Graphic Design BA (Hons)

Learn about, and begin to practise, the process behind effective graphic design. Focus on topics such as typography, image-making, branding, packaging, editorial design, illustration, and film or animation. Throughout this module you will be developing a portfolio of work that demonstrates your ability to document a design process: including evidence of design research, ideas generation and exploration, as well as appropriate presentation skills.

Explore the historical and theoretical issues relating to graphic visual culture on a global scale, which will help you to develop your own critical opinions about the role graphic design has played in the wider social content.

Building on the design thinking you developed in Year One, you'll further explore and experiment across a number of disciplines strengthening your own personal design direction and awareness of industry practice. You'll work on a series of specialist live client briefs that will give you experience of working in a professional environment, equipping you with valuable professional skills.

This historical and theoretical module will prepare you for your final dissertation and wider studio work by developing your communication skills and analytical ability in relation to discussing contemporary design. You will also continue to examine how contemporary design both shapes, and is shaped by, wider social and political developments.

Through active participation with team-based problem solving, you will work together in mixed teams on a project where you will use your creative ideas to generate solutions to the challenge or brief. Your project will allow you to explore how creativity can make an impact in society, as you choose a theme of sustainability, social justice, enterprise and innovation or community. This collaborative learning experience will expose you to a range of new processes and approaches that will develop your creative thinking.

Explore innovative approaches to publishing in this optional module, combining analogue and experimental formats with traditional processes. Acting as visual editors and makers, you'll interpret content creatively through workshops and independent practice. Studied in mixed-course groups, the module encourages personalisation and cross-course collaboration while developing industry-relevant design, craft, and communication skills.

In this optional module, you will explore both the technical fundamentals of type and its most ambitious application. Through a series of workshops, you will become editors, typesetters, designers and printers, allowing you to get hands on, critically reflect and develop your typographic skillset. Studied in mixed-course groups, the module encourages personalisation and cross-course collaboration.

This workshop-based module introduces visual storytelling, exploring image-text relationships, audience, and narrative structure. You'll develop a personal project, applying these skills to your area of interest while meeting industry standards. Open to all Art and Design students, it encourages collaboration across courses, allowing you to personalise your learning and build a broader creative community.

Using a given theme, this optional module will broaden your technical and theoretical practice in the subject of motion design. You will produce a piece of short form motion design. Encompassing the use of key fundamentals such as pace, flow, narrative and audio. Whilst responding to the needs of the audience through purpose, context and environment. Studied in mixed-course groups, this module encourages personalisation and cross-course collaboration while helping you build you motion portfolio and skillset.

From global warming and poverty to social, cultural and political crisis we are facing unprecedented challenges that demand immediate attention. Through a series of interconnected lectures, workshops and assessment tasks, this module will explore the potential of using cross-disciplinary design skills to make a positive and relevant contribution to the society. This optional module gives you the chance to personalise your course and collaborate with peers from across the School

This module explores the fast-paced world of digital marketing and communication in fashion and lifestyle. You'll analyse digital brand experiences, experiment with new technologies, and develop a concept proposal with prototype designs. Through individual and group projects, you'll build skills in data analytics, user experience, digital strategy, and storytelling to enhance customer engagement across digital platforms.

Explore the expressive potential of Creative Coding in this optional module, where you'll learn to write code using Processing to create interactive and data-driven visual work. Designed to complement your course, it offers the opportunity to personalise your learning and work alongside students from other disciplines, building new skills in an increasingly relevant area for artists and designers.

This optional module explores sustainable creative practices using natural materials for colour, image-making, and 3D construction. Through hands-on workshops, you'll learn techniques like natural dyeing, eco-printing, and biomaterials while considering environmental impact and well-being. The module builds a foundation in sustainable design and results in a portfolio of innovative, nature-inspired visual research and experimental work.

We have an option for all of our students to undertake a placement year and allow you to decide whether this is right for you once you have completed years 1 and 2 of your course. This time spent working in industry provides our students with crucial work experience, which is highly prized and much sought after by employers upon graduation. If you are successful in securing a placement you will have the chance to gain an additional Certificate or Diploma in Professional Practice, dependent on duration.

The additional placement year incurs a fee. For international students considering the transfer to the 4-yr SW route it's important to seek advice from the International Student Support team and the Home Office regarding any potential visa implications and costs. For UK students, advice should also be sought regarding SLC eligibility, if applicable.

* If you choose to take the sandwich route option, you will need to apply for this course by using the full-time UCAS code.

If you're studying on our sandwich route you can also opt to study abroad for a full academic year, or for a semester, during Year Three. This is an optional and additional period of study that complements your degree at NTU as an alternative to taking a work placement.

This is an exciting opportunity to experience a different national culture, teaching and learning styles and subjects in an international environment. The destination university must be a year abroad / exchange partner of NTU or member of a formally recognised scheme such as the International Student Exchange Programme (ISEP).

Our NTU Global and student mobility team will support you in finding the right opportunity from one of the many international partners available around the world.

Successful completion of a period of international study will earn you a standalone award an International Study Certificate (minimum six weeks) or the International Study Diploma (minimum 36 weeks).

Through working on a number of set and self-initiated projects, including competition briefs set by established professional bodies and client briefs, you will develop an individual portfolio of work in line with your personal ambitions and future career direction. Your work will demonstrate an industry-ready level of knowledge and skill.

Building on the research, critical thinking, and writing skills that you will have acquired in Year One and Year Two, you will produce a referenced and illustrated written study on an area of visual culture.