Graphic Design and Illustration BA (Hons)

About the course

This multi-award winning Graphic Design and Illustration degree provides a strong work-related experience aligned to graphic design and illustration, with students specialising in one of these two over the three years of study.

The first year is idea focused, emphasising design thinking, generation of ideas and problem solving with workshops providing hands-on media and software experiences. The second year focuses on projects related to the creative and cultural industries, emphasising professional constraints and expectations. It includes live projects, pitching and work-related experiences and you will develop design production knowledge. You will benefit from our collaboration with external partners including a design school in Moscow.

The final year is focused around the professional portfolio with national competitions, an emphasis on professional standards of working and support from staff whose experience best matches student interests. It is intended to provide an experience from which you can emerge as a creative, able to work to professional standards. The staff team is drawn from nationally and internationally recognised designers and illustrators who bring their research and professional interests directly into the student environment.

In recent years, students on the graphic design and illustration course at the University of Hertfordshire have won over 50 awards in all the leading national and international design competitions. These include: the coveted D&AD Yellow Pencil; two further Yellow Pencil nominations; numerous Best In Year awards with D&AD; two Best In Show awards at D&AD New Blood; Student Designer of the Year at New Designers; the Graphic Design award at New Designers for two years running; numerous ISTD awards; countless YCN awards; and various runners-up/finalists’ places in various illustration competitions such at the Penguin Book Jacket awards, the London Transport Illustration awards and the Lloyds TSB Illustration awards.

Why choose this course?

• Students from the Graphic Design and Illustration degree have won over 50 awards in the last few years.
• Our graduates have secured some of the best jobs in the industry over the last few years, and they now work at some of the most high-profile design studios in the UK and abroad.
• Nearly all of our teaching staff work as professional designers or illustrators and our industry contacts are second to none.
• We have fantastic facilities including an up-to-date 72-seat Mac suite, photography darkrooms and studios, laser cutting, 3D printing and a fabulous screen-printing department.
• Find out for yourself and watch our video!
• View student work on Flickr

Study routes

• Sandwich, 4 Years
• Sandwich, 3 Years
• Full Time, 3 Years

Locations

• University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

Careers

Encouragement is given to the development of versatility, leading to a wide range of career opportunities in design and illustration in the fields of corporate identity, marketing and publicity, advertising and publishing as well as freelance illustration. Recent graduates are working at some of the most highly regarded design businesses in the UK, as well as some high profile agencies abroad.

Teaching methods

Teaching on a programme like this consists largely of project based work supported by appropriate 'skills' based workshops. Students tackle a huge variety of briefs ranging in complexity and time scales. Some projects will take many weeks to complete whilst others will be solved within a matter of hours. There's also a huge variety to the pattern of learning experiences with some projects being team based and others are worked on individually.

Tutorials and seminars include one-on-one, small group, medium sized groups for workshops and large groups for lectures. Active participation is expected at our lively and fun end of project crits where students are asked to explain and defend their work with keen interaction from their colleagues.

Work Placement

Work placements are actively encouraged and we have a unique 'professional practice' module that prepares students to effectively apply for placements as well as full-time employment. Course tutors have numerous high-profile links with industry and we often place students within these prominent businesses, as well as drawing on others within London and our local region.

Over the last few years students have successfully completed work placements at a number of very high profile consultancies. These include Blast, The Chase, Elmwood, The Partners, Vivid Brand, Interbrand, Umbrella, Dave, Williams Murray Hamm, 300 Million and The Design Conspiracy.

Structure

Year 1

Core Modules

• Visual Skills 1A

  The purpose of this module is essentially two-fold. It acts not only as a bridging study period, establishing a consistent level of skills and their application among students from disparate learning experiences, but also as an introduction to a set of fundamental skills, media and mark-making exercises by which the student can begin to articulate an individual approach to design and illustration. These activities offer the students the means of equipping themselves with the practical 'toolbox' they will need for further development as visual communicators.

• Thinking About Ideas 1A

  The key purpose of this module is to introduce students to the underlying principles of visual communication; namely design thinking and problem solving through the generation of creative and appropriate ideas. Projects are designed to test students' abilities to identify and solve problems that can apply across a spectrum of visual communication specialisms including graphic design and illustration. Visual communication is about ideas. Designers, illustrators and advertisers are dealing with the visual shaping and crafting of messages, thoughts and concepts. This module aims to introduce students to this through a series of fast-paced projects designed to encourage thinking and idea generation. It is appropriate that the course should ask its students to consider the importance of 'thinking' and 'ideas' at the earliest stages, because it demands equal billing with an exploration of processes and 'making and doing' activities. The module hopes to instil in students an understanding that visual communication is a problem solving activity and that one is frequently involved in the generation of suitable ideas that assist in the delivery of a message.

