Graphic Design (including foundation year) - BA (Hons)

More about this course

You’ll kick off your foundation year by working on an array of short studio and workshop projects, which will aid your development of skills and techniques that are common across all our foundation degrees. Later in the year you will then progress to projects that focus more specifically on graphic design.

During these workshops you’ll have the opportunity to explore a wide range of drawing techniques as well as colour, materials, process, collage, exhibiting and more.

This foundation year will allow you be experimental in a wide range of art subjects and will ensure you’re well-equipped to study graphic design at undergraduate level. Towards the end of the year, you’ll work on projects that will boost your confidence and independence as a designer and train you to be self-motivated and innovative. You’ll also attend lectures and seminars that will look at creative practice within historical, contemporary, conceptual and cultural contexts.

There will be plenty of chances for you to present your work to fellow students and tutors, as well as showcase your best projects in an end-of-year summer exhibition. This will allow you to gain feedback and perspectives on your work and will help you develop as a graphic designer.

Following the foundation year you will study the same course content as those who study our Graphic Design BA (Hons).

Assessment

You will be assessed via project work, essays and an individual portfolio.

Entry requirements

In addition to the University's standard entry requirements, you should have:

• at least one A level (or a minimum of 32 UCAS points from an equivalent Level 3 qualification, eg BTEC Subsidiary/National/BTEC Extended Diploma)
• English Language GCSE at grade C/4 or above or will need to take the University English test

You will need to attend an interview with your portfolio of creative work. We encourage applications from international/EU students with equivalent qualifications. We also accept mature students with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

If you live in the UK, you will be invited to a portfolio interview. If you live outside the UK you will be required to submit a small portfolio of work via email.

Accreditation of Prior Learning

Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course at London Met. Find out more about applying for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).

English language requirements

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. This course requires you to meet our standard requirements

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.

Modular structure

The modules listed below are for the academic year 2022/23 and represent the course modules at this time. Modules and module details (including, but not limited to, location and time) are subject to change over time.

Year 0 modules include:

Critical & Contextual Studies: Foundation (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Wednesday morning

The Critical and Contextual Studies module introduces a range of cultural and contextual practices and is diagnostic in helping students to identify areas of reading, writing, information gathering and research in relation to their abilities, needs and aspirations. The intention is to prepare students for critical and theoretical work in Higher Education.

The focus of the Critical and Contextual Studies module is on the ability to ask questions and find answers; specifically, those bearing on architecture, art, design and media in the broad sense and to the conventional means to present these. The experience of the module is structured by a sequence of three submissions: an initial patchwork assignment that includes a Learning Reflection element, an analysis of the works of a particular creative practitioner and a final submission is a self-directed essay.

The contents include answers to questions that range from practical or theoretical ‘how to’ or ‘what is’ exercises; to simple ‘what do you think?’ form of analysis or reflection; to complex structured responses in the form of the essay.

The module is constructed around three core blocks of intensive study. Each block has a thematic structure to allow the exploration of different topics and approaches, for example: ‘Contexts’, ‘Connections’, ‘Themes in creative practice’. The first assessment includes the Learning Reflection element.

The module aims to motivate and aid the student to find out about and engage in the practice and culture of architecture, art, design and media. The module should help inform the student about their future direction of study as well as providing useful insights into their potential and abilities. Students learn how to ask and begin to answer questions about the discipline they are interested in and its broader context. They should acquire a portfolio of methodological and critical writing and communication skills that enable them and know how to apply themselves to the various forms of study and assessment ahead following progression to the next level in Higher Education.

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Formats (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Wednesday afternoon

The Formats module is in a relatively objective position in relation to the Project and Techniques modules; whereas their focus is on aspects of an individual’s creative practice Formats addresses what is shared or common across creative practices, such as colour, composition, having and using ideas, collecting and categorising, curating, presenting and exhibiting. It is used to integrate the individual project-related work with knowledge, methods and formats from creative practice more widely.

Relations are explored between individual creative practice and other creative practices through producing work in different digital and analogue formats – including document, journal, process diary, book, album, brochure, instruction manual, worksheet, competition entry, exhibition, pop-up event, etc.

