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Is taking two artistic-based A-Levels worth it?

I'm aiming to get into an Animation uni course, so I was wondering if taking both Art and Design and Graphic Design is worth it? :P
Original post
by AnotherSamWoahh
I'm aiming to get into an Animation uni course, so I was wondering if taking both Art and Design and Graphic Design is worth it? :P


I took Art and Graphics! I found the courses had a lot of overlap, but that was ok. I wanted to study Game Art and it let me have loads of time to work on my portfolio which was the crucial thing for me. The workload can be intense but that's good practice for uni!
I think it's totally fine to do if you're set on studying an art course at university - the only time it's maybe worth a reconsider is if you're not sure what you'll do at Uni yet, or you're sort of between two subjects - as sometimes having two subjects that are too similar can hinder other applications. If you're sure about Animation, I say go for it. :smile:

Reply 2

Original post
by aspalax
I took Art and Graphics! I found the courses had a lot of overlap, but that was ok. I wanted to study Game Art and it let me have loads of time to work on my portfolio which was the crucial thing for me. The workload can be intense but that's good practice for uni!
I think it's totally fine to do if you're set on studying an art course at university - the only time it's maybe worth a reconsider is if you're not sure what you'll do at Uni yet, or you're sort of between two subjects - as sometimes having two subjects that are too similar can hinder other applications. If you're sure about Animation, I say go for it. :smile:


hdjabsn thank you so so much!! :biggrin: uh slightly off-topic question, would you have any general tips/advice on making a good portfolio? all the advice teachers have been giving me can basically be summed up as 'show that you know How to Do Art,' so like. Is it a quality over quality kind of thing? should you modify it based one what you're applying for? idk, im just really confused about how to make a Good portfolio :'P
No problem at all :smile:
My advice for all portfolios is to include examples of each of:

Iteration/development/design work e.g. breakdowns of your sketches and design process - colour iterations, shape iterations, showing your creative process. For animation this might look like your early thumbnails and storyboards that contributed towards your video work. You might also call this "project based" work. You will likely have done a lot of this if you have done an Art & Design A Level. You'll want to lay this out in a way that makes sense chronologically and follows the process of your development from start to finish. It needs to be clear how each progressive element contributed to the "final piece" or "outcome".

Work that demonstrates technical skill e.g. drawings from life, still life, figure drawing, technical drawing. This is to show your technical understanding and fundamental skills. You ideally want to showcase your ability to understand perspective, lighting, tone and shadow, contrast and accuracy. This is why people will often draw common objects in a still life scene, as it's something everyone will have an understanding of whether it "looks right". It's important that you draw in-person and not from photographs at least some of the time as photographs will warp perspective and make scenes appear more flat. You may be able to attend local classes for this, but drawing random objects from around your house or drawing your street/people on the train works just as well if that's not something you have access to.

Imaginative processes work that demonstrates combining ideas in a creative and imaginative way. This will be your most creative work. This might have a message or meaning, might be design work, or so on - it should showcase the way your creative process works. Work that showcases a visual narrative, "tells a story". This shows that you are interested in new ideas and you will bring new things to the table. It's important that this work takes inspiration from, but is not a recreation of existing work. This also pairs well with iterative and design work and you may find those parts of your portfolio overlap.


Specifically for animation, you may also want to look at including:


Examples of animation, primarily looking for technical skill - look at following common animation exercises for building fundamental animation skills i.e. bag of flour, ball rolling off a table, lipsyncing - if you have no idea what any of that means, do some googling! This is likely going to be better than trying to do something that is too high scope and executing it less well.

Examples of animation skills - this might include character turnarounds, storyboards, "beat boards", thumbnails. Alongside strong fundamental skills.

Non-essential but nice-to-include (and some places might ask for specifically) is examples of showcasing narrative - this might be short-form writing, short films, excerpts from scripts etc.


