Graphic Design BA (Hons)

You’ll join a vibrant creative community with extensive, cutting-edge facilities for digital production, sound recording and editing, film, photography, video, ceramics and print facilities, a printmaking workroom, a screen printing and letterpress studio, digital print bureau and excellent technical support. On our course, we will ask you to intelligently mix old and new technologies, involving any and all these facilities, as well as our well-equipped computer studios which house 60 Macs and... READ MORE

You’ll join a vibrant creative community with extensive, cutting-edge facilities for digital production, sound recording and editing, film, photography, video, ceramics and print facilities, a printmaking workroom, a screen printing and letterpress studio, digital print bureau and excellent technical support. On our course, we will ask you to intelligently mix old and new technologies, involving any and all these facilities, as well as our well-equipped computer studios which house 60 Macs and 90 PCs, all kitted out with the latest Adobe suite.You will be encouraged to use our studio space and facilities to explore multiple materials, techniques and equipment, pushing the boundaries of visual communication. For example, you might design a brand-new font in Illustrator, make it in wood on the latest laser-cutter, print it on a 150-year-old hand-operated press, then scan it and manipulate it in Photoshop.You’ll be taught by experienced practitioners who have won nationally recognised awards for their design work, teaching practice and research, including D&AD Awards, Fresh Awards, Adobe Innovation and the Searle Prize. Their expertise spans a range of disciplines, from editorial and book design to web-based design and typography. Having worked for companies including the BBC, I Am Associates, Bloomsbury, Phaidon, The Royal Academy and Universal Music, they will share their experience to help you connect what they do with what you learn. Several members of the team also hold the highly prestigious Senior Teaching Fellow status with the Higher Education Academy (HEA).Our focus is very much learning by doing so that students graduate with the skills to immediately begin a successful design career. For example, there are technical skill sessions throughout all the three years of the course, as well as refreshers to keep students up to speed with the latest updates. We organise a range of extracurricular workshops to enrich your skills, in things like sublimation, photography, printmaking and digital media. We also organise a full programme of studio and gallery visits, which in the past have included trips to museums in London and Oxford, studios and galleries in Birmingham, as well as international trips to Holland and China, taking in a breadth of cultural experiences.**Benefits**- Ranked 8th in the UK for ‘Design and Crafts’ in the Guardian University Guide 2019.- The School of Art and Design is an ‘Adobe Partner by Design’, as well as being an Adobe Outstanding Centre of Excellence.- Excellent links with industry, many of whom provide employment, placements or professional guidance to our students, like Watermill, IBM, and Opus Books.- Opportunity to participate in self-funded study trips abroad to places like Cyprus, Finland and Australia through the Erasmus scheme, as well as Holland and China as part of shorter cultural trips.- Strong track record of student success in national and international competitions. In recent years, these include: first prize and runners-up for the Puffin Penguin book cover design competition; a D&AD yellow pencil; highly placed and runners-up in the Sky Arts television sting competition. - Strong track record of student success in national and international competitions. In recent years, these include prizes in the Penguin Student Awards and YCN awards.