The different formats relate to ways of working and ways of thinking presented in different contexts; acting as multifunctional/responsive spaces that uses a range or combination of materials, methods and presentation environments, eg drawing, painting, photography, collage, transcribing, recording, notation, animation, film, commentary, diagram, on-line algorithm, collection and categorising, mind-maps, and ‘Thinking Hats’, etc.

There is an emphasis on the process of learning from self-evaluation and critical reflection towards propositions using both prescribed tasks and imaginative/conceptual interpretation eg colour theory – wheels/ swatches/ assemblage; reflection/ illustrated journal; composition/ narrative; exhibition/ publication; teamwork/ peer review; collecting/ curating, etc.

The module develops evidence of independent and discriminating thought and action in the research, approach and development of creative work using existing knowledge alongside diverse experience, self-reflection and critical reflection to learn about, understand and develop creative practice.

It introduces practical strategies for the formation and growth of nascent creative work and ideas; and seeks to introduce methods of thinking, recording, collecting, documenting, reading, mapping, reworking, reflecting and evaluating to evolve creative habits. It aims to evidence increasing subject-area knowledge and to develop understanding of the relationship between practical, conceptual and intellectual methods associated with different creative practices.

It encourages self-assessment of skills and knowledge to contribute to and participate in team-work and collaborative outcomes. It guides navigation between the rigorous/professional (criteria, formats and deadlines) and the imaginative/innovative (novelty, diversity and questioning).

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Project (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Monday morning
• all year (September start) - Friday morning
• all year (September start) - Thursday morning
• all year (September start) - Tuesday morning

A project develops ideas through conceptual and material processes towards outcomes that can be evaluated in relation to the initial idea; and other related contexts that may arise during the time-frame of the project. The Project module is an introduction to the project as a key feature of creative practice.

The projects in the Project module vary considerably in aim, structure and duration to reflect their application in a wide range of creative practices. The definition, implementation, development and outcome of the projects is transferred from tutor to student as the course proceeds. The projects are inherently student-centred with course demands satisfied by developing the student’s independent inquiry, discovery and production.

Each project requires direct engagement, participation and responsibility in relation to ideas, productivity and the reflection on and evaluation of creative work.

Practical elements of project-work are built-up by a close relation with the Techniques module. Critical reflection and self-evaluation encourage the development of self-organisation and effective time-management.

The Project module provides a broad, varied, stimulating and diagnostic experience of a range of creative practices that allows for self- assessment of individual interests and aptitudes towards developing a creative practice in relation to making an informed choice of a progression pathway ahead.

It enables the development of a productive, disciplined and critical approach to visual and practical enquiry; and to individual independent thinking, making and communicating. It develops the individual’s portfolio of work in a distinctive and ambitious way as evidence of a personal creative practice in the context of a specific subject area. Assignments and study trips will open up London as a source of limitless research potential and creativity.

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Techniques (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon
• all year (September start) - Thursday afternoon
• all year (September start) - Monday afternoon
• all year (September start) - Friday afternoon

The Techniques module delivers the skills-based, technical aspects of creative practices in relation having, developing and resolving ideas through processes towards media/material outcomes. It concerns the quality of making, considerations of care, appropriateness and endeavour. It encourages recognition of the intrinsic formal and structural qualities of different media as essential elements in visual/aural communication. The module involves a series of learning experiences that introduce and develop many of the key skills and techniques needed for a range of making practices across various subject areas; the outcomes are in the context of and further developed in close relation with the Project module.

The Techniques module introduces a wide range of materials, methods, techniques and processes to make work in a broad sense. It is closely aligned with the Project module to develop understanding of the limitations and potential of selected media, materials and techniques in the development project work. Responsible attitudes aligned to ethical and professional contexts are applied and considered in relation to imaginative experimentation and exploitation for innovation.

The Techniques module links the analysis and evaluation of technical quantitative properties with qualitative aesthetic discernment and judgment and introduces a common vocabulary, technical/professional language, core skills and reference models. It introduces safe and appropriate studio/workshop/site practice.

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Year 1 modules include:

Critical and Contextual Studies 1 (Visual Communication) (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon

Critical and Contextual Studies (CCS) Level 4 aims to orient and critically engage students in the history and theory of their discipline, its extent and conventions, and its broader social and material context in culture and contemporary practice.

The module helps students to reflect on what they see, and to read connections between different ideas that have shaped their discipline. In particular the module investigates how thinking and articulating ideas about practice in their field might be framed – for example in relation to history, the economy, society and the environment, or through theory and practice.

