Graphic Communication Design (Top-Up) BA (Hons)

Course Content

• Course Details

  Our Graphic Communication Design (Top-Up) BA (Hons) provides you with the vital skills and knowledge needed to further your understanding of visual communication, working in the creative industries, or potentially progressing onto postgraduate study. Having already developed the skills and qualifications for years 1 and 2 on your previous course, in year 3 with us you’ll be able to focus on expanding your conceptual and technical skills.

  We explore Graphic Communication Design through commercial, cultural, social, and environmental issues via a mix of practical work, live industry projects, critical study and design competition briefs. You’ll be taught in various ways including small and large group teaching, workshops and individual tutorials, lectures, group presentations and seminars, and we do this through a combination of face to face and online teaching, exploring digital media and software alongside craft skills such as print making, 3D and photography.

  We look at 4 areas on the Graphic Communication Design Top-Up course, these are –

  Commercial – here we develop your technical skills and practice the principals of graphic design and apply these to commercial projects and briefs – this includes understanding how audiences think and respond and how we approach and manage the design process to create effective solutions.

  Professional and Critical – here we expose you to the wider creative industries, the various roles and skills needed to work as a professional designer and how the business of design works. Additionally, we explore the development of visual culture and how it’s affected us and our world, and how we and others see and understand the world around us. Along with this, you develop your research abilities and your analytical and reflective writing skills.

  Experimental – here we encourage your individual responses to themes and issues that are not commercially focused – we challenge you to use your visual skills be used to convey complex and thought-provoking messages, and we develop your ability to see differently, think differently and explore different mediums and formats.

  Changemaker – here we focus on Graphic Communication Design’s role as a force for positive change through projects that explore social, ethical and environmental concerns. You are encouraged to develop empathetic and mindful approaches using your creative skills for progress and transformation.

  At the heart of our Top-Up programme is the creation of visual ideas that convey a message – this could be to sell, entertain or solve a commercial problem, or to expand understanding and awareness of an issue, or to influence and persuade people to see or think about something in a different way.

  We do this through considered, well researched and tested design solutions and use targeted technologies and channels to reach out and make a difference – the successful communication of a message is determined by its effective design; this is how we influence, create an emotion, and have impact.

  What do our students go on to do with these skills?

  After graduation, our students go on to work in a wide range of creative roles; some go on to work in agencies, some work as freelancers, some start their own businesses, producing work across branding, advertising, illustration, interactive and online design, UX and UI, editorial and publishing, film and moving image, packaging and photography. Additionally, some go on to postgraduate education to further enhance their skills and knowledge.

  There is a wide range of career and postgraduate options for you to explore, so during year 3, we will help you to identify and focus in on what your skills and interests are. Through your modules and the teaching and support from your lecturers, you will have had the opportunity to work on a detailed career plan that will set you on your path.

  Follow us on Instagram @gcd.uon

  Follow us to see what we are doing and have done over the last few years., including posts and stories from this year’s successful degree show, our ‘Changing Futures Week’ events, our competitions wins, and student highlights and features.

  Student highlights

  Our students are regularly shortlisted for the Penguin Cover Design Award and this year was no different. We had 2 students shortlisted – Evy Diepenbroek and Karla Ayree for the Adult Fiction category, with Karla beating hundreds of fellow designers from across the country to win the prestigious national prize.

  Karla was named winner at the awards ceremony in June for her cover design for ‘Girl, Women, Other’ by Bernardine Evaristo.

  

   

  Evy Diepenbroek’s design was shortlisted for the same prize

  

  We also had success in the D&AD New blood competition last year with our 2022 graduating student Laura Tucker winning a pencil for her Giff Gaff Recycling animation.

  Both the Penguin Cover Design and the D&AD The New Blood Awards are an invaluable introduction to the reality of working in the creative industry and entering gets your work seen by some of the biggest names in the creative industry. Over many years, students on our Graphic Communication Design BA (Hons) course have been regular winners.

  Please note the modules shown here relate to the academic year 23/24. The modules relating to the academic year 24/25 will be available from June 2024.

  • Stage 1
    • Preparing for industry (20 Credits)
      Module code: 2DD3012

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is for students to confidently define their post-graduation trajectory. Students will develop and apply interpersonal skills and industry knowledge to a range of work models from the evolving creative industries. This module concludes with a detailed presentation outlining the students' professional intentions.
    • Professional Portfolio (40 Credits)
      Module code: 2DD3013

      Status: Compulsory
      This module enables students to establish a professional graduate portfolio through a series of industry-related briefs covering a range of contemporary design practices. Impactful ideas targeted at defined audiences are central to this module, with students encouraged to take risks and explore new and emerging ways of working and communicating.
    • Major Project (60 Credits)
      Module code: 2DD4007

      Status: Compulsory
      The purpose of this module is to develop a progressive and impactful body of practice and writing, based on thorough critical research into an area of personal interest within contemporary visual culture. Outcomes will form a significant part of the graduate's portfolio, showcasing specialisms within contemporary graphic communication design.

  Schedule

  Your taught study will be a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops and technical demonstrations, usually for 15 hours per week, depending on your level of study. In addition, we recommend that you spend around 10 hours per week in self-directed study time. Outside of taught time, you will have access to technical facilities and studies.

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• Entry Requirements

  Standard entry requirements apply. Applicants are expected to have studied a Graphic or related Art and Design subject at Foundation Degree/HND or equivalent.

