Graphic Design

With the support of our industry-savvy teaching team, you’ll be encouraged to push boundaries and experiment across a variety of media. You’ll master the fundamentals of graphic design. From typography and layout to narrative structure and conceptual thinking, you’ll graduate with a stand-out portfolio, that’ll blow employers away.

Why study BA (Hons) Graphic Design at BNU?
Industry Connections
With a history of delivering industry-standard graphic design education for more than 30 years, this established course is well-known within the industry. Many of our course alumni are now making waves within the design world, both nationally and internationally, and often come back for guest visits, talks, workshops and even to set a brief or two!

Led by our enthusiastic and dedicated team of design practitioners and experienced academics, you’ll benefit from their industry knowledge, as well as the network of professionals they bring to the course. You’ll benefit from direct access to guest lectures and live project briefs, master classes, and plenty of networking chances. As well as this you’ll have the opportunity to enter a range of industry-established competitions.

Facilities
Our Graphic Design course is situated in an open plan studio alongside the creative advertising and illustration courses, meaning you get to experience how a working advertising and design agency would run in the real-world.

The course is located within the School of Art, Design and Performance, giving you access to a community of creative learners and diverse resources to help you achieve your creative outcomes. You’ll be encouraged to explore both traditional and current mediums to craft your design solutions, you can do this through our:

silkscreen equipment
plotter cutters
letterpress equipment
photography studios
litho equipment
laser cutting
3D printing technology
iMac Suites with Adobe Creative Cloud
You also benefit from our specialist technicians and demonstrators on site, who can support you in bringing your ideas to life.

What will I study?
On this graphic design course, you’ll develop your individual for individual visual and creative problem-solving skills, whilst also gaining the knowledge and confidence to enter and negotiate your career in this challenging, but exciting field.

Over the course of the graphic design degree, you'll be given lots of opportunities to explore the diverse world of graphic design and its practice, including vital skills in creative image making, research methods, team working, project management, presentation skills, design strategy, art direction and independent learning.

Through practical hands-on, project-based learning you'll explore the fundamental core aspects of the subject like typography, narrative structure, hierarchy, layout and composition, information design, image creation and conceptual thinking skills.

You’ll also develop your historical perspectives, research, and writing skills and gain the academic grounding on which to develop critical understanding and practical application.

During your studies you’ll be encouraged to take risks in your work and learn to challenge established languages and processes through questioning and individual experimentation. All our modules on this course reflect this ethos, they’re in place to help you form and consolidate presentation, critical and strategic thinking, and complex problem-solving skills, whilst at the same time developing and refining practical design abilities.

This course is also offered as a four-year programme, including an initial Foundation Year. The Foundation Year is a valuable stepping-stone, enabling you to enhance your academic study skills, bolster your confidence, and identify your individual strengths and areas for growth as you prepare for progression into the undergraduate program.

Year one Modules
Core Modules
Critical and Historical Thinking
Design Processes
Design workshops
Projects
Conceptual Thinking

Year two Modules
Core Modules
Design Research and Theory
Professional Studies for Graphic Design and Illustration
Applied Graphic Design Studies 1: Editorial
Applied Graphic Design Studies 2: Branding
Industry Brief

Year three Modules
Core Modules
Creative and Professional Development
Professional Practice
Personal Projects and Commissions
Dissertation
Final Major Project

At the centre of this course is studio-based activity. You’ll spend a significant amount of time in the graphic design studio working on both individual study and group tuition. On the course you are pushed to explore your own style, which you’ll build into your own distinctive portfolio that demonstrates your unique strengths and interests for prospective work opportunities after graduation.

We also aim to provide masterclasses and industry brief opportunities for you to apply your knowledge, skills and understanding into real-world contexts, whilst gaining feedback from current industry-leaders.

Individual and small group tutorials are in place to support you throughout the degree, and our small classroom sizes ensure that you are part of an open and collaborative working environment.

At the end of your studies, you’ll have the chance to take part in the graduate Art and Design Showcase exhibition at the University. In addition, students are offered the opportunity to put forward work for the D&AD New Blood exhibition in central London where a selected group of students are also invited to attend.