and develop excellent presentation skills. The programme includes projects around design for hard and soft surfaces; we also cover the history of interiors and there will be elements of design styling using photography, for editorial.

Specialist modules cover interior textiles, surface pattern and surface design. Hard skills that you will develop include drawing, colour pattern and styling, use of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software, interior decoration and presentation techniques.

Thinking & making

Study with us and you’ll expand your critical approach alongside developing skills in research and analysis. Our academically robust and intellectually stimulating degree programmes are delivered by our team of academics, technical demonstrators and invited experts who together deliver excellence in learning, teaching and assessment. Our programmes encourage diversity in thinking and making - from practical applications through to reflective, analytical writing.

We provide a dynamic, stimulating learning environment from which to test new models of practice while investing in the rich relationship between practice and theory - based on the potential in material and visual exploration, collaborative working, cross-fertilisation of ideas, and the exploration of histories and contemporary contexts.  

Opportunities for studying abroad are available at our partner institutions.

Highlights — BA (Hons) Interior Decoration, Design & Styling:

• Access impressive facilities, across disciplines.
• Work on many different kinds of interiors from domestic to commercial.
• Experience live projects with clients, photographers, filmmakers and designers.
• Benefit from knowledgeable and well-connected staff.
• Develop a range of hard skills, including CAD, photography and prototyping in hard and soft surfaces.

Modules

Year 1

• BAID101 Drawing and Visual Research
• BAID102 Workshop Materials and Digital Processes
• BAID103 Design for Industry
• BAID104 Professional Practice & Professional Development Plan (PDP) 1
• BAIS300 Interdisciplinary Studies
• BCOP100 Contexts of Practice 1

Year 2

• BAID201 Interior Decoration - Styling
• BAID202 Self Directed Project
• BAID203 Professional Practice & Professional Development Plan (PDP) 2
• GCOP200 Contexts of Practice 2

Year 3

• BAID301 Research & Experimentation
• BAID302 Creative & Professional Development
• BAID303 Creative & Professional Conclusion
• BAID304 Contexts of Practice 3
  • Pathway One - Written Research Project (WRP) is an opportunity to conduct a substantive piece of independent research, which is focused on an area related to creative practice. 
  • Pathway Two - Contextual Enquiry Project (CEP) is a practice-led research project with critical commentary, in which students conduct an in-depth inquiry intended to inform and reposition their creative practice.

All modules listed are compulsory.

Careers & alumni

Getting out and seeing the industry in action is central to learning. Our Interior Decoration, Design & Styling programme builds on our existing industry links in this area, including through our industry liaison group; visiting, for example, Decorex, Chelsea Harbour and many other interior-related events in London and Europe will also help you build your network of companies and products.

We have fantastic connections with many well-respected interior material suppliers and they regularly visit the programme to give students lectures and live briefs.

Our teaching staff have a wealth of experience in creating elements that fit within interiors, including working for major hotel chains. Study trips to the international trade fair Maison & Objet in Paris also give you the chance to experience the many advantages this industry has to offer. 

Our strong international connections allow our students to take a semester of study with one of our partner institutions within Europe and North America, and in turn, we welcome overseas students from those institutions to join us in our design studios, creating an exciting cultural exchange.

Graduates become:

• Interior & Spatial Designers
• Interior Product Designers & Makers
• Set Designers
• Exhibition Designers
• Product Stylists
• Trend Forecasters
• Retail Buyers/Merchandisers
• Magazine Stylists
• Interior Decorators

‘Careers & Enterprise in the Curriculum’ at Plymouth College of Art 

Professional practice is embedded within all of our programmes.  Throughout your studies, you will have the opportunity to develop the key professional, transferable skills for employability in the creative industries and potentially work in partnership with other sectors locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.

From writing and making the most of your CV to gaining industry experience, the acquisition of professional skills has been written into the programmes of study by our staff teams, who have ‘real world’ experience. They are also supported by our Industry Liaison Groups, who help inform the development of the higher education curriculum.

Entry requirements

2020 onwards: A portfolio and 112 - 120 UCAS points (earned through A-levels, BTEC National Diploma, or Foundation Diploma etc).

We also welcome applications from students who do not have formal qualifications but can provide evidence of their creativity, skills and experience. You will also be required to attend an interview in person or via Skype, Google Meet or similar online platform.

