The purpose of this module is to allow you to take personal responsibility for a major brief, building on the experience of the whole learning programme. You will be able to show that you understand how arts practitioners work to achieve success, and how this relates to the national and international creative context.

A key theme that you will work with is one of working independently, because you will be expected to identify potential projects and generate appropriate responses to fulfil a clearly articulated need and/or aspiration. This may be industry directed or academic, and in any of a range of roles, such as part of an organisation, as an individual, working as a team leader or coordinator of other practitioners, or as a significant research project relating to your academic aspirations.

Examples of projects you might work on would be: researching an area of development to persuade a party or parties that a particular direction should be taken; re-launching an arts or cultural venue to a new audience; a major event or activity for a targeted market; researching an artefact, person, location or subject associated with local culture, and disseminating your findings.

You will be expected to identify and engage with a client or clients (who may be academic), work creatively and innovatively and successfully promote your work. Targets and timescales should be action-planned as part of a well-managed project that fully embraces professional considerations: these should include financial and time management, health and safety, legal and ethical requirements and a wide range of communication methods.

As you will be working on an individual project, individual tutorials will be an important aspect of the module. If you are intending to take an academic progression route, counselling regarding the nature and suitability of the assignment should be sought: a written academic study of an appropriate depth and breadth could be the most appropriate way to prepare yourself for further study, and this might be the major project you undertake for this module.

Assessment 1: 100% Course work submitted as complete portfolio, assessment weighting below:

40% PROJECT DEVELOPMENT [Learning Outcomes 1, 2]

60% DESIGN SOLUTIONS –¿including a presentation of the final work with supporting rationale and justification. [Learning Outcomes 2, 3]

Formative assessment: Peer presentation explaining how your proposed major project is relevant to the contemporary national and international arena for arts practitioners.

Students must submit work for both assessments

Introduction to module
Project management workshops
Communication methods workshops and seminars, to include promotion, information retrieval and negotiation
Practical studio workshops
Event and activity visits and critiques
Individual tutorials

Darling, D. (2003) The Networking Survival Guide. McGraw Hill
Simmons, CH. (2005) Letterhead and Logo Design 9.Rockport
Kotler, P. (2005) Principles of Marketing. Prentice Hall
Michels C. Robin, R. (2001) How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist: 5th Ed: Selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul. Owl Books.

Students will have access to studio space and college library and computer resources.
University learning resources are available on campus at Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, and online via the partner Need to Know pages of the university website.
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/courses_and_study/partnerships/current_students/email/index.jsp