Course summary

Graphic Design Develop an innovative, individual language and learn how to deal with the demands of an intensively competitive global marketplace as you experiment with various methods of visual communication. We support design through research, taking into consideration the needs of client and audience. Acquiring knowledge of the cultural, social and ethical concerns of design, and developing your position on these issues, will give you the confidence to push the boundaries of design, exploring its social, commercial and entrepreneurial possibilities. Studying with us will offer you the opportunity to be part of a creative community where you can reflect on and react to the changing nature of your discipline, and develop as an individual who is confident in undertaking any design problem. You will work in a ‘hands-on’ multidisciplinary learning environment. Our curriculum has been developed to educate in the art and science of visual communication, with an emphasis on professional practice and skills acquisition, whilst also encouraging creative risk-taking and experimentation. Your learning will be supported within a setting that provokes creative experiences, embracing communication design as a social and commercial activity. To ensure you’re future-ready, we embed employability and entrepreneurial skills across our curriculum, alongside the Department’s already excellent links with employers, commissioners and galleries. Photography Engage with the medium of photography in an experimental way, and evolve your personal practice and visual identity in your chosen genre and context. Our course is rooted in photography as a creative practice but also its social dimension as an agent of change. You are encouraged to draw on your lived-experience and curiosity as well as engage with a diverse range of contexts and genres, whether art, documentary, editorial or fashion. Students have the opportunity to explore a range of approaches and forms including fine printing, the photobook, moving image, installation and new-media possibilities. As a critically reflective and independent practitioner you will ultimately develop a distinct portfolio of photography. Graduates have moved onto postgraduate study, careers in teaching and a range of lens-based or related employment opportunities, which includes medical illustration, sports and music photojournalism, agency and marketing work.