Graphic Design University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Course Overview

We live in a world where our experiences are increasingly mediated by visual imagery, our urban environments are saturated with visual messages of all kinds. Graphic Design is integral to our predominantly visual culture and professional graphic designers play a key role as prime cultural producers.

The range of visual communications for which they are responsible is immense: books and magazines, exhibitions and displays, posters and packaging, signage and diagrams, branding and brochures, websites, multimedia, presentations, identities, signs, symbols, logos, labels and letterform. The list is long and continuously expanding to meet the needs of our increasingly complex society.

Graphic Design is about designing effective visual communications. It is about the need to communicate something to individuals or to groups of people or organisations by graphic means. The graphic designer creates, manipulates and gives visual form to words and imagery in order to inform, persuade, delight and provoke.

Key Features

Graphic Design is an interplay of word and image, used to instruct, entertain and persuade. Graphic designers transmit these messages through a wide range of media, including Corporate Identity, Packaging, Publishing, Web Design, Signage Systems and Information Graphics.

The course nurtures and challenges your creative communication skills through stimulating projects that encompass both the rational and emotional forms of Graphic Design. You will develop the ability to solve specific visual problems by a combination of ideas and industry-standard software skills.

We have strong links with industry, generating work placements and 'live' briefs to enhance your portfolio, and help prepare you for an exciting and rewarding career in Graphic Design.

Modules

Level 4

• Graphic Communication
• Typography 1
• Design for Publication
• Typography 2
• Visual Studies 1
• Visual Studies 2
• Ways of Thinking
• Ways of Perceiving

Level 5

• Corporate Identity
• Design Technologies
• Other People's Shoes 'The Responsible Designer
• Sustainability, Enterprise & Entrepreneurship
• Visual Enquiry 1
• Visual Enquiry 2
• Creative Research
• Research Practices

Level 6

• Graduate Portfolio
• Dissertation
• Marketing & Self Promotion
• Advanced Creative Enquiry

International

Erasmus

During your time with us you will have the opportunity to study abroad with the Erasmus exchange programmes currently running with Universities in Norway, Barcelona and Sweden.

Study Abroad

Students can also take up the opportunity to study a semester in the USA and Canada.

For more information please click here.

Course Tutor(s)

• Gavin Kirby
• Philip Thomas
• Donna Williams
• Ian Simmons
• Harry Richmond

Assessment

All work is assessed formatively, on an ongoing basis. Weekly verbal discussion is encouraged. Summative assessment is made for each module at the end of each academic year.

Career Opportunities

Graphic Design is an expanding and ever changing industry, creating a vast spectrum of opportunity. Our graduates are successfully working freelance, forming award-winning design agencies of their own, or securing sought-after positions with both well known national companies and major global brands, including Marks & Spencer, Sky, Aston Villa FC, Nike, Barclays, Manchester Utd FC and Lego.

The programme provides you with a broad education in graphic design and, with an inbuilt degree of flexibility, it enables you to pursue individual interests whether in the fields of corporate graphics and brand identity, publishing, general design for print, packaging or interactive screen-based design.

Driven by industry standards and supported by state-of'the-art technologies, we produce highly employable graduates. Links with business and industry are an essential ingredient of the programme and are maintained and developed through 'live' projects, work placements, visiting professionals and educational visits.

Related Courses

• BA Illustration
• BA Advertising and Brand Design
• BA Photojournalism & Documentary Photography
• BA Photography in the Arts
• Certificate of Higher Education Art and Design Foundation

Additional Costs

Our students have access to a diverse range of equipment and resources, which in most cases are sufficient to complete their programme of study. We provide the basic materials necessary for students to develop their practical work within our extensive workshop and studio facilities. However, it is likely that art and design students will incur some additional costs to extend their investigation of their personal practice. For example, purchasing their own specialised materials and equipment, joining in optional study trips, and printing.

Entry requirements

Entry Criteria

We are interested in creative people that demonstrate a strong commitment to art and/or design and therefore we welcome applications from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. To assess student suitability for their chosen course we arrange interviews for all applicants at which your skills, achievements and life experience will be considered as well as your portfolio of work.

Our standard offer for a degree course is 120 UCAS tariff points. We expect applicants to have a grade C or above in English Language (or Welsh) at GCSE level, together with passes in another four subjects. Plus we accept a range of Level 3 qualifications including:

• Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, plus one GCE A-Level in a relevant academic subject
• Three GCE A-Levels or equivalent
• BTEC Extended Diploma in a relevant subject, with minimum grades of Merit
• International Baccalaureate score of 32
• Other relevant qualifications can be considered on an individual basis

Qualifications are important, however our offers are not solely based on academic results. If you don't have the required UCAS points then please contact the courses admissions tutor or email [email protected] as we can consider offers to applicants based on individual merit, exceptional work, and/or practical experience.

See our Interview Guide for more information.