Brighton UNI – date: 8th of June

 Brighton UNI – date: 8^th of June

General feelings of the uni: (my thoughts throughout the day)

The outside of the actual uni building is dingy and uninspiring due to it being very basic and old. The building outside was rather run down and generally uninteresting. When entering the building on an open day the staff and students were warm and inviting, the atmosphere was cheering and energetic, and the inside of the building had mostly higher ceilings in the classroom and showcase spaces which was nice as it allowed a lot of light in the classrooms. The corridors were very basic and uninspiring. I managed to view all areas of the uni I was interested in, including the fashion studio, which was a slightly smaller space than I expected but It had a gorgeous view of the cityscape on the second floor. I then moved into the textiles room, my favourite part of the university. All of the rooms were currently set up for viewing so there were no tables or equipment out but there were portfolios and finals displayed on the desk and wall which were eye-catching and exciting. Moving on throw the rooms I saw the final garments and sample portfolios for the BA Fashion Design course which I didn’t feel were as exciting as the textiles were. We then moved on to the fashion communications classroom where we were greeted by one of the lecturers who kindly showed us around the communications work and course and what it entails. She was engaging and helpful in showing me what I would be doing and what the course was about. After viewing the uni general was joined an accommodation tour which I had booked in advance where we were taken to view the closes accommodation which is about a 5-minute walking from the uni which was appealing to me as I wasn’t too interested in spending a lot of money on travel to and from uni. this accommodation was also significantly cheaper then the accommodation I had viewed in London. I very quickly learnt why though. When entering the accommodation, a damp dirty smell hit you. We were shown through to the common room which was rather small and not a lot of room especially it was shared between about 300. We were also shown the laundry room which had only 4 washing machines and driers which were mostly broken and also covered 300+ people. We were then shown up to a room where the smell worsened as we went to the second floor. We were able to go into a room where the student ambassador was living, and it was very small with just about enough room for the single bed and small desk that was crammed in with an ensuite that was the size of a cupboard and was also dark and dingy. We went into view the kitchen which was no bigger than the 2 of the rooms combined which was shared between eight and they seemed to be bursting at the seams due to a lack of room. There was no table or seated area to eat at and not much room to cook in, this was complimented well by the low depressing ceilings and lack of light. After viewing the accommodation, we spoke to the head of course leader who distressed to us how the student who lived in the accommodation that was newer and about a 15-minute bus shuttle away felt disconnected and struggled a lot more to find their group to live within their second year. This was the most disappointing part of the university. We did go and attend the portfolio talk to just find out what the university was looking for within a portfolio and they seem to pride themselves on individuality and showcase you and your development throughout your portfolio. I did like this aspect of it. We also sat to listen to the fashion course talks which included a talk from the heads of textiles, fashion design, and fashion communication. The uni also prides themselves on their employability after university. All of their fashion courses are fashion and business which is do like as business something I have studied before and they specialize in fashion brands and business which I love. They are all exam-free and just essay and course work which I need in a course. The course of most interest to me was the textiles course this is because it would allow me to learn a variety of new skills and techniques and make them into a garment as pattern cutting is not my primary focus im interested in; doing textiles would also me to go into careers outside of fashion design like wallpaper or print development. After the first year I would be able to go into a specialist subject which has to be woven, knit or print. And I think I would learn more towards knit or woven as they interest me the most and I think I would also be able to include and enjoy more dyeing. Another key aspect of a lot of these courses is they embed sustainability and activism into their course fundamentals. I like this aspect of it as it allows me to find something I’m passionate about to work on, rather than it being random briefs. They do a lot of cross-course group projects which appeals to me as its more similar to industry. Speaking of industry there is an optional sandwich year which about 60% of students do between their second and third year where they go out into industry and work an internship for the year, which does appeal to me however this would be an internship and not paid so I might struggle to fund an extra of uni as well as working a paid job along side it. The area around the outside of the uni is beautiful and inspiring filled with a large inclusive community and night life which I love about Brighton. The university is in an ideal spot right by the sea and in the middle of the city centre which is filled with a variety of independent shops and restaurants.