Creative Arts, Design and Fashion

Have a look at Prospects and targetjobs to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:

• Animator
• Arts administrator
• Art worker
• Art therapist
• Ceramics designer
• Community arts worker
• Costume designer
• Exhibition designer
• Fashion designer
• Fine artist
• Furniture conservator/restorer
• Furniture designer
• Gallery conservator
• Glass blower/designer
• Graphic designer
• Illustrator
• Industrial product designer
• Interior and spatial designer
• Jewellery designer
• Make-up artist
• Medical illustrator
• Multimedia specialist
• Museum/Gallery conservator
• Photographer
• Press photographer
• Printmaker
• Production designer (theatre/television/film)
• Special effects technician
• Textile designer
• Theatre manager
• VFX artist

• interpersonal and communication ability
• technical skills and creativity
• ability to work independently and with others
• research and organisation capabilities and the ability to meet deadlines
• business and commercial awareness
• flexibility

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector [can vary depending on the position].

To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources:

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers.

• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed
• use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13]
• attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates
• sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting
• attend events such as recruitment events and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• RateMyPlacement placement year reviews written by students.
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees

Read career guides for this sector, such as:

• Prospects: Creative arts and design - key roles, case studies, resources and contacts
• Adigitaldreamer.com – design careers advice
• The RSA

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews.

Examples include:

• Writers & Artists
• Artquest
• The British Council: Our work in arts
• Guardian: Culture professionals network provides live chats, news and articles
• The Business of Fashion (BoF) is a fashion industry blog
• Design Week - online design magazine
• an - The Artists Information Company. A subscription for this service is required. Membership is free to Newcastle University undergraduates.

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry.

See also our events, including recruitment events and employer & sector insights.

Join art-specific student societies such as the Art Society or Fashion Society. These societies  often organise and promote events or invites guest speakers to talk about their careers.

Use social media to find industry insights.

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.

Find out more about how to use social media for your career.

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network

Professional bodies often:

• run networking events
• have specialist groups you could join
• post vacancies on behalf of their members
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications

Key organisations include:

Art historians

• Association of Art Historians

Art therapists

• British Association of Art Therapists
• Institute of Arts Therapy in Education

Creative artists

• Arts Council England
• Creative Skillset

Designers

• Design Council
• Design Business Association
• Chartered Society of Designers

Fashion and textile designers

• British Fashion Council
• The UK Fashion & Textile Association

Furniture conservator/restorers

• British Antique Furniture Restorers' Association
• Institute of Conservation

Gallery conservators

• The British Association of Paintings Conservator-Restorers
• International Academic Projects
• engage

Glass blower/designers

• The British Society of Master Glass Painters
• Society of Glass Technology
• Contemporary Glass Society

Illustrators

• The Association of Illustrators

Interior and spatial designers

• Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists

Jewellery designers

• National Association of Jewellers
• The Association for Contemporary Jewellery
• The Goldsmiths Company

Medical illustrators

• Institute of Medical Illustrators - includes a careers section.

Make-up artists

• National Association of Screen Make-up Artist and Hairdressers

Press photographers

• British Press Photographers' Association

Finding professional bodies worldwide

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

Use our resources to get started:

• MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad

Search the following external sites:

• Arts Jobs includes work experience opportunities
• University of the Arts: Creative opportunities - paid internships
• The RSA - RSA
• NUSU Volunteering - student volunteering projects, including art and mural design
• The Courier - opportunities to write for the arts, design, photography and fashion section
• Opportunities | Creative Central: NCL (creativecentralncl.co.uk)

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage. NCL internships very frequently have marketing roles, which could help build your digitial creative skills. Community-based projects are also common, which can be useful for the creative sector.

Search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer. Type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box.

You can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March.

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

The resources in this section advertise both graduate jobs and graduate schemes. See our graduate jobs page to understand the difference between them.

Graduate schemes are very uncommon in this area.

Graduate jobs tend to be immediate start positions which can be available all year round. You are more likely to apply for these towards the end of your studies. These are more common. However, freelancing is also very common in creative arts, design and fashion.

Use our resources to get started:

• MyCareer - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• Graduate Jobs – lists graduate vacancy sites

Search the external sites below:

• Arts Jobs
• Creative Scotland
• Arts Jobs Online
• Crafts Council: Opportunities
• Guardian jobs
• University of the Arts: Creative opportunities
• jobs.ac.uk – search for creative roles across universities in the UK
• The Stage

Art therapy

• NHS Jobs

Conservation/restoration/galleries

• Museums Association
• Museumjobs

Design

• Careers in Design
• Design Week
• The Stage – find theatre roles such as costuming

Interior design

• The British Interior Decorators and Designers Association (BIID)

Jewellery design

• Benchpeg

Fashion and textile

• Fashion Workie
• FashionUnited
• Fashion & Retail Personnel

See International jobs for details of overseas vacancy sites.

Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities:

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in.
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company.
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated.
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying!

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you:

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin

• find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’
• use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page
• search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working
• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed

• Generator - recently relaunched as a free membership organisation for digital creative professionals in the North East. They unite talent and business and match people to ideas, opportunities and innovation.
• NewcastleGateshead - highlights exhibitions and events and is useful for networking
• North East Cultural Freelancers
• Home - Art Network North East (anne.art)

• Professional body websites sometimes include member directories, which are helpful for finding employers.
• Axis - directory of artists and curators.
• Directory of Design Consultants
• Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) – find a designer feature
• National Jewellers Association - membership database
• The Goldsmiths' Directory - The Goldsmiths' Company

Search GoinGlobal's employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.