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Work by Harry Richards BA Hons Graphic Design student

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BA (Hons) Graphic Design

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Arts University Plymouth is an independent specialist university run by artists and designers for artists and designers, widely regarded as a dynamic catalyst for creative learning and social justice.

Arts University Plymouth

BA (Hons) Graphic Design is an ambitious course that responds to the opportunities presented through emerging communication methods. It supports the development of specialist and generalist approaches to graphic design, with a focus on the opportunities afforded by advances in new technologies alongside those offered by traditional or hybrid approaches.

Graphic Design Degree Course BA (Hons)

BA (Hons) Graphic Design is an ambitious course that responds to the opportunities presented through emerging communication methods. It supports the…

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Arts University Plymouth is an independent art university established in 1856, offering extended diplomas, BA degrees, masters and more in art, design and digital subjects.

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Full Time

Part Time

Communication

Content Creation

Design

Digital Media

Graphic Design

Marketing

Media

Publishing

Develop and extend your existing knowledge of processes and technologies associated with your field of study, through the exploration of associated methods and materials. You will be introduced to a range of practical methods, processes and techniques, and encouraged to think critically about your subject. 
This unit will introduce you to the fundamental language of graphic design and its application within the field of communication. 
You will be invited to apply and explore design principles such as colour, composition, shape, form and texture alongside developing skills in typography and layout design. 
The design fundamentals of similarity, unity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure/ground, symmetry and order will also be explored as strategies to produce effective and impactful designs. 
With experimentation and play at the heart of your creative process, you’ll produce both digital &amp; non-digital outputs.

Focusing on the geographical offerings and potential of a site specific location (e.g. Plymouth or other location), and its surroundings, you will orientate your practice through considering immediate geographies and the relationship of the local to the global. You will develop ways for generating creative ideas in response to a brief, with a primary focus on creative problem solving, methods and materials.
Graphic Design exists to serve a purpose, and cannot be undertaken solely through the lens of the designer alone. 
An outcome's success is measured against meeting the needs of the audience and the expectations of the brief. Seeing the problem through the lens of the audience is a fundamental skill a successful designer must develop. 
You will study a range of concepts that have shaped the way that we understand design in its wider historical and cultural contexts, including developing core research and communication skills. 
You will explore bias in culture and society, whilst also being encouraged to consider narrative, ideology, semiotics and local and global contexts whilst responding to briefs.

Engage with subject-specific ideas and applications, encouraging critical reflection on your individual creative practice and subject within the larger creative arts domain. You will be supported to undertake an imaginative approach to your subject that challenges historical and cultural assumptions.
This unit explores what it means to be a graphic communicator and how successful communication design can have a positive impact upon people’s lives. 
You will investigate the relationship between client, designer and audience and identify the qualities of successful graphic design, gaining insight into the integral role that communication plays in contemporary society.

Focus on collaboration as a practice, way of working and experience. Share your skills in pursuit of creative problem solving through mutual interest and cooperative approaches, while being introduced to methodologies from other disciplines.
You will develop your understanding of professional contexts and gain the skills to communicate practical solutions to an audience. 
This unit focuses on the knowledge gained through team working, and the impact of individual contributions in collaborative projects.

Enhance your awareness of research-informed practice, the role of risk and failure, and the adoption of new or unfamiliar methodologies in developing creative practice. You will focus on the critical and practical processes used for idea generation, propositional and hypothetical creative outputs, rather than finished outcomes.
You will explore their own creative identity and pinpoint your values as a graphic communicator. 
With an opportunity to reflect on your own practice and aspirations, you’ll build on the skills and experience you’ve gained by interrogating your own choices and the direction you are pursuing in the industry. 
You’ll look at the purpose and impact of your work, turning your attention to your place in the wider creative community, and navigating a work/life balance. 
You’ll look for answers to the question: How can an outcome do good as well as look good?

Think deeper about how creative solutions might help solve real-world challenges. Draw on expertise and ideas from the arts and sciences to provide alternative propositions for solution-focussed practical enquiry. 
As a creative practitioner, you belong to a global network of like minded individuals and groups for whom citizenship, social justice and the opportunities posed by creative learning and new technologies provide a rich seam for solution-based enquiry. 
This unit will support your creative development through the application of your specialist skills and knowledge, whilst also encouraging the adoption of new and/or unfamiliar methodologies or approaches.