• Directions 1B

  Upon entering level 2, students will make a choice about following either an illustration or a graphic design pathway. Given this, and Level 1 Semester A's deliberate focus on ideas for general visual communication, this module is primarily a diagnostic exercise, and will offer a number of open-ended projects with relatively unspecified outcomes. The intention is that within this loose framework students will naturally lean towards one or other discipline.

• Visual Skills 1B

  The purpose of this module is essentially two-fold. It acts not only as a bridging study period, establishing a consistent level of skills and their application among students from disparate learning experiences, but also as an introduction to a set of fundamental skills and media primarily concerned with moving images and interactivity. There is a fundamental need for a forward-looking visual communication design programme to embrace not only alternative formats to traditional message carrying media, but to also embrace emerging technologies that reflect contemporary professional practice. These activities offer the students the means of equipping themselves with a basic and practical 'toolbox' they will need for further development as visual communicators working with time-based media.

• C&CS L4 Graphic Design and Illustration

  This module aims to encourage students to see critical and cultural aspects of graphic design and illustration as integral to the development of their practice and a vital component of innovative, well informed, professional work. A programme of lectures, seminars, tutorials, and field trips, will introduce the history of graphic design and illustration and some of the ways in which key movements and individuals have shaped contemporary design practice and debate. Indicative module content may include: artisanship; industrialisation and reactions to it; consumption and retail; modernism and post modernity and how design is shaped by aesthetic, social, political, economic, cultural, ecological, digital and professional contexts. The module will enable students to explore the relationship of these issues and contexts to their own practice and begin to locate their practice within a wider contextual and professional framework. To complement discipline-specific studies this module aims to provide students with a repertoire of study skills of research, presentation, reviewing, critical analysis and communication

Optional

• C&CS L4 Creative Arts

  This module will run in parallel programme specific Critical and Cultural Studies modules at Level 4 during Semester A, should there be a need for the school to provide a single semester (15 credits) option for its students. For example, to aid in transitional arrangements stemming from the development of C&CS in the school (2012/13), or to provide a 1 semester option to international students who will be studying at UH as part of an exchange from a recognised partner institution.

• CCS L4 Creative Arts

  This module will run in parallel programme specific Critical and Cultural Studies modules at Level 4 during Semester B, should there be a need for the school to provide a single semester (15 credits) option for its students. For example, to aid in transitional arrangements stemming from the development of C&CS in the school (2012/13), or to provide a 1 semester option to international students who will be studying at UH as part of an exchange from a recognised partner institution.

Year 2

Core Modules

• Professional Development and Employability

  This module provides contextual knowledge and experience relating to professional practice in the visual communications industry, both nationally and internationally. It enables students to acquire first-hand knowledge of professional designers and illustrators and design / advertising agencies through a number of opportunities. These include work placements, case-studies involving research and presentations of findings to peer groups, live project work (working on real projects with real clients in a competitive pitch situation), and lectures / seminars delivered by a variety of practising professionals specifically chosen to reflect a wide range of practice. In addition, the module contains practical work to test team-working skills, along with an exercise in self-promotion and marketing with a view to securing work placements in industry. This includes portfolio presentation, verbal presentation of work, interview techniques, CV and letter writing skills. Alternatively students may undertake a faculty work experience instead of this module, subject to agreement with the programme tutor.

• Visual Skills 2A

  This is the first of two level 2 advanced skills modules. Their primary purpose is to build on level 1 skills workshops, encouraging a deeper knowledge and understanding of key skills and techniques essential to a developing visual communicator. These activities offer the students the means of equipping themselves with a more advanced visual 'toolbox' such that they are better able to practice as designers and/or illustrators. The module consists of a series of group workshops, during which the student will become more familiar with certain equipment, software and design processes.

• Visual Skills 2B

  This is the second of two level 2 advanced skills modules. Their primary purpose is to build on level 1 skills workshops, encouraging a deeper knowledge and understanding of key skills and techniques essential to a developing visual communicator. This module also builds on knowledge and understanding gained in Visual Skills 2A. These activities offer the students the means of equipping themselves with a more advanced visual 'toolbox' such that they are better able to practice as designers and/or illustrators. The module consists of a series of group workshops, during which the student will become more familiar with certain equipment, software and design processes.