Generally yes, quality over quantity is much preferred, but each university you apply to will have different requirements - it can often be anywhere between 8-20 pieces which is quite a range! So you may find some of the places you apply to would like to see more examples. Always read the portfolio advice for each university you apply to and make some changes to each application to tailor it slightly to each course, to give you better odds :smile:

Reply 4

Original post
by aspalax
No problem at all :smile:
My advice for all portfolios is to include examples of each of:

Iteration/development/design work e.g. breakdowns of your sketches and design process - colour iterations, shape iterations, showing your creative process. For animation this might look like your early thumbnails and storyboards that contributed towards your video work. You might also call this "project based" work. You will likely have done a lot of this if you have done an Art & Design A Level. You'll want to lay this out in a way that makes sense chronologically and follows the process of your development from start to finish. It needs to be clear how each progressive element contributed to the "final piece" or "outcome".

Work that demonstrates technical skill e.g. drawings from life, still life, figure drawing, technical drawing. This is to show your technical understanding and fundamental skills. You ideally want to showcase your ability to understand perspective, lighting, tone and shadow, contrast and accuracy. This is why people will often draw common objects in a still life scene, as it's something everyone will have an understanding of whether it "looks right". It's important that you draw in-person and not from photographs at least some of the time as photographs will warp perspective and make scenes appear more flat. You may be able to attend local classes for this, but drawing random objects from around your house or drawing your street/people on the train works just as well if that's not something you have access to.

Imaginative processes work that demonstrates combining ideas in a creative and imaginative way. This will be your most creative work. This might have a message or meaning, might be design work, or so on - it should showcase the way your creative process works. Work that showcases a visual narrative, "tells a story". This shows that you are interested in new ideas and you will bring new things to the table. It's important that this work takes inspiration from, but is not a recreation of existing work. This also pairs well with iterative and design work and you may find those parts of your portfolio overlap.


Specifically for animation, you may also want to look at including:

Examples of animation, primarily looking for technical skill - look at following common animation exercises for building fundamental animation skills i.e. bag of flour, ball rolling off a table, lipsyncing - if you have no idea what any of that means, do some googling! This is likely going to be better than trying to do something that is too high scope and executing it less well.

Examples of animation skills - this might include character turnarounds, storyboards, "beat boards", thumbnails. Alongside strong fundamental skills.

Non-essential but nice-to-include (and some places might ask for specifically) is examples of showcasing narrative - this might be short-form writing, short films, excerpts from scripts etc.


Generally yes, quality over quantity is much preferred, but each university you apply to will have different requirements - it can often be anywhere between 8-20 pieces which is quite a range! So you may find some of the places you apply to would like to see more examples. Always read the portfolio advice for each university you apply to and make some changes to each application to tailor it slightly to each course, to give you better odds :smile:

fjsfjka thank you so much!! :biggrin:

Reply 5

Original post
by AnotherSamWoahh
I'm aiming to get into an Animation uni course, so I was wondering if taking both Art and Design and Graphic Design is worth it? :P


Yes ofc! And it will also be rly good bc u will have loads of work to put into ur portfolio!

Reply 6

Original post
by AnotherSamWoahh
I'm aiming to get into an Animation uni course, so I was wondering if taking both Art and Design and Graphic Design is worth it? :P

I am taking these A-levels with media studies in my second year now, and all I have to say that it is a good combination if you don't let your coursework snowball!!!!! I'm quite bad with my time management skills so I stress out quite frequently (i end up doing things last minute, but hey, you can always edit and develop your pieces/annotations before your actual hand-in date!)

but honestly if you're passionate enough it will 100% be worth it B)
Original post
by AnotherSamWoahh
I'm aiming to get into an Animation uni course, so I was wondering if taking both Art and Design and Graphic Design is worth it? :P

Hi there,

Slightly different circumstance - but I applied for a Graphic Design degree with A-levels in German, Photography and Product Design.... the two creative subjects certainly helped me to understand a bit about the subject I was going into despite them being very different! Hope that helps.

Best of luck,
Charlotte, Student Ambassador 🙂

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