MA/PGDip/PGCert Graphic Arts

We are looking for highly motivated students with skills and experience in graphic design, illustration or related subjects. Candidates will normally be expected to have attained an honours degree, but applicants with other qualifications or professional experience are also encouraged to apply.

All applications are carefully considered and prospective candidates invited for interview. Interviewees should be able to show a portfolio of their current practical work that includes evidence of developmental stages and process, as well as final outcomes. We look for an awareness of current debates within design and a commitment to developing original content for the production of new work.

As part of your application we ask for a personal statement (500/600 words approx.) with detailed responses to:

• Why have you decided to study for an MA at this point in your career?
• How you see your work and its link to Graphic Arts research? (practical, theoretical or both);
• What are your creative influences and how do these frame your thinking?
• What creative work or collaborations have you initiated yourself? (professional or personal);
• How do you see yourself working in the future?

The course will offer you the chance to extend your practice and explore new areas in the changing world of industry and design. Learning to be independent, to research effectively, to question and to be critical, and to sustain practice for the long term.

Students learn up to date technical skills in design for print, web, motion graphics, and fabrication.

The full Masters course comprises 180 credits divided into three 60 credits stages: Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, and Masters. Students work incrementally through the three stages and must pass all modules at each stage in order to progress to the next.

Introduction to Graphic Arts (30 credits)

This module introduces the subject through practical work and debate. You will consider and reflect on your initial perception of graphic arts and your own motivations for investigation, study, and practice within the broad scope that it offers. You will familiarise yourself with the resources available to you and begin to negotiate a programme of independent study.

Research Practice (30 credits)

Primarily concerned with building academic skills, this module offers a series of choices, each of which has specific sets of concerns related to the practice and theory of art, media and design. These options are: Research by practice; Critical Research and Research in Enterprise (in the Creative Industries).

Analysing Practice in Graphic Arts (30 credits)

You will explore and consider the different forms available to visual communicators, including print, screen and 3D/environmental outcomes. Through individual proposals you develop your work responding to a given text. Technical skills workshops enable you to explore the subject further and experiment with your ideas.

Developing Practice in Graphic Arts (30 credits)

This module builds upon your skills as a practitioner and seeks to develop concepts and ideas through an understanding of the self and critical position. You will research and submit a proposal for the development and realisation of a body of practical work that continues to the final module. There are also collaborative and day projects with invited guest speakers.

Extended Practice in Graphic Arts (60 credits)

You will undertake to produce a self-directed body of work with a choice of media, that shows your ability as an innovative and creative visual communicator, capable of creating meaningful and interesting content for an identified audience. The body of practical work is complemented by a substantial evaluation report which contextualises your particular approach to Graphic Arts.