The module introduces students to a range of academic skills needed to produce a graduate-level study in their final year. It helps students to develop their own interests, and to reflect on and take responsibility for the development of their own learning. This includes surveys in the history of their discipline, research and writing workshops, seminars, library sessions, visits and tours in addition to guided independent learning.

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Design Principles (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Monday afternoon
• all year (September start) - Monday morning
• all year (January start) - Monday morning
• all year (January start) - Monday afternoon

This module is intended to enable graphic designers, publishers, illustrators and animators to explore the principles of their subject through intensive introductions to craft and digital based workshops and processes of making, combined with theoretical, historical and contemporary explorations within their subject areas.

Successful design outcomes are reliant on sound design principles. These design principles inform and create opportunities for designers to apply creativity to the conception, development and eventual realisation of effective design solutions in relation to the subject area. Testing, experimentation and iteration are key to making new discoveries and developing as a visual communicator.

This module introduces to a range of contemporary and traditional discipline-related design approaches and processes, some of which will be tested in design exercises. Processes experienced will involve research, documentation and analysis, as well as play, accident and chance.

Design concepts will be tested through the application of workshop and studio methods. Materials, processes and technologies will be discipline-specific, developing creative outcomes relevant to the possibilities and constraints of the context, the needs of the client and users, and industry conventions.

Students will be encouraged to develop a critically informed and personal approach to the process of 'making' and to extensively test new skills and processes learnt. Studios and projects will encourage understanding of practice in the context of a rapidly changing contemporary culture with ever-developing needs and problems; engaging with materials, media and processes to find an individual voice as a visual communicator.

This module seeks to enable students to:

• utilise different methods and techniques, recording and presentation of findings for graphic design, design for publishing, illustration and animation as appropriate discipline-specific skills in studio practice;

• develop strategies for idea generation, problem solving and concept testing, and to design with reflection, rigour, innovation and personality;

• learn and apply key knowledge (for example, material and process selection, historical exemplars) necessary to the exercise of design, including consideration of ethical issues;

• demonstrate that consideration of the effects on users of design decisions is fundamental to the principles and practice of design work;

• build a clear understanding of contemporary practice in the subject area.

Projects will seek to enable a range of learning opportunities such as:

• acquisition of workshop and studio skills for concept generation, design development, both traditional and contemporary, in discipline specific environments and contexts;

• research and analysis through case study of object, context and process;

• discussion of ideas, processes and approaches, developing confidence through shared experience;

• peer and self-assessment opportunities fostering reflection and independent development;

• set tasks and site visits that encourage teamwork, community networking and peer communication;

• face to face and online study groups through the University E-learning environment.

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Graphic Authorship (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Thursday afternoon
• all year (September start) - Thursday morning
• all year (January start) - Thursday

This module introduces the idea of ‘graphic authorship’ as a way of thinking and as an approach to developing a personal practice as a graphic designer, designer for publishing, illustrator or animator. Through investigation and development, from conception to realisation, its purpose is to stimulate critical and creative methods of design in an evolving personal perspective. As good working practice, the module also encourages reflection in relation to critical reception of work. It asks students to consider the negotiable nature, contexts and implications of the personal positions and purposes adopted by creative practitioners.

It surveys key historical and contemporary movements and practitioners known for their singular creative voice, considering what can be learned from the influence of their work in context of their own and later times. The module also looks at other creative factors and influences, whether tied to the professional field or not, in shaping individual practice.

The module seeks to enable students to:

• consider and discuss critical activity and roles as a creative practitioners in a chosen field of graphic design, design for publishing, illustration or animation;

• understand relevant issues, choices and constraints within graphic authorship: can or should designers ‘author’ their own work or simply ‘transmit’ between the client and society;

• appreciate factors that mediate how practice is received and understood through time, place, culture, commerce etc.;

• gain secure knowledge of both precedent and contemporary practice in relation to questions of authorship, beginning to locate themselves within the contemporary disciplinary field accordingly;

• practice strategies for creative influence/ reception, finding their own voices within practice, exploring the question of authorship through studios that further practical competence.

Students will work independently and in groups as is required by the nature of the module’s aims. Seminars and critiques provide ongoing feedback on critical and creative development, permitting reflection on how work is received.

