Portfolio Guidance
To support your application you will be asked to submit, or bring in, a portfolio. It is an opportunity to show us who you are, your artistic ability and your potential.
This page provides a detailed insight into how to prepare the best possible portfolio for your course.
Portfolio submission deadlines
The guidance below sets out our typical requirements, but in light of the current circumstances please be aware that you can submit: GCSE work, and work from last year; work in progress such as sketches of ideas; photos of your work; fewer examples of your work than we have recommended in the guidance.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do contact us.
We look forward to seeing your work.
Please note that if you are applying to the following courses you will not need to submit a portfolio:
- BA (Hons) Horology
- BSc (Hons) Gemmology and Jewellery Studies
- BA (Hons) Jewellery and Silversmithing - Design for Industry
Select a course from the list below for specific guidance, but if you’re struggling with ideas of what to include or how to structure it take a look at the following guidance.
Watch this video for further advice for creating your portfolio.
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BA (Hons) Jewellery and Objects – Physical Portfolios
Portfolios are subjective, but if you’re struggling with ideas of what to include or how to structure it take a look at the following guidance.
Content
- Examples of the type of work that can be included are: sketchbooks, design sheets in any medium, samples of material exploration, jewellery and/or objects made. Please feel free to include any work you think is relevant.
- There is no preferred folder size, but try to pick a size that is easy for you to carry.
- Try to structure your portfolio in a chronological way that shows your most recent work first, and reflects a genuine relevance and interest in the subject area.
- Include a project brief and ensure your work is clearly labelled, that projects are titled, that sheets/sleeves/artefacts are named and include a dated cover page for projects if necessary.
Skills we would like to see
- Use of a visible design process for idea development
- Willingness to experiment using a range of media, materials and technologies
- Any relevant work you’ve created outside of academia
- Innovation and enquiry
Preparing for your portfolio review
The last part of putting your portfolio together is to practise speaking about it, as we will ask you about your work and what made you apply to the course during your portfolio review. Remember, this isn’t to put you on the spot, but it’s a dialogue to help us understand your aspirations and how the course fits them. When preparing for your review consider the following questions:
- Why are you applying to Birmingham City University?
- What are your career aspirations?
- Out of the work you have chosen to include in your portfolio, which aspect are you particularly proud of and why?
BA (Hons) Jewellery and Objects – Digital Portfolios
The content of your digital portfolio and the skills it demonstrates should be the same as if you were creating a physical portfolio. The only difference is that you will need to submit your portfolio through your applicant portal rather than physically bring it in for us to see.
Take a look at the course specific guidance below for help with putting your BA (Hons) Jewellery and Objects digital portfolio together.
Content
- Examples of the type of work that can be included are scans or photos of: sketchbooks, design sheets in any medium, samples of material exploration, jewellery and/or objects made. This is not an exhaustive list so please feel free to include any other work that you think is relevant.
- Try to structure your portfolio in a chronological way that shows your most recent work first, and reflects a genuine relevance and interest in the subject area.
- Include a project brief and ensure your work is clearly labelled, that projects are titled and that page/artefacts are named through annotations.
Skills we would like to see
- Use of a visible design process for idea development
- Willingness to experiment using a range of media, materials and technologies
- Any relevant work you’ve created outside of academia
- Innovation and enquiry
Format
- Submit your work as one PDF file.
- Your digital portfolio should be no more than 2MB. Please compress your file if it exceeds the limit.
- 3D work can be represented by including a few photographs of the work from different angles. Remember to show a sense of scale.
- Ensure your work has a good screen resolution and present it in the order you would like it to be seen in.
- To help your reviewer get a better understanding of you and your portfolio please include annotations where relevant.
HND Jewellery and Silversmithing – Physical Portfolios
It is important to note that portfolios are subjective, but if you’re struggling with ideas of what to include or how to structure it take a look at the following guidance.
Content
- Examples of the type of work that can be included are: paintings, drawings, designs, sketchbooks, 3D models, CAD design work, any jewellery you have made.
