Graphic Design - BA (Hons)

Our Graphic Design BA at The Cass is about giving visual and experiential form to conceptual thinking, it's about creating structure and surprise through innovation, it's about communication. You will be encouraged not only to find solutions, but also to seek out problems. This graphic design course enables you to investigate, question and challenge the contemporary role of graphic design, connecting with wide ranging social issues and new ideas, to develop your voice as a graphic designer and enter a successful career in design. The teaching on this course received a 90% student satisfaction rate in the 2018 National Student Survey.

Completing our Graphic Design course will help you gain everything you'll need to become a well-rounded creative praticitioner. You will develop specialist skills, and learn how to reach your audience through innovative design.

This graphic design course encourages you to investigate, question and challenge the contemporary role of graphic design. You’ll gain the confidence to understand, interpret and talk about ground-breaking and iconic design from the past and present. You will also learn how to present and defend your ideas and promote yourself and your work.You’re encouraged early on to make your thinking visible, to test your ideas through iteration and to collaborate in practice. You'll have the opportunity to develop specialist and broad-based design skills, to think laterally and to innovate through making, testing, and finding and reaching your audience.

You'll learn from different creative methods such as drawing and letterpress printing, app design, type fundamentals, user experiences, human-centered design and connected communication platforms. There are many diverse employment options available to graduates of this degree.

This course offers real opportunities to connect with graphic design studios and consultancies, to work across the realms of art direction, digital publishing and editorial design, moving image and sequential narrative, web and innovatory digital practice from app design to social media, brand communications to start-ups and design enterprise.

Industry partners and guest lecturers include Angharad Lewis (Grafik), Sarah Boris, Kin Design, Be Colourful, Someone, Nous Vous, Paul Jenkins, A Practice For Everyday Life (APFEL), Frazer Muggeridge and Craig Oldham. A high-profile lecture series – the Hothouse Talks – offers you the chance to engage with visionaries in the field of Graphic Design and visual communication. You’ll also benefit from live project opportunities and a vibrant studio culture.

Graphic Design BA is taught together with Illustration & Animation BA and Design for Publishing BA. This combination of teaching makes for a unique learning environment, full of opportunity for cross-pollination and scope for wider learning.

Assessment

You'll be assessed through project work, essays, individual practice and a final portfolio project, including a dissertation. There are no examinations.

Entry requirements

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

• A minimum of grades BBC in three A levels, one of which is from a relevant subject in the arts, humanities or social sciences (or a minimum of 112 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification)
• A portfolio review

We encourage applications from international/EU students with equivalent qualifications. We also accept mature students with diverse backgrounds and experiences. All applicants must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. Applicants who require a Tier 4 student visa may need to provide a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language requirements.

Suitable applicants living in the UK will be invited to a portfolio interview. Applicants living outside the UK will be required to submit a portfolio of work via email. If you do not have traditional qualifications or cannot meet the entry requirements for this undergraduate degree, you may still be able to gain entry by completing the Art and Design Extended Degree (with Foundation Year) or the Film, Photography and Media Extended Degree (with Foundation Year).

Portfolios and interviews

Your portfolio should be selective but have enough work to show the range of your interests and talents. We're interested in seeing how you develop a project from beginning to end, not only finished work. Graphic designers work in a variety of media; please include the whole range of your creative work. If you can't bring some of your work to the portfolio interview, please take photographs and include them.

After the course

The teaching team includes professional print, photography, web, animation and graphic design specialists alongside illustrators and artists, who together, create a stimulating teaching and learning environment that allows you to identify and succeed in your chosen career path.

The course has produced a number of award winning students who have excelled in leading design competitions run by organisations such as Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and the Design Museum. The employment success of our graduates is excellent, with many starting successful careers as graphic designers, taking on leading roles within creative industries or continuing on to postgraduate degrees in the UK and abroad.