Through case study discussions and indicative visual analysis, the module requires students to reflect on work produced by themselves and their peers, as well as in the context of historical and contemporary figures in the profession. Students will study original examples of relevant work on visits to cultural institutions, studios and other design related situations.

The studio and module introduces a range of media, materials, processes and approaches for the realisation of concepts and ideas through workshops, seminars, critiques and presentations. Studio practice in development of disciplinary techniques encourages technical competence, knowledge of the field and opportunity to develop a critical voice and increasingly distinctive approach.

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Visual Research and Communication (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Tuesday morning
• all year (January start) - Wednesday morning

This module is intended to enable graphic designers, publishers, illustrators and animators to develop a range of knowledge, skills and approaches in the research, sketching and communication of information and ideas in visual form.

Students will take part in a range of studios, workshops and lectures that introduce a wide range of traditional and contemporary drawing, visual research and communication media, methods and practices to help explore, record, select from, analyse and interpret the environment and the world of images, spaces and artefacts for a range of purposes.

Through the regular practice of a wide range of visual communication methods, whether for the recording and communication of information, the generation of concepts and design or the expression of ideas, students will develop confidence and a key resource to support practice.

Discipline specific projects will explore the recording and expression of line, colour, form, structure, light, space and perspective, texture, detail and context appropriate to the requirements of specific fields in a range of media and formats.

The module seeks to enable students to:

• study and practice a range of techniques and approaches in the research and recording of exhibitions, contemporary and historical practitioners within the field of visual communication, books, magazines and specialist blogs;

• gain increasing fluency in a range of formal techniques in the generation and communication of ideas and information in visual form;

• begin to develop a personal approach and a regular practice of drawing as a form of visual research;

• begin to demonstrate critical interpretation of what is recorded and produced through visual research and communication practice through reflection.

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Year 2 modules include:

Critical and Contextual Studies 2 (Visual Communication) (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Thursday afternoon

Critical and Contextual Studies 2 continues to orient and critically engage students in the history and theory of their discipline, its extent and conventions, and its broader social and material context in culture and contemporary practice. It builds on studies undertaken in Level 4 and prepares students as independent thinkers, capable of selecting an appropriate topic and producing a sustained piece of independent study in the form of a dissertation in Level 6.

The module continues to situate the student within the process of constructing knowledge about their discipline, its history, context, and its professional and ethical dimension. It rehearses the analytical and discursive skills students need to become knowledgeable about the authorities, objects and methods in their field; to understand the roles, locations and responsibilities of important players whilst examining the broader ethical questions relevant to their discipline; and to become conversant with current debates across the subject area. This process may be approached from the point of view of the producer or consumer, the critic or the professional, the academic or the practitioner.

Students are encouraged to think creatively and to take responsibility for the development of their own learning. The module recognises that the student is also an active contributor in the process: what students bring to the construction of knowledge counts – and how effectively they construct this knowledge depends on how well they understand the field of their discipline.

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Exploring Design Practice (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Friday morning
• all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon
• all year (September start) - Tuesday morning

This module exposes students to specialist graphic practices in design for print, screen, branding, interaction, animation, illustration or photography. The module asks students to conceptualise, plan and produce design outcomes that challenge and innovates the areas of graphic design, illustration, animation and publishing.

Design practice for print, screen and environments have a vital historical importance in global culture where they have been adopted; and due to the constantly changing nature of contemporary communication, they retain their validity as ways of imparting and exchanging information. Here, students are encouraged to consider the particular role and possibilities offered by the forms of design methods explored in the module.

Using accumulative knowledge of contemporary graphic design, design for publishing, illustration and animation, students will adopt a questioning approach, to gain in-depth understanding of the commercial and technological context of current design practice, with an emphasis on how to contribute to and advance the field. Encouraging cross-disciplinary practice with other disciplines such as fine art, printmaking, three-dimensional design and architecture, students will experiment with various modes of graphic design and illustration – technical, editorial, experimental, narrative and entrepreneurial.
Photography and lens-based imagery have been crucial in the history of illustration, animation, publishing and graphic design. Relationships between image, text, sound and space are critical to understanding developments within design practice. Within the project, students will employ photography to create and communicate ideas and concepts, in the context of visual communication.

Under guidance within design studios, students will choose from, or devise a project or range of projects, working with established designers and industry professionals. The module will facilitate the realisation of concepts generated in other modules.

