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BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE: Graduate books himself a career in digital creative media

17/08/2022
BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE: Graduate books himself a career in digital creative media

A University of Wolverhampton graduate has booked himself a progressive career in digital creative media after studying in the Wolverhampton School of Art. 

James Davison, 31 from Stow Heath in Wolverhampton, studied for an Undergraduate degree in Computer Games Design and a Master’s degree in Digital and Visual Communications which are now offered in the University’s new £5 million Screen School. 

After graduating he set up an independently driven creative media studio with a focus on creating family friendly products such as illustrated picture books, social impact games and short form animation to use fictionalised storytelling to address real world issues such as mental health, representation and acceptance. 

He graduated in 2019 and recently the electronic games designer, who has Tourette's syndrome and non-epileptic fits, has celebrated the self-publication of his first book - Mindy's Journey, based on a bedtime story he used to recite to his eldest child. 

Featuring eye-catching illustrations by Darren Gate the story is about a little girl Mindy who receives some bad news and spirals into depression. After making a wish for things to change she befriends a star and they work together to find their way out of a dark cave. 

The father of four girls said: “I was motivated to start my own business when I knew I was going to become a father and this drove me to apply to study at the University.  

“When I was studying Computer Games Design I was introduced to the book Values at Play in Digital Games by Mary Flanagan. This was an incredibly influential book on me and my ambitions. In the text it talks about how games regardless of genre or delivery platform have values that they promote to their audiences, and how this can affect a player's behaviour as well as discussing how we learn from play from a very early age.  

“This caused me to re-evaluate my relationship with games, recontextualised how I thought about games and made me question what kind of games I wanted to make. As a father I want to create content that I can share with my children which will have a lasting impact on their lives.”  

James set up his fledgling business through the University’s SPEED programme at the time, a business support project which offered tailored support packages for students and graduates. 

“I thought that setting up my own business would allow me to work around my children and their needs and given the fact that I have mental health conditions that limit my capacity to work.   

“Initially my focus was on games, specifically Social Impact games that address social issues. I had pitched that I wanted to make games aimed at children that would address issues such as mental health using narrative driven gameplay. However, after a time I began to think about how I can best present my stories in a way that children can understand which is how “Progressive Play” was born.  

“In terms of Mindy's Journey it started as a games idea but I had already begun to look at other media and, with help from the Prince’s Trust, I developed my idea to incorporate illustrations and used the funding to print an initial run of books for test trading.” 

The book is now available to buy online and James has ambitions to develop other stories to turn into books, games and films. 

Graduates are encouraged to keep in touch with the Alumni team and take advantage of a range of benefits and support on offer to them including a discount for Postgraduate study and opportunities to benefit from mentoring, volunteering and career advice. 

The University officially opened its new Screen School in March, an extensive refurbishment project at its City Campus in Wolverhampton that has seen £5 million invested in new facilities for students studying for digital arts and media production courses.  

The new Wolverhampton Screen School has been transformed with investment in industry-standard, state-of-the-art equipment with the aim of boosting skills in the digital arts and media industries.   

Students are benefiting from a new production space, an equipment media store, a video studio with movable partitions and a large multipurpose studio. There are also new Mac labs, edit suites, staff offices and a production base room.   

The facilities also include a green-screen, three-camera TV studio with an adjoining production gallery alongside a new radio studio which reflects the layout of BBC local stations. News readers have access to a second bulletin studio and the technical kit and software will enable the replication of the workflows of national news journalists and the running orders of professional news programmes.   

The core courses taught at the Wolverhampton Screen School are animation, computer games design, film and television production, multimedia journalism, computer science, cyber psychology alongside proposals for a new course in visual effects. 

  • For anyone who already has the results of their qualifications, applications can be made through Clearing from Tuesday 5 July 2022. The University’s Clearing webpage provides further information on all the courses available in Clearing. Applications can be made either by calling the Clearing Team on 01902 51 8585 or through the University’s social media channels on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.   
  • For anyone who is awaiting the results of their qualifications, they can register their interest and book a phone call with a Clearing Adviser on results day, Thursday, 18 August 2022.  
  • For more information our next Open Day is on Saturday 20 August 2022. 

ENDS 

For more information please contact the Corporate Communications Team.

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