  We welcome international applications and applications from students with a range of non-traditional educational or professional qualifications.

  Applicants are requested to send a digital portfolio of their own work in Art and Design and attend a 30 minute online interview with a member of Graphic Communication Design team.

  Receiving an offer may also be subject to qualifications and standard entry requirements.

  For more more information on how to make an application, please visit our How to Apply page.

  If you are an International student and would like information on making an application, please see our How to Apply page.

  English Language Requirements

  All International and EU students applying for a course with us must meet the following minimum English language requirements:

  • IELTS 6.0 (or equivalent) with a minimum of 5.5 in all bands
    for study at undergraduate level.

  For information regarding English language requirements at the University, please see our IELTS page.

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• Fees and Funding

  2024/25 Tuition Fees

  Fees quoted relate to study in the Academic Year 24/25 only and may be subject to inflationary increases in future years.

  • UK – Full Time: £9,250
  • UK – Part Time: £1,540 per 20 credit module
  • International – Full Time: £16,500

  Materials, Events and Visits

  Materials for workshops, entry to competitions associated with your graphic communication design programme of study, and those visits that are necessary for your course are all made available at no additional charge.

  We recommend that you budget for additional printing costs (approximately £30 per year for laser and large format printing) and any specialist design materials that you may require (£50 or more depending on materials) per year.

  There are optional trips, both within the UK and overseas: UK visits and Trips will cost approximately £50 per year. Overseas trips or visits will cost approximately £350 per trip

  The 3rd year Degree Show held in the summer additionally requires contributions [or your own fund-raising activities] to support the funding of a catalogue and marketing materials costing approximately £20 each, along with further contributions to exhibit at the off-site Graduate Design shows in London, approximately £25 each.

  As part of our course, you will get a free subscription to the full Adobe Creative suite for the duration of your course and we have our own suite of MacBooks to use in our design studios and access to iMacs however, if able, buying your own Apple computer is recommended.

  As you will expect on an Art and Design course, you’ll be expected to provide your own day to day art and design materials such as sketchbooks, pens, pencils, markers, rulers etc. We have an onsite Art shop that can cater for all these needs and your staff team will talk you through what you will need prior to starting your course.

  2023/24 Tuition Fees

  Fees quoted relate to study in the Academic Year 23/24 only and may be subject to inflationary increases in future years.

  • UK – Full Time: £9,250
  • UK – Part Time: £1,540 per 20 credit module
  • International – Full Time: £15,500

  Materials, Events and Visits

  Materials for workshops, entry to competitions associated with your graphic communication design programme of study, and those visits that are necessary for your course are all made available at no additional charge.

  We recommend that you budget for additional printing costs (approximately £30 per year for laser and large format printing) and any specialist design materials that you may require (£50 or more depending on materials) per year.

  There are optional trips, both within the UK and overseas: UK visits and Trips will cost approximately £50 per year. Overseas trips or visits will cost approximately £350 per trip

  The 3rd year Degree Show held in the summer additionally requires contributions [or your own fund-raising activities] to support the funding of a catalogue and marketing materials costing approximately £20 each, along with further contributions to exhibit at the off-site Graduate Design shows in London, approximately £25 each.

  As part of our course, you will get a free subscription to the full Adobe Creative suite for the duration of your course and we have our own suite of MacBooks to use in our design studios and access to iMacs however, if able, buying your own Apple computer is recommended.

  As you will expect on an Art and Design course, you’ll be expected to provide your own day to day art and design materials such as sketchbooks, pens, pencils, markers, rulers etc. We have an onsite Art shop that can cater for all these needs and your staff team will talk you through what you will need prior to starting your course.

   

  For information on the scholarships available to you, please see our scholarships page.

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• FAQs

  How will I be taught on Graphic Communication Design (Top-Up) BA (Hons)?

  You will be taught through a variety of methods such as;

  • Project briefs (staff-set/self-set /industry/competition)
  • Individual, group tutorials and seminars
  • Workshops/demonstrations
  • E-tivities/Active Blended Learning / Online activities
  • Group critiques and presentations
  • Visiting speakers and Industry Guests

  You will be taught by your core team of Senior Lecturers, Lecturers and Associate Lecturers – and you have contact with them week in, week out. It is these lecturers that deliver the majority of your taught experience, set project briefs, assess your work and lead study visits.

  How will I be assessed?

  You will be assessed through a range of graphic communication design assignments, design competitions and live projects [producing individual work as well as working in groups] including design work submitted through portfolio presentations [these can be printed, online, digita or physical], oral presentations and pitches, written work and self-assessments.

  Are there any suggested reading and resources?

  Yes, we suggest looking up the following titles for some inspiration:

  Books:

  • Graphic design: a user’s manual – Adrian Shaughnessy
  • The A-Z of visual ideas: how to solve any creative brief – John Ingledew
  • Design History, A Students’ Handbook – Hazel Conway
  • Know your onions: graphic design – Drew De Soto
  • The art of looking sideways – Alan Fletcher
  • On Creativity – John Hegarty
  • Graphic Design: A New History – Stephen Eskilson

  Magazines:

  • Creative Review
  • Eye: the international review of graphic design
  • Juxtapose
  • Baseline: international typographics journal
  • Aesthetica
  • Computer Arts Magazine
  • Adbusters

  Web:

  • Its Nice That (web)
  • Computer Arts magazine / CreativeBloq
  • Design inspiration – Design Inspiration

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