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Can you tell us a bit about your experience with the Creative Arts in FE project? What have been your favourite parts and what have been the most challenging aspects you faced?  

Lily: "Our work was a collaborative project with some other students in my class. I illustrated about three of the frames which was fun to do, and I think the highlight was seeing all our work edited together. The most challenging part for me was the drawings themselves, trying to keep them within the style."

Vicky: "My favourite part has been doing the project at the end of the year as it allows us to show how much we have learnt throughout the year and gives us the ability to show how responsible we have become with our work.

One of the most difficult parts for me would be keeping up with the workload. This is because of issues such as my health not being very good and affecting my ability to work. However, my college and teachers have been very helpful and understanding of this and have helped me by giving me alternatives and accommodations to allow me to continue to work to the best of my ability."

Roxane: "Really, my experience was very good, considering the fact my task was given to me in a cohesive way, and I had fun doing it. Mainly, I think my favourite part was thinking about what to draw, but also the most challenging, just because I had so many things that I could miss and share with the world. In the end, I had to pinpoint it down to something specific, which ended up being my two dogs."

Thea: "The aerogram project was something new for me - making work to fit a brief with a tight deadline. Initially, I found this project daunting due to its need for a simple and easily interpreted image. I began by thinking of typical forms of communication other than letters and speech and decided to run with flowers as I knew I could make an aesthetically pleasing image with this.

At first glance, a pretty bunch of flowers is a clear and positive gesture. However, I couldn't help but hide a concept there. Different flowers had different meanings during the Victorian times. I made a bouquet with flowers that all have negative meanings. The giver would hope to be sending a negative message, whilst the receiver would be thankful for some beautiful flowers - something that needs to be explained for the piece as it would in actuality. The overall message of the piece highlights how important clear communication is, and that you can't expect people to know how you feel."

Thinking ahead, what are your future aspirations in your career journey, and how do you see the skills you developed through the project and your UAL qualification contributing to these goals?  

Lily: "In the future, I'm looking to work in storyboarding or even comics, where there's a focus on storytelling. The drawings were a nice practise for getting a visual idea on the page. I've loved comics my entire life and always knew I wanted to work in a format requiring those skills, so it'd be that or storyboarding, which is similar, that I aspire to do."

Vicky: "In the future, I would like to work in the animation industry by possibly working on animated TV shows or animated advertisements. I feel that skills such as communication and the improved art knowledge that I have learnt from this course will most definitely allow me to have a future in the career that I would like to pursue, as well as the qualification that I will get from completing my studies."

Roxane: "My future aspiration is to become an animator or character designer, but further than that, I want to be an animation historian, either starting my own course on animation history, or running/creating my own archive. As someone aspiring to join the creative industry, this project helped me get used to working on a group project but also pushed me out of my comfort zone when I had to draw my dogs, as I usually don't draw animals and had to find a way to stylise them."

Thea: "Thinking further into my career, I want to continue to get my art recognised, but I’m very open as to where I end up. This project was good for developing the skill to respond to briefs and commissions, which is always useful in the art world."

Can you tell us a bit about the UAL Awarding Body qualification you are studying and how you have found it so far?

Lily: "I studied animation. It was great on my college course, despite me coming from fine art with no animation knowledge. Following client briefs and getting accustomed to picking apart the instructions for a project was a valuable skill that we had to learn with every task."

Vicky: "I studied animation at The Manchester College. This course has been and is the best learning experience of my studies. The teachers are very kind and accommodating and have been extremely helpful when it comes to our work. Although I joined this course to learn more about animation, I have also gained more useful skills, such as writing and maths skills that I didn't have previously, which I am now very proud to have. I feel that just because the course you have chosen focusses mainly on one subject does not mean that you won't learn other useful skills too. I am very happy to have been able to join this course."

Roxane: "My UAL course in animation has certainly helped me in university during my first semester, where a lot of my art skills, animation techniques, project running skills and time management have come into play and have been important to me."

Thea: "I am currently doing a fine art course at Bedford College. So far, it's been crucial in learning to express creativity in a way that's not restricted or judged. My UAL qualification will stand me in good stead to get me into a university where I can expand my skills and possibly find a new area of fine art to specialise in."

View videos/stills of the work that Lily, Vicky and Roxane (The Manchester College) and Thea (Bedford College) created: