Graphic Communication (with Integrated Foundation Year) with Diploma in Creative Professional Development

OVERVIEW

Graphic Communication at Norwich University of the Arts is a forward-facing contemporary brand communications degree in which you will design brands and visual identities, advertising campaigns and digital communications including websites, apps, and motion, film and animation.

Typography, copywriting, imagery, motion and print applications lie at the heart of all your work. The course recognises that fact that we interact with brands and their products and services largely through digital interfaces, so the work you do will involve designing for screen as well as print environments. As such, this course is fundamentally at the centre of the wider graphic design industry.

INTEGRATED FOUNDATION (YEAR 0)

This course includes an integrated foundation year (Year 0), which promotes developing practical, technical and creative skills and confidence. Building on your prior experience, you will be introduced to some of our workshops to assist your skill development, with an increasing emphasis on professional standards and independent study. The course places emphasis on your personal commitment to study, while supporting you in your progression.

KEY FEATURES

• Share your first year with other graphics students, and continue to work alongside each other, allowing for a unique cross fertilisation of knowledge, skills and experience

• Develop skills in typography, layout, photography, motion graphics, copywriting, screen design, design research and idea generation

• Become adept at understanding and deciphering a brief, researching and generating ideas, problem-solving, developing the most successful concept, and executing and presenting the final work

• Create clever ideas-based solutions for organisations and brands, packaging, design for good/change and campaigns that aim to address the problems we face in the world

• Participate in workshops and classes run by external professionals, undertake project briefs initiated and taught by designers from industry, and enter national and international design competitions judged by the design industry

• Engage with industry through portfolio reviews and surgeries, talks from practising alumni focused on portfolio development and employability

• You will have the opportunity to create a range of employment focused tools. By the time you conclude the course you will have a professional portfolio and a strong sense of where you want to work within the industry

DIPLOMA IN CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Diploma in Creative Professional Development offers undergraduate students the chance to spend a year between Year 2 and 3 of their course exploring their employability options through a structured programme of input sessions and work-based learning. The aim of the course is to provide you with an opportunity to gain industry insight, develop your employability skills through a series of supported experiences, expand your network and build your confidence in the workplace.

YOUR FUTURE

Nearly all designers must collaborate with others; even sole traders need to work with clients and suppliers, and of course working within any sort of agency set-up requires that you can work alongside others. Therefore, we provide opportunities for you to develop a set of professional and transferable skills such as teamwork, time management and project planning.

Students have found employment at some of the most prestigious design agencies including Superunion, Magpie, Weirdo, Tommy, Accept & Proceed and many more.

Graduates often start their careers as junior designers, but some have found other roles that they are equally equipped to work within including account/client management, design strategy and user experience design.

OUR STUDENTS’ WORK

Explore our online Graduate Showcase – celebrating the very best Norwich University of the Arts graduate work at nuagradshowcase.com

Course Modules

You can find more information about the content of the BA (Hons) Graphic Communication (with Integrated Foundation Year) with Diploma in Creative Professional Development course at https://norwichuni.ac.uk/4-year-degrees/

The University assesses you through the coursework you produce as you complete each unit. Each unit will require you to present a portfolio of work which may include finished pieces of work, written work, your research, and a reflective journal which allows you to evaluate your learning and highlight your strengths and areas for further development. You can find out more information about our assessment methods at https://norwichuni.ac.uk/ba-hons-graphic-communication/