• Year Abroad

Optional

• Visual Communication 2A (Graphic Design)

  Design projects within this module not only become more professionally realistic, but they also become more complex, demanding that the student gathers appropriate research and content from an increasingly diverse range of external sources. Students will develop project and time management skills as they work through projects towards set deadlines. Students' abilities to work independently will be developed along side their growing confidence in critical analysis of their own work, that of their peers as well as that of industry. At the conclusion of all projects students will be asked to make a presentation of their work in front of tutors and a group of their peers. Level 2 brings with it an increasing emphasis on the professional world and as such projects within this module will be accurate representations of realistic industry briefs, including the various professional contexts (time, budgets, presentation, etc) that industry experiences. The projects will cover a broad range of areas in order to allow students to map out the potential landscape of the graphic design industry. For example, these might include a corporate identity problem, a packaging problem and an advertising campaign. At all times there is an increased level of professionalism expected of the students with regards their handling of the project itself, the quality and depth of the research and thinking, the ideas generated, the presentation of work and the way in which they manage their time and conduct themselves as students and learners.

• The Live Pitch 2B

  This module provides students with an opportunity to gain first hand experience of the nature of pitching competitively along side their peer group, whilst working with a real client. Typically an external project(s) will be sought through which students will compete to 'win' the commission through an examination of their creative work and their presentation skills. Supplementing this activity the module will introduce students to the issues surrounding professional competitive pitching within the graphic design industry. Students will have the opportunity to work with an external client and in so doing they will be responsible for holding design meetings with the client, helping to develop and interpret the brief and ultimately making client presentations. Alternatively, the module also provides an opportunity for a student to engage with an external work placement. It is the responsibility of the student to negotiate with the host organisation and conclude detailed arrangements of timing, location and content of their work placement.

• The Commission 2B

  Level 2 brings with it an increasing emphasis on the professional world and as such projects within this module will be closely modelled on realistic industry briefs including the various professional contexts (time, budgets, presentation, etc) that industry experience. The projects will cover a broad range of areas in order to allow students to map out the potential landscape of the world of professional illustration. For example, these might include book jacket design and editorial illustration. At all times there is an increased level of professionalism expected of the students with regards their handling of the project itself, the quality and depth of the research and thinking, the ideas generated, the presentation of work and the way in which they manage their time and conduct themselves as students and learners.

• Visual Communication 2A (Illustration)

  The purpose of this module is to equip students with first hand knowledge of the professional life of an illustrator and the experience of how artwork is commissioned. It brings students into direct contact with practitioners in the field, in order to gain experience of the ways in which their artwork may be used in professional contexts. The experience is designed to make students reflect on their own image making skills, ensuring they understand the need to acquire adequate individuality, style, skill and quality to be employed professionally. Students will be taken through the process of responding to realistic briefs, with all the constraints of professional practice, including knowledge of copyright and ownership of artwork. The briefs will be derived directly from industry and delivered, administered and assessed by those working in the field if illustration. It is thereby hoped students will gain greater understanding of interaction that takes place between client and illustrator.

Year 3

Core Modules

Optional

• Sandwich Year (Creative Arts)

  The optional 'Sandwich' placement year may be undertaken between the levels 5 and 6. Students undertake the placement within a commercial, public or not for profit setting that is able to provide an appropriate learning experience related to the creative and cultural industries. A placement could take a variety of forms, including: * working in an external organisation; * working with a University company or professional team within the University; * self-employment within defined context and externally refereed. The placement duration would typically be sustained for at least 48 weeks, though may be sustained for a full year. While the Faculty/School actively supports the placement process, ultimately it is the placement provider that will agree to manage and select students, normally through an interview process. During the placement a member of the academic staff will be assigned to the student as a tutor and will monitor the student's progress during the placement period.

Year 4

Core Modules

• Competition Briefs 3A

  This first module in Level 3 provides an opportunity to tackle industry-led briefs against the backdrop of national and international competition schemes. There are several high-profile award schemes every year and students entering them are rigorously tested not only against the very realistic conditions of the brief, but against students from other courses across the UK and abroad. These briefs demand high quality research, an appropriate approach / idea and good execution, along side transferable skills such as good time and project management. Briefs usually encompass a wide range of industry typical problems such as branding and corporate identity, advertising campaigns, editorial design, illustration and packaging. The module will typically contain more than one brief and as such students will have to demonstrate that they are able to competently apply themselves to different types of communication problems. During semester C (between L2 and L3) students may undertake a faculty work experience, with the agreement of the Programme Tutor. This will contribute 5 credits towards this module with the assessment submission made during the period of this module. See section 19 for detail.