- We’re looking for quality rather than quantity so there is no set limit for the amount of work you should include. Try to include as much as possible, focusing on offering the best work you have produced.
- Similarly there is no preferred folder size, but we’d advise that you don’t use a folder that is bigger than A1 as it may be impractical for you to carry.
- We like to see 3D pieces, but photos are acceptable if objects are too large or fragile to transport.
- Include design projects from start to finish as they allow us to see the design-thinking and design-processes in action.
- Work outside of prescribed school/college work is always very welcome. For example, if you’ve been making work in a part-time job or a night-class, include this.
- In terms of the structure, it is best if the portfolio corresponds to the layout of the sketchbooks if these are being presented.
- Portfolios should, where possible, be presented by project, with materials relating to each other in the same section. Chronological presentation if useful but not essential.
Skills we would like to see
- The ability to think in three-dimensions.
- Problem-solving.
- Visualisation of processes.
- Evidence that you’re enthused by the subject, or by the subjects you have chosen to explore.
Preparing for your portfolio review
The last part of putting your portfolio together is to practise speaking about it, as we will ask you about your work and what made you apply to the course during your portfolio review. Be prepared to talk about your interest, passion and how you have worked in the past. It would also be useful to have examples of problem-solving skills where you’ve solved problems in the past.
Remember, this isn’t to put you on the spot, but it’s a dialogue to help us understand your aspirations and how the course fits them.
HND Jewellery and Silversmithing – Digital Portfolios
The content of your digital portfolio and the skills it demonstrates should be the same as if you were creating a physical portfolio. The only difference is that you will need to submit your portfolio through your applicant portal rather than physically bring it in for us to see.
Take a look at the course specific guidance below for help with putting your HND Jewellery and Silversmithing digital portfolio together.
Content
- Examples of the type of work that can be included are: paintings, drawings, designs, sketchbooks, 3D models, CAD design work, any jewellery you have made.
- We’re looking for quality rather than quantity so there is no set limit for the amount of work you should include. Try to include as much as possible, focusing on offering the best work you have produced.
- We like to see 3D pieces, so take photographs of your 3D work from a variety of angles to give us the best impression of the work.
- Include design projects from start to finish as they allow us to see the design-thinking and design-processes in action.
- Work outside of prescribed school/college work is always very welcome. For example, if you’ve been making work in a part-time job or a night-class, include this.
- In terms of the structure, it is best if the portfolio corresponds to the layout of the sketchbooks if these are being presented.
- Portfolios should, where possible, be presented by project, with materials relating to each other in the same section. Chronological presentation if useful but not essential.
- To help your reviewer get a better understanding of you and your portfolio please include annotations where relevant.
Skills we would like to see
- The ability to think in three-dimensions.
- Problem-solving.
- Visualisation of processes.
- Evidence that you’re enthused by the subject, or by the subjects you have chosen to explore.
Format
- The accepted formats for your digital portfolio include: PDF, PowerPoint, Google Slides, Open Office Presenter or online.
- There is no preferred file size for your digital portfolio but images should be scales for web use- under 0.5MB each.
- Ensure your work has a good screen resolution and present it in the order you would like it to be seen in.
GradDip Jewellery and Related Products - digital portfolios
The content of your digital portfolio and the skills it demonstrates should be the same as if you were creating a physical portfolio. Please see below our guidance to help you organise and create your Graduate Diploma digital portfolio.
Content
- Please start your portfolio with a short statement introducing yourself, your aspirations, and if there are any specific parts that you would like us to focus on and why. When preparing your personal statement, please answer the following questions:
- Why have you chosen to apply for Graduate Diploma Jewellery and Related Products at Birmingham City University?
- What course you studied before applying for this course?
- What art, design or making experience you have?
- What skills or knowledge of contemporary jewellery you already have?
- What interests you about this course?
- We would like to see any visual or creative art experience and skills you may have. These should be visually documented in your portfolio. This may include any crafts, art or design project you may have completed.