International students

Language requirements for study at Degree level

• Trinity College London
  • Integrated Skills in English II (Level B2), minimum grade required: Reading: Pass Listening: Pass Certificate valid for two years
• IELTS SELT Consortium
  • IELTS (Level B2), minimum grade required: IELTS overall score of 6.0 with a minimum score Listening: 5.5, Speaking: 5.5, Reading: 5.5, Writing: 5.5,
  • Certificate valid for two years

Visa requirements

• As an international student, you will need a Tier 4 (General) student visa which you can apply for online.

Resources

You will work in generously equipped and spacious design studios, with skilled technical support staff. Specific resources that you will have access to include our Fab Lab for digital prototyping, as well as wood, metal and glass prototyping workshops, textile design print and digital print facilities, AVA CAD 3D design software and model making, and design intelligence facilities.

We also have knitting and digital embroidery machines, and dye labs. Our photographic resources are among the best in the country: we provide access to large-format scanners as well as fantastic photographic studios, one of which provides an ‘Infinity Cove’, a large white curved solid backdrop for shoots.

We aim to encourage your creative education, and help you to develop your career through your studies and after. Our Careers & Enterprise office provides support from a dedicated team who are purely focused on developing creative opportunities. And this doesn’t stop when you graduate – we want to keep in contact and help support you through the first two years of your career.

Facilities at the college include:

Animation, Film and Photography Studios

Our students make full use of our industry-standard dedicated studio spaces – including our infinity cove, green screen, and specialist sound studio (with Foley pit and vocal recording booth) – plus our stop-motion suite, our darkrooms, and plenty of individual edit suites, all up-to-date with the latest industry-standard software.

Ceramics and Glass Workshops

With a glass furnace that works at 1,100 degrees, 10 potters wheels, resources for hot, warm and cold glass processes, a plaster room for mould making, 16 kilns, a well-stocked glaze mixing area and individual studio space, our Ceramics and Glass Workshops have a real ‘wow’ factor, rivalling any art school around the country.

Drawing Studios

With north-facing windows, a ‘methods and process’ area, individual studio space and a specialist life-drawing studio, our impressive, open-plan, triple-height Drawing Studio is a huge space, perfect for many different activities and specialisms.

Fab Lab

Our ‘fabrication laboratory’ is kitted-out with the latest in digital design technologies – from 3D printers to 3D scanners, a vinyl cutter, CNC milling machine, CNC router and laser cutter. It adds a whole new level of opportunity for students across all creative walks of life.

Fashion Studios

This large professional studio offers a real-life fashion experience in a fabulous space with sea views. Specialist industrial and domestic sewing machines, a range of knitting machines and a wide stock of fabrics and knitting yarns sit alongside a media and marketing Mac suite, a fully operational CAD cutting facility, and a library of designer garments to inspire.

Fine Art Printmaking Studios

A fantastic facility supporting fine art printmaking, our dedicated space caters for a wide range of programmes and processes. You’ll get access to a 150-year-old Columbian press, an Albion press, a historic and rare wallpaper press, and an automatic FAG proofing press, plus a broad selection of metal and wood type, vacuum screen-printing beds, and four etching presses.

Jewellery Design Studio

Housed in our fantastic new Craft, Design and Fabrication Workshops, this stunning space provides everything for contemporary and traditional techniques in jewellery design, including benches supplied with gas and oxygen, in-house metal casting resources, hand and machine-forming tools, facilities for vitreous enamelling, and a separate chemical room for etching, anodising and patternation. We also have larger metalwork equipment for welding, brazing, cutting and grinding.

Textile Studios

With views out to sea and 35 metres of print tables to encourage experimentation, our Printed Textile Design Studios also boast a fantastic Mimaki fabric printer, digital embroidery resources, industrial sewing machines, sublimation printers, a dye lab, heat presses, a tufting gun and a Mac suite. It’s got to be one of the best-printed textile workshops in the UK.

Digital Print Bureau and Equipment Resource Centre

Our Digital Print Bureau offers affordable and quick print services for all our students who are looking for anything from large-format or solvent printing, to photo printing, scanning or vinyl cutting, and a wide range of finishing services. Our highly experienced Equipment Resource Centre staff can advise you on which of our 6,000 pieces of industry-standard kit – from underwater cameras to traditional large format cameras and all free to hire – will best meet your needs.

Woods and Plastics Workshop

Alongside the latest in new technology, we value the long-standing traditions of making in wood and plastics – and have developed an excellently-resourced workshop that is open to all our students. It boasts a wide range of kit, including an impressive CNC router, plenty of saws and lathes, and strip-heaters, as well as greenwood-working facilities.