Through the use of real-world scenarios (live or simulated), you will be encouraged to use the methods, knowledge and understanding gained in previous study to place your work in relevant professional and creative contexts in order to facilitate knowledge transfer into the public domain.
Within this unit you will explore how we define our audience, and investigate how an effective understanding of them can give direction to your design outcomes, ensure consistency in your messaging, and enable you to build stronger relationships with them. 
You will investigate the differing styles, techniques and processes utilised in communicating messages to a range of target audiences. Insights will also be given into how the message is communicated, through for example, emotion or empathy. 
You will explore brand personality, and the relationship of combining motion graphics with a “static” brand to develop the character of the brand.

Develop individual authorship in your creative practice, and ownership of your learning through a self-initiated project. You will be introduced to methods for managing and producing an independent creative project, developing skills in project articulation and management to include consideration for project scope, time and resources management. 
Within this unit you will explore your own creative identity and identify your values as a graphic communicator in a project titled “This Is Me.” 
You will be introduced to project planning and the processes involved in defining your objectives, goals and deadlines. 
You will develop skills in promoting yourself as a graphic communicator, exploring options that utilise a range of online platforms to professionally present your graphic design outcomes up to this point.

Arts University Plymouth offers a year long sandwich year option. Framed within the institution’s innovative Common Unit Framework, the sandwich year experience is offered as a unit that contributes to your BA (Hons) Degree.
The sandwich year can take the form of an internship or work placement, and can take place in the UK or abroad. It is intended to give you the possibility of gaining experience in art and design practice in a ‘real life’ industry setting, before you return to complete the final year of your degree. You will be able to build your CV and, if you choose to take on your sandwich year outside of the UK, enhance your experience of international creative practice.
Sandwich year placements will be selected by each student who wishes to take one, assisted by Course staff within AUP. Opportunities may also come through corporate approaches to AUP or through links built by your course tutors. Each placement opportunity will be reviewed by the University before being approved to ensure its suitability to be part of your course. During the Sandwich Year you remain enrolled at AUP with access to IT and your email accounts, online library and learning support.
Once approved, the sandwich year will count towards your overall degree and completion of it will be acknowledged on your degree certificate.
<a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/sandwich-year" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Click here to read more about the Sandwich Year at Arts University Plymouth.</a>
Queries regarding the Arts University Plymouth Sandwich Year placement or internship option can be sent to <a href="mailto:registry@aup.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">registry@aup.ac.uk</a>.

You will be encouraged to further refine your aims and ambitions for your final year of study, by formulating and testing out ideas for your Final Project. You will present a creative pitch that outlines the key concepts and methods behind your project and demonstrates knowledge and understanding of appropriate contextual and professional frameworks.

You will produce a research-informed critical text that contextualises your research interests and demonstrates sustained critical engagement with your subject. This could be an extended critical essay or industry report; or an original publication (text &amp; image) and accompanying critical essay.

This unit will extend your understanding and consideration of appropriate audiences, end-users and markets for your work, and raise your awareness of industry-relevant technologies, techniques and innovations. Your learning will support the articulation of your personal career ambitions, informed by an awareness of professional contexts and graduate opportunities for creative practice.

The culmination of your undergraduate study providing a focussed period of consolidation and creativity, you will have the opportunity to realise a final major project to demonstrate your specialist knowledge and skills. At the end of the unit, you will have the opportunity to present this project to the public within the context of the annual AUP Summer Shows. 
Please note unit details listed above are correct at time of publication and indicative content only. If you have any questions about course content and structure please email<a href="mailto:liaison@aup.ac.uk"> liaison@aup.ac.uk</a>.

Our unit structure applies to all of our undergraduate courses and creates a culture that promotes curiosity and creative thinking that extends beyond subject boundaries. Thematic approaches encourage an environment of free-flowing creative learning and opportunities for collaboration. Each unit will be contextualised by the subject specialism, and delivery will manifest uniquely through the specialist lens of each course. 
Browse through the Year One, Two and Three headings to see what you'll cover during the course of this degree. For more detailed information, including the content of each unit, assessment criteria and reading lists, take a look at the full course information within our <a href="https://pca.objects.frb.io/production/files/courses/2023/UG-Course-Specification-Forms-and-Unit-Specification-Forms-2324/BA-Hons-Graphic-Design-USFs.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Unit Specification Form</a> and our <a href="https://pca.objects.frb.io/production/files/courses/2023/UG-Course-Specification-Forms-and-Unit-Specification-Forms-2324/BA-Hons-Graphic-Design-CSF-2023-24-Google-Docs.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Course Specification Form</a> documents. To request alternative formats of the full Unit Specification Form, please email <a href="mailto:admissions@aup.ac.uk">admissions@aup.ac.uk</a>.

BA (Hons) Graphic Design

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