- You should include at least one project from start to finish – showing your source of inspiration for the concept, technical ability, and design or making development and processes.
- We like to see a variety of work and the breadth of your experience. You can include drawing, photography and 3D work.
- The visual coherence of your portfolio makes an impression. So, consider the format and structure of your portfolio. The order you present your work in is the order we will view it, so structure your work in a clear and organised way. For example, you may find it useful to start with your best-detailed project that shows your project from start to finish followed by the other projects which could just be a short overview of the final outcome with any key techniques you want to highlight.
- If you are including work that was created as part of a collaborative creative team, or was produced using commercial suppliers or industry, it is important that you state what your role was in the project and evidence the specific organisational, design or making elements that you contributed towards the project.
Skills
- Evidence of an enthusiasm and some knowledge of contemporary jewellery and objects.
- Demonstrate some drawing ability.
- Evidence of some making skills, in any medium.
- Evidence of some experience using a range of image-making formats such as Adobe Creative Suite Photoshop, Illustrator.
Format
- Submit your digital portfolio as a single PDF file.
- Your digital portfolio should be no more than 20MB. Please compress your file if it exceeds the limit.
- You can add any external website links to your video and animation work in your PDF portfolio. Please check that these links work before you submit your portfolio and they can be viewed without a password. We will not be able to view links that require a password.
MA Jewellery and Related Products - digital portfolios
The content of your digital portfolio and recorded presentation, and the skills they demonstrate should be the same as if you were creating a physical portfolio. Please see our guidance below to help you create and organise your work.
Recorded Presentation or vlog
- Please provide a three minute recorded presentation – in the form of a video blog or vlog – in which you speak to the camera and introduce yourself and your aspirations. Please answer the following questions:
- Why are you interested in studying jewellery, in particular? What aspect of the discipline are you most driven to explore and learn about?
- Why do you wish to study jewellery and related products at Masters level? What are your motivations for study at postgraduate level?
- What knowledge, skills and abilities do you want to develop on the MA Jewellery and Related Products course?
- How do you envisage the next five years, in terms of your career trajectory?
Digital Portfolio
- We would like to see between 2-4 projects, and we are particularly interested in the methods and approaches used to develop your design ideas. Please make sure you make reference to your source of inspiration for the concept, research processes, iterative development of ideas and provide evidence of technical skill. Please label/annotate images, and credit all published sources used.
- We would like to see a variety of work, in order to understand the breadth of your previous learning and experience. This might mean that your projects reference a range of forms and genres, including art jewellery, commercial jewellery, accessory design, jewellery for performance, eating implements or vessels, or other related artefacts.
- It is useful to include any live projects, competitions or industry projects, as this can highlight your potential. Likewise, indicate if any of your projects were completed as part of an industry or work placement.
- The order you present your work in is the order we will view it, so structure your work in a clear and organised way. You may find it useful to start with your most detailed projects showing your journey from start to finish. Later projects in your portfolio might be snap shots of products foregrounding key techniques you wish us to be aware of.
- If you are including work that was created as part of a collaborative creative team, it is important that you state what your role was in the project and evidence the specific organisational or studio elements that you contributed towards the project.
Skills
- Evidence of enthusiasm for the field of jewellery and its related products.
- Evidence of your ability to visualise ideas – in two and three dimensions – with an emerging sense of your own voice or visual style.
- Evidence of being able to create three dimensional forms in a variety of materials, from quick models to test ideas to more refined final pieces.
- Use of an iterative approach to develop and refine your design ideas, with evidence of reflective thinking.
- Knowledge of jewellery designers and artists spanning a range of jewellery genres, as well as critics and theorists from a range of relevant fields.
Required Formats
- Submit your digital portfolio as a single PDF file (max size 20MB), and your recorded presentation as an MP4 file (max size 150MB) or a link to an online video hosting platform such as YouTube or Vimeo.
- Please compress your files if they exceed the limits set above.
- You can add any external website links in your PDF portfolio. Please check that these links work before you submit your portfolio and they can be viewed without a password. We will not be able to view links that require a password.