This module seeks to enable students to:

• understand the commercial environment, context and potential purposes and applications of design practice;

• consider issues such as the use and reception of language, methods of structuring information, both text/type and image, appropriate tone of voice, hierarchy, sequence and materials and processes, across book, exhibition design, editorial and information design, recognising and debating the theoretical and ethical context;

• conceptualise, plan and produce design outcomes that exploit the whole breadth of graphic communications for a defined purpose, exploring and extending practice, creatively and technically;

• explore, appreciate and apply a range of skills demonstrating commercial awareness and professional techniques for presentation to an identified audience.

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Narrative (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Friday morning
• all year (September start) - Tuesday morning
• all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon

This module encourages graphic designers, publishers, illustrators and animators to gain experience and understanding of ‘narrative’ as a key element within creative practice. The principal purpose of this module is to explore understanding of how found or individually generated narratives can be utilised imaginatively within design practice. Narrative within design practice regularly employs fictional devices as stimuli. Thoughtful reflection on storytelling conventions will enable you to enrich and extend the range of creative expression.

Within this module, students will be encouraged to construct, deconstruct and reconstruct narrative to inform or subvert the reading of design practice for public dissemination. Intelligent, creative selection of media and process will enable students to enrich and extend the range of practice, developing confidence in communicating through narrative studio themes.

This module seeks to enable students to:

• explore narrative themes, patterns and types within design practice;

• deepen confidence and evolve a distinctive approach through research and re-interpretation of narrative within design practice;

• further relevant practical skills in order to employ expressive themes within creative practice;

• develop critical understanding of semiotic reading in relation to visual and material design practice.

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Work Ready 1 (option, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Thursday morning

This module is intended to enable graphic designers, publishers, illustrators and animators to gain experience and understanding of working practices within their respective creative industries. Work related learning projects, work opportunities and competition opportunities that reflect real-world situations, enable the consolidation of both disciplinary and creative skills, develop professional confidence and navigate individual-entrepreneurialism and collaborative approaches to working.

Projects will provide the opportunity to explore in-depth professional ways of working, encouraging students to foster creative imagination and critical judgement, and to develop individual and team-working skills to real-world problems and opportunities.

The module is driven by creative workplace goals, objectives and constraints in order to develop, test and extend knowledge and understanding of professional practice and employability. Particular emphasis is placed upon the completion of agreed practice-based outcomes to a professional standard within agreed timescales, promoting confidence in communication skills, including visual and verbal presentation methods. Professional ethics, social enterprise and entrepreneurial strategies will be explored, debated, and applied to produce creative solutions.

Within the module, students will gather work-related experience through live or simulated projects. Students will gather transferable skills, desirable and advantageous for employment. They will foster students’ ability to develop and present creative ideas to a professional client relevant (or adjacent) to their overall practice or employment intentions.

This module seeks to enable students to:

• develop social and professional skills and confidence for collaboration, negotiation and decision making in individual and team working contexts;

• acquire knowledge of professional ways of working and standards required within graphic design, publishing, illustration and animation field of practice, including recognition of relevant ethical concerns;

• embed in their practice professional methods of project management, recording, communication and analogue and digital presentation;

• employ creativity and enterprise in problem solving through effective industry techniques for analysis and evaluation, setting goals and targets in relation to the opportunities and constraints of the brief.

The module focuses on individual and/or team self-directed study in response to illustration and animation, publishing and graphic design studio briefs and competitions with tutor and industry professional guidance. Teaching and learning will normally include discipline-specific lectures, workshops and/or presentations on industry practice, briefings, company/industry visits, and critiques enabling reflection and analysis of work in progress and feedback. Students will have access to regular tutor feedback within sessions and will be encouraged to use blended learning resources to maintain and share progress. Ongoing support, monitoring and guidance in studio and workshop sessions will be available during projects.

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Year 3 modules include:

Critical and Contextual Studies 3: Dissertation (Visual Communication) (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Wednesday afternoon
• all year (September start) - Wednesday morning

Critical and Contextual Studies (CCS) Level 6 results in an independent dissertation. It builds on two years of undergraduate study that critically engages students in the history and theory of their discipline, its extent and conventions, and its broader social and material context in culture and contemporary practice.

