Earlier this month students from partner FE colleges and schools joined the Outreach team here at CSM for our UAL Insights Summer School. Following on from the Spring School earlier in the year, students were given the chance to explore a particular area of art and design – from textiles to fashion design, fashion communication, fine art, architecture and product design.
Over the course of the week, students spent time in the studios with specialist CSM tutors and student ambassadors as well as attending workshops and masterclasses to develop and refine skills relevant to their area of interest.
Students were presented with a brief, which they responded to with in-depth research and the creation of a final project. These final projects were then exhibited in The Street at the end of the week.
The week offered a diverse range of projects including:
- Architecture students carried out field research and created scale models of King’s Cross inspired buildings
- Textile Design students experimented with techniques from fabric manipulation through to heat printing
- Product Design: after a visit to the New Designers exhibition, students created a series of working lighting fixtures
- Fashion: garment designs were inspired by exploring CSM’s library for inspiration, compiling detailed sketchbooks and learning new industry techniques
- Fashion Communication and Promotion: working to a brief based on the topic of identity, students produced photoshoots, analysed photographers and created their own zines
- Graphic Design students pushed the breadth of the subject through different mediums and projects including a silent protest through Granary Square
- Fine Art involved experiments with different areas from filming to the setting up of large installation pieces
During the week we spoke to participants to find out about their experiences of the Summer Schools. Rwahim Khan, current BTEC Level Three Fashion Design and Chanel Noye, BTEC Fashion and Clothing students said that he had the opportunity to learn and test out new techniques from researching to utilising materials, as well as the chance to explore the library’s wide range of resources had been an eye-opening experience and confirmed his interest in studying fashion design at university level.
Students from Fashion Communication through to Graphic Design felt that the projects had helped them understand the disciplines better and the breadth of the subjects. As a result they felt encouraged to pursue the topics further. Textiles student Ruby Mitchell noted how they had not used a sewing machine once during the week, the method that she has been used to using, but had created their finished pieces using the new techniques that they’d learnt during the week.
Take a look behind the scenes at the UAL Insights Summer School by visiting their Instagram page, following them on Twitter or liking them on Facebook. Share your memories or follow stories from this summer’s work via #insightssummer16
More:
- Find out more about how Outreach works at CSM
- Spring School blog