MA Graphic Design and Visualisation

Program Overview

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The MA Graphic Design and Visualisation program equips students with advanced skills in graphic design, empowering them to solve complex design problems through user-centric research and innovative solutions. Ranked highly in the UK and globally, the program prepares graduates for successful careers in various graphic design fields, including photography, art direction, and illustration. Students benefit from industry-aligned teaching methods and expert supervision, enabling them to develop their professional and entrepreneurial skills.

Program Outline

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Degree Overview:

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MA Graphic Design and Visualisation

This program aims to equip students with a specialist area of expertise in graphic design while providing them with advanced, complex tools and methods to further their practice within relevant working fields. The program seeks to prepare students for:

• Advanced professional careers
• Entrepreneurial aspirations
• Further studies at a doctoral level
Taught in a progressive, industry-aligned environment, students are empowered to:
• Explore advanced graphic design problems
• Apply user-centric research methods
• Expand their thinking beyond conventional approaches
Supervised by experts in the field of graphics, user experience/interface, illustration, or animation, students will receive support to propose future-facing, internationally relevant solutions.

• Ranked 4th in the UK for Art and Design
• Ranked 2nd in the UK for Graphic Design
• Ranked 32nd in the world for Art and Design
• Taught in a progressive, industry-aligned environment
• Students learn to apply rigorous research methods to solve complex design problems
• Develop key professional transferable skills like co-design, international/transdisciplinary collaborations, design management, and entrepreneurship

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Outline:

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Semester 1

• Modelling and Deployment
• Design Teams
• Research in a User's World
• Design Research Methods

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Semester 2

• Design Challenges: Management and Entrepreneurship
• International Design Practices
• Defining a Specialist Project
• Specialist Project Materials and Processes

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Summer

• Final Project: Practical Perspectives
• Final Project: Theoretical Perspectives

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Module Descriptions:

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Modelling and Deployment

• Introduce students to industry-standard methods of design thinking
• Understand the difference between thinking through drawing and visualisation to decide on appropriate production tools

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Design Teams

• Introduce students to industry-standard methods of design thinking
• Understand the difference between thinking through drawing and visualisation to decide on appropriate production tools

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Research in a User's World

• Enable students to recognize that there are various methods for understanding the interaction between external stakeholder environments and practice design processes
• Enable students to produce satisficed research data to inform and guide a dialogic design case study

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Design Research Methods

• Introduce students to the design research process and how the methods and tools it comprises are used to collect, analyze, synthesize, and interpret research data for design research projects

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Design Challenges: Management and Entrepreneurship

• Develop a systematic understanding of how personal practice operates within the context of international design business
• Develop critical understanding of design management strategies, methods, and techniques current in their specialist fields

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International Design Practices

• Develop a systematic understanding of personal practice as critically evaluated against the context of international communication design
• Develop critical understanding and knowledge of problem-solving strategies, methods, and techniques in use by international peers

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Defining a Specialist Project

• Enable a systematic understanding of research and project management tools to generate working data to guide graphic practice in resolving a design problem in abstract and unpredictably complex contexts
• Synthesize advanced and specialist design research and practice outcomes that communicate design solutions
• Develop and present action plans and responses to specialist design projects

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Specialist Project Materials and Processes

• Develop advanced personal practice through specialist field investigations: history, philosophies, materials, processes, and techniques
• Empower students to develop independent thinking by experimenting with specialist project materials and processes
• Critically reflect on design outcomes and challenge the boundaries of relevant conceptual frameworks

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Final Project: Practical Perspectives

• Enable students to demonstrate applied knowledge of specialist practice to an advanced level in their chosen Graphic Design and Visualisation area
• Support students to apply advanced visualisation systems and specialist techniques to answer complex design problems
• Empower students to develop, design, and present radical/innovative proposals to help them build a professional design profile

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Final Project: Theoretical Perspectives

• Enable students to demonstrate knowledge of specialist research practice to an advanced level in their chosen Graphic Design and Visualisation area
• Support students to apply advanced research practices to acquire specialist techniques and research methods
• Empower students to write radical/innovative design research proposals to enable progression to further education (doctoral studies)

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Assessment:

Assessment is continuous and based on an appraisal of practice, written material, related research, and professional and entrepreneurial skills in relation to the final project outcome(s).

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Teaching:

The program features a variety of teaching and learning methods:

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Tutorials
• Field trips
• Independent study
• Group work
• Workshops
• Practical sessions

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Careers:

The program prepares graduates for careers in various graphic design fields, including:

• Photography
• Art direction
• Graphic design
• Publishing
• Illustration
• Video production
• Television and film
• Artist
• Curator
• Marketing

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UK: £13,000 International: £28,750