Students undertake an enquiry into a topic of their own choice and, based on this enquiry, develop a sustained critical study in support of their practice, building on techniques and knowledge developed in previous years. This study demonstrates the student’s ability to thoroughly research a topic, use appropriate methods of investigation, and work in a methodical and organised way to develop a coherent argument. It affords a sophisticated instrument for interrogating, testing and presenting ideas, and encourages the student to deploy and develop a variety of skills to show how well they can conduct and present a critical investigation.

The module rewards criticality and innovation, and provides a platform for ambitious independent work. To this end, it offers individual supervision designed to support the student’s learning. The subject matter of the dissertation can be theoretical, technical, or historical. In terms of format, the dissertation may be envisaged in different ways and can include visual, technical or other non-written material which may form the subject of the enquiry and comprise an integral part of the whole.

The dissertation may be practice-based and include field work and primary research in its methodology; or it might be academic and theoretical in its outlook and draw predominantly on secondary sources. Its form and approach can reflect a broad range of discipline-specific approaches based on discussion and agreement with the supervisor and/or course leader.

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Final Project Realisation: Graphic Design (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Friday morning
• all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon
• all year (September start) - Tuesday morning

This final project module enables graphic design students to prepare for independent practice in the workplace or to move onto higher studies. In this module, students will utilise skills and ideas conceived and developed in the parallel 'Project Design and Development' module, fully realising a self-directed final project brief in appropriate form by the end of the module.

Students will exercise and display their conceptual and creative abilities through selecting, analysing and applying knowledge, skills and understanding. They will negotiate and complete a fully researched project in order to properly understand their strengths, interests and position in the field of graphic design and their potential for future professional development.

Students will show that they understand the complex and changing nature of problems in the graphic design industry and can devise and apply realistic strategies for constructing, applying and managing a process designed to offer innovative solutions.

A professional standard of realisation, contextualisation and presentation will be expected, providing the elements for a professional portfolio of practice with which to enter the field of employment or self-employment or further studies.

This module seeks to enable students to:

• devise a fully holistic process to realise the outcomes of a graphic design research and development project;

• achieve outcomes of a professional standard of realisation and presentation;

• contextualise and present outcomes to a professional standard, showing that they have understood and managed complex and ambitious tasks;

• work independently, self-reflectively and with concern for the ethical issues and principles attached to the project showing understanding of their particular strengths, interests and position in the field, and their potential for further development.

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Project Design and Development (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Friday morning
• all year (September start) - Tuesday afternoon
• all year (September start) - Tuesday morning

Together with their final project realisation module, this module is intended to prepare graphic design, publishing and illustration and animation students for independent practice, entry into the professional workplace, or for higher studies.

Through independent and studio-based knowledge of visual communication fundamentals, skills, elements, processes and principles, students will facilitate, design and develop a series of self-directed studio projects. This will naturally require in-depth research, a well-constructed visual communication process, and the exercise of practical and thinking skills, resulting in a significant body of creative work for public and work related exhibition.

A negotiated and approved proposal will confirm the individual project. Using course and studio narratives, creative exploration and experimentation, students will develop research, concept development, material investigation, digital and analogue proposals, modelling or prototyping and visualisation. The final outcome will be produced in final project realisation.

The module will ensure that students critique and reflect upon their own work and position in the creative sector. The module emphasises self-direction and personal focus whilst acknowledging external and professional trends, expectations and constraints.

This module seeks to enable students to;

select or devise and conduct a comprehensive visual communication project resulting in a significant body of work displaying the synthesis of conceptual and technical skills within the final presentation;

demonstrate ability to determine the relevant and required research and construct a research and development process suitable for successful completion of the project;

affirm their creative identity as they enter the professional field and indicate a sense of future direction and position including in the context of principles and ethics;

evidence self-management of the project in respect of planning, monitoring, recording and evaluation.

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Work Ready 2 (core, 30 credits)

This module currently runs:

• all year (September start) - Friday afternoon

Graphic design, illustration, publishing and animation are complex fields, encompassing a range of ways of working and patterns of professional engagement. Succeeding within these professional practices requires specific skills in pitching, presentation methods, management, innovation and communication. This module helps you to develop your experience of the professional workplace and the legal and ethical frameworks surrounding them through participation in live competition or exhibition and/ or work placement.

