Art and Design

Why Art and Design in ManMet

Manchester Metropolitan University ranks in the top-100 global art and design schools according to QS World Rankings 2024. This recognition stems from how its students engage with the discipline: they curate exhibitions in on-campus galleries, travel to Berlin, Copenhagen, New York, and the Venice Biennale, while their work regularly receives recognition at D&AD Global Students Awards and Creative Conscience. Through its mentorship programme, the university connects aspiring creatives with industry professionals, transforming partnerships with Manch studios and cultural venues into sustained career development.

Art History and Curating

The BA (Hons) Art History and Curating programme merges nineteenth-century art scholarship with hands-on curatorial practice. Because it shares spaces with BA Fine Art and Art History, students collaborate on exhibitions where theoretical frameworks meet live creative processes. Manchester Metropolitan University’s own collections and gallery spaces serve as practical training grounds, while partnerships with regional institutions allow them to apply these skills beyond campus from the start of their studies.

Graphic Design

BA (Hons) Graphic Design centres on conceptual thinking and visual communication across branding, motion design, UX, and UI. Rather than anchoring students to particular software, the programme develops their understanding of how to create across platforms—a particularly valuable approach in an AI-driven landscape where critical thinking outweighs technical execution. Through workshops, guest lectures, and live briefs with leading studios, it encourages experimental problem-solving that prepares graduates for positions at top-tier agencies worldwide.

Fashion Art Direction

BA (Hons) Fashion Art Direction positions students at the intersection of image-making, styling, content creation, and publishing. They explore fashion’s visual languages through interdisciplinary work that examines how it’s consumed and interpreted, developing narrative strategies through photography, video, graphics, and digital platforms. Regular collaborations with other fashion programmes result in exhibitions and publications built into the curriculum, while training in both analogue and digital methods prepares them to critically engage with fashion’s sociocultural dimensions.

Design Innovation at Manchester Metropolitan

MA Design Innovation treats design as a catalyst for change in products, services, and user experiences. The programme applies design thinking methodologies to contemporary social and business challenges, examining where it can create value and how to deploy it strategically. Through lectures, seminars, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and live projects, students develop research practices rooted in empathy and user-centred development—approaches that reveal unmet needs and generate meaningful solutions within complex global contexts.

Performance

MA/MFA Performance offers an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary stage practice, with pathways in laboratory theatre or contemporary performance. The former emphasises performer training, dramaturgy, and socially engaged work; the latter explores experimental practices bridging radical theatre, contemporary dance, and performance art. Students undertake psychophysical and vocal training drawn from international traditions, developing innovative dramaturgical strategies. Those pursuing contemporary performance engage with postmodernist legacies and post-dramatic theatre through collaborations with peers and professional artists.