Graphic Design with Foundation Year

We will ignite in you a passion for intellectual and personal growth underpinned by the immense potential for graphic design to influence and shape how people see, think, and behave in the world.

BA (Hons) Graphic Design provides an inclusive and supportive, student-centered experience. You will learn through a dynamic, project-based approach that combines specialist knowledge with theoretical frameworks and contextual understanding. This enables you to develop a broad range of design communication skills including idea generation, digital software, problem solving, research and strategic analysis, rapid prototyping, multi-channel branding, storytelling, user experience, digital interaction, motion, 3D design, typography, editorial, print and experiential design. Through real world project work you will embrace the advances of innovative technologies and address complex societal, ethical and environmental design challenges. Our studio-based programme supports students seeking a broad-based inter-disciplinary approach, those who want to work across a hybrid blend of areas, as well as those who have an interest in a specific specialist focus.

Assessment is based on course work with no exams! Formative feedback will support you in refining and developing your skills. A variety of assessment methods are incorporated including finished work, presentations, written contextual work and reflective process journals.

In addition to a solid grounding in graphic design practices, contexts and applications, you will gain a deeper understanding of professional practice, supported by on-going dialogue and collaboration with industry partners and the wider creative sector. Recent collaborations have included: Imagination, JKR, WMH&I, Dyson, LUSH, G.F. Smith, Foil-Co (The Creative Print Collab), Battenhall, D&AD, RSA, ISTD and Creative Conscience. Design studio and cultural visits, ‘live’ projects, designer-led lectures and workshops, and showcasing a portfolio of design work at our industry ‘Network Event,’ will inform career ambitions and support the transition from the course to employment, freelancing or further study. These creative experiences are at the heart of graphic design, building strong studio communities and wider professional networks.

We believe that conceptual thinking, resulting from a creative openness to collaborative exploration and prototyping, will define the future of graphic design.

Foundation Year
If you feel you need some extra preparation before the full undergraduate degree experience, this Integrated Foundation Year (IFY) might be for you. IFY is for those who may not have the academic qualifications needed for admission onto the degree course or perhaps want the time and space to develop a foundation in creative and conceptual skills. It is intended to be a bridge between pre-university study and the academic rigour of an undergraduate degree. After IFY, you will hit the ground running – ready to take on your chosen undergraduate degree course and lean into the learning opportunities.
Students enrolled on the IFY will be a part of a cohort with other students in IFY courses across the School of Arts and Communication. Incorporating opportunities for you to work alongside your classmates, integrating opportunities for collaboration and fostering professional relationships to carry you throughout your degree and into your professional practice.

The School of Arts and Communication Foundation Year currently encompasses degrees in the following fields:

• BA (Hons) Commercial Photography

• BA (Hons) Fine Art

• BA (Hons) Graphic Design

• BA (Hons) Illustration

• BA (Hons) Photography

Coursework and practical work