The module looks at formal models for concept innovation, creative thinking and entrepreneurial skills, alongside developing individual responsibility as a practitioner and critical self-reflection. Through professional submission, pitching and presentation to potential employers, participation in real-world competition briefs or exhibition opportunities, students will develop and test their design approaches and professional strategies for differentiation and self-promotion within a highly competitive field.

The module sets out to prepare students for entry to the workplace or higher study through experience of professional portfolio development and related group and self-promotional activities. It helps students to assess not only their position within the design industry but also to define their individual creative strengths, presenting their work to a high professional standard. Through practice, students will establish a sound process for research, design development and production. A series of lectures, workshops, seminars and assignments, will prompt the investigation, analysis and practice of the forms, properties and qualities of a wide range of professional practice fundamentals, for example, digital portfolios, branding, event design and management, costing, copyright laws and offline and online content creation.

Within the module, students will experience work-related learning through live exhibition, competition and/or simulated consultancy and/ or work placement. They will refine a range of transferable skills in communication, management, research and analysis and will be encouraged to reflect and report on the work-relevant skills developed throughout. These skills are desirable and advantageous for all graduates and include (for example): action planning, contribution to professional meetings, entrepreneurship, acting as a consultant, goal setting, negotiating, networking, project management, self-appraisal, team working. Activities undertaken within this module will help to prepare for the launch of an individual design practice during the final degree show and subsequent career.

The module seeks to enable students to:

• research, analyse, and adapt their practice for sector-specific professional conventions in relation to real-world employment, exhibition or competitive situations;

• develop professional entrepreneurial processes for the generation, development, testing and pitching of concepts in response to specified clients and audiences;

• plan and manage self-promotion activities and exhibition, client or employer project pitching from inception to delivery, within commercial timeframes and develop strategies to maximise chances of success;

• employ professional standards in the manipulation of appropriate media for the communication and presentation of your design identity and specific concepts;

• review competitor practices in relation to employment preparation or freelance self-promotion and build enterprise strategies for consultancy practice.

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Where this course can take you

On graduation you’ll have the knowledge and skills to become a successful graphic designer. Careers relating to graphic design can include advertising, editorial, publishing and web design, with positions available on a freelance basis, in-house and in agencies.

Important information about this course

We're committed to continuously improving our degree courses to ensure our students receive the best possible learning experience. Many of the courses in our School of Art, Architecture and Design are currently under review for 2023-24 entry. We encourage you to apply as outlined in the how to apply section of this page and if there are any changes to your course we will contact you. All universities review their courses regularly and this year we are strengthening our art, architecture and design courses to better reflect the needs of employers and ensure you're well-equipped for your future career.

What is a degree with a foundation year at the School of Art, Architecture and Design?

This is a four-year degree course with a built-in foundation year (Year 0). A foundation year in our School of Art, Architecture and Design is the starting point for many of our art, architecture and design students and acts as an introduction to the wide range of creative practices explored within the University. You may join us with a clear idea of the subject you intend to study or you may use it as an opportunity to explore a number of different directions or experiment with your creativity. A foundation year degree is also a great choice if you don't meet the necessary entry requirements for the standard undergraduate degree. You'll graduate with a full undergraduate degree with the same title and award as those who studied the three-year course.

Additional costs

Please note, in addition to the tuition fee there may be additional costs for things like equipment, materials, printing, textbooks, trips or professional body fees.

Additionally, there may be other activities that are not formally part of your course and not required to complete your course, but which you may find helpful (for example, optional field trips). The costs of these are additional to your tuition fee and the fees set out above and will be notified when the activity is being arranged.

Stay up to date

Follow our School of Art, Architecture and Design on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with everything that's happening in our creative community.

For an insight into life in the Visual Communication cluster, you can also follow our @vc_ldnmetarts Instagram account.

Discover Uni – key statistics about this course

Discover Uni is an official source of information about university and college courses across the UK. The widget below draws data from the corresponding course on the Discover Uni website, which is compiled from national surveys and data collected from universities and colleges. If a course is taught both full-time and part-time, information for each mode of study will be displayed here.

When to apply

The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) accepts applications for full-time courses starting in September from one year before the start of the course. Our UCAS institution code is L68.

If you will be applying direct to the University you are advised to apply as early as possible as we will only be able to consider your application if there are places available on the course.