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UAL Foundation Year - Specialist portfolio

I want to do a foundation year and want to do the Specialist route in Communication Design. Am I allowed to specialise in my portfolio for my application or do i have to keep my portfolio open and show paintings,drawings e.t.c cuz i dont really draw or paint.
Original post
by ilovepeaches123
I want to do a foundation year and want to do the Specialist route in Communication Design. Am I allowed to specialise in my portfolio for my application or do i have to keep my portfolio open and show paintings,drawings e.t.c cuz i dont really draw or paint.


It should be fine to have a lot of your portfolio tailored to your course (in this case digital graphics work, presumably), but I'd always suggest including at least a couple of examples of your fundamental skills (typically observational drawing from life) as it demonstrates a good foundational understanding of artistic principles i.e. contrast, shape, technical ability. At university level they are typically more interested in your potential to improve and ability to learn, rather than whether you're already really good at the specialism you're there to learn.

Reply 2

Original post
by aspalax
It should be fine to have a lot of your portfolio tailored to your course (in this case digital graphics work, presumably), but I'd always suggest including at least a couple of examples of your fundamental skills (typically observational drawing from life) as it demonstrates a good foundational understanding of artistic principles i.e. contrast, shape, technical ability. At university level they are typically more interested in your potential to improve and ability to learn, rather than whether you're already really good at the specialism you're there to learn.

Thanks for this. I am in a similar position and want to do the the same course, but I largely do photography. will this be okay?
Original post
by yaz-
Thanks for this. I am in a similar position and want to do the the same course, but I largely do photography. will this be okay?


Hey Yaz, no problem. Definitely photography is OK to include - again, you want to show work that is demonstrative of your technical ability - so good composition, photos that show good control over the camera, etc. Showing some stages of your editing process would be great for showing development work too.

I wrote a big post about portfolios for university applications - this is more geared for undergrad courses and less so for Foundation, but it's likely a lot of the core advice is still relevant. Hope some of this helps :smile:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7597072

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