About the course

Venn diagram square.png — The entertainment industry is a vibrant world of ever evolving and often inter-related practices. It’s against this intersection that we have developed the BA Hons Entertainment Design course to offer a unique programme of study.
We’re interested in what is Entertainment. Where does Entertainment occur? And how do we creatively design for it?
The variety of design practice undertaken by students includes theatre, events, dance, puppetry, museums, concerts, exhibitions, festivals, themed environments, installations, nightclubs, music videos, film, TV and live arts.

The course is based in the iconic Grade I listed School of Art building at Margaret Street,

a landmark of creativity in the heart of Birmingham.

Dating back to 1885, this historic building combines beautiful period architecture with modern facilities, offering light-filled studios, fully equipped workshops, specialist resources, and a vibrant community of artists and designers.

Levels

The course is taught full-time over three years. Learning is demonstrated (and assessed) through an accumulation of individual, collaborative, realised, speculative and live projects.

year 1:
Explore + Experiment

Welcome to your creative playground. In your first year, you’ll dive into the core principles of storytelling, space, figure, and audience — the building blocks of entertainment design. You’ll get hands-on with materials, media, and methods, developing essential technical skills while experimenting, playing, and pushing boundaries. This is your chance to discover what excites you, explore the possibilities of design, and start shaping your creative voice within the world of entertainment.

year 2:
Deepen + Develop

Now it's time to expand your thinking. In your second year, you’ll tackle bigger, bolder briefs, working collaboratively and across disciplines. You’ll engage with real-world challenges, industry-inspired projects, and begin to define your own direction as a designer. You’ll also have the chance to take on a work placement or live industry brief, gaining valuable insight into the fast-paced creative landscape and building connections along the way.

Year 3:
Refine + Realise

This is where it all comes together. Your final year is about focus, ambition, and pushing your creativity further than ever. You’ll lead a self-directed major project that reflects your interests, skills, and future ambitions — backed by deep research, design thinking, and critical reflection. You’ll also polish your professional presentation skills, refine your portfolio, and step confidently into the world as a future-ready entertainment designer.

You’ll have the opportunity to undertake enhanced professional certifications and training, including Working at Height, Risk Assessment, and Manual Handling — skills that are highly regarded in production, theatre, events, and installation-based careers.

COURSE DIAGRAM

The course consists of three module types that thread through the various levels:

Tools and Techniques - The Intersection - Direction

Because flexibility is built into our course design, students are able to study the same modules together regardless of their specific areas of interest - this fosters a ‘studio culture’ rich in diversity and collaboration.

Students are supported in their work by an experienced team who assist them with their exploration of the traditions, theories and practices that are pertinent to their individual student journeys. This ensures that the course remains relevant and able to respond to the needs of the contemporary and future workplace and indeed to the discipline as a whole.

What Our Alumni Say

“I set up the social enterprise WE ARE in 2014, WE ARE is a social enterprise which faciliates projects, exhibitions and events to help other young graduates like myself find more opportunities in our area. I design projects such as film nights and curate exhibitions. I use the skills I learnt during my degree all the time and it’s been invaluable to me. The best thing to me about the course is that it’s so varied, I explored a vast array of projects and ideas whilst studying and being able to test and push boundaries has definitely helped me in my career.”

— Lucy Norton

Project Coordinator & Co Founder of WE ARE

“The course allowed me to follow my passion for themed entertainment and pursue it in my final year, along with giving me a huge foot in the door via the Madame Tussauds project, which set me up to be able to work in the field from day one after graduating. I'm a freelance themed entertainment designer with various large clients such as Merlin Entertainment and Compagnie Des Alpes. I've been able to work on projects for Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Legoland parks, Madame Tussauds and Sea Life locations across the world.”

— Edd Musgrove

Themed Entertainment Designer