• Final Major Project 3B

  This module offers an opportunity for students to apply accumulated skills, knowledge and attributes acquired throughout the course. The student can either select a set project appropriate to this module and level of study, or the student can negotiate an appropriately challenging brief from within a set framework and with guidance from staff. As in all projects, the student is expected to carry out a thorough analysis of the brief, engage in appropriate research, gather, edit and analyse research and information, engage in a design process that will stimulate the production of appropriate ideas and designs and then carry the development of this work through to a conclusion. Typically the student will only complete a single project within this 30 credit module and as such staff expect to see a substantial body of work in terms of complexity of problem tackled, research carried out, design development and specified outcomes. Staff will also expect a professional approach to the time and project management of the work, to ensure that an imaginative, creative and appropriate answer is reached, which is professionally presented, at the conclusion of the module.

• Critical and Cultural Studies L6: Degree Essay / Report (Design)

  Designers need to be informed practitioners who engage critically with their discipline, its history, the ideas which inform it and how it is likely to evolve in the future. This module will enable students to conduct an in-depth enquiry of an aspect of design culture with an emphasis on the analysis of appropriate social, cultural, economic, technical, historical and aesthetic issues germane to students chosen topic and their studio work. The content of the module will be student-generated in that each student will bring their identified interests to the sessions. Independent learning will be supported through a programme of study workshops, tutorials and learning support materials on StudyNet which will enable students to develop skills in research, organisation and planning, critical analysis, constructing an argument, studentship (independent learning processes) and presentation including academic protocols. The assessed element of this module consists of a 6000 word essay/report or negotiated equivalent.

Optional

• Self Promotion 3B (Graphic Design)

  It is essential that students develop the skills to not only effectively market themselves to potential employers, but also, crucially, to develop, evolve and stick to what might be a long-term employment plan. This module aims to equip students with not only the knowledge and understanding to promote themselves and their work effectively, but also with the skills needed to create a forward-looking employment strategy that will serve them after graduating. The creative industries employment sector has seen a huge growth in the number of graduates leaving with the appropriate qualifications and as such it has to be expected that employment may not happen instantly upon graduation and so a solid and realistic strategy underpinning an approach to employment is essential. The module will utilise the very valuable knowledge of past graduates who will help to inform workshops, presentations and tutorials through their own experiences in the world of work since leaving the programme.

• Negotiated Project 3B (Graphic Design)

  This module allows for a formal opportunity to negotiate a body of work. Within the creative industries it is recognised that designers very rarely self initiate commissioned work, though they may frequently find themselves working with a client, assisting in the development of a brief. Furthermore, freelance practice is often supported by self-initiated work, partly to keep active, but also as a possible means of profile raising with a view to generating commissions. The module would typically offer students a 'looser' brief than they receive in other modules, allowing for some degree of flexibility within it. Students will be asked to work within a set theme or subject matter with perhaps the direction or the specified outcomes open to personal interpretation. As such, the module essentially allows students to push a body of work toward a particular personal area of interest that might, for example, benefit their employment intentions. Equally, given that there is a degree of flexibility within the 'brief(s)' and therefore a certain amount of student-led authorship, the module offers students an opportunity to develop a body of work that demonstrates to potential employers students' personal interests. With a specific brief to be authored by the student (in consultation with staff) the module allows students a chance to demonstrate what they are capable of in more forgiving circumstances than most industry typical briefs allow for.

• Self Promotion 3B (Illustration)

  This module addresses the realities of becoming an illustrator and the relevant pathways that graduating students may pursue. It is designed to explore the most effective ways of promoting students' work in order to be commissioned as an illustrator. In an increasingly challenging profession, it is important to equip students with the skills, not only to create competent imagery, but which suggest how their work can be placed in professional contexts. As well as appealing to prospective clients, it also encourages students to create opportunities for generating their own markets. The module will utilise the very valuable knowledge of past graduates who will help to inform workshops, presentations and tutorials through their own experiences in the world of work since leaving the programme.

• Negotiated Project 3B (Illustration)

  This module allows for a formal opportunity to negotiate a body of work. It is recognised that a working illustrator responds to an externally set brief, however, it is also recognised that illustrators may sometimes have to be pro-active in seeking work and in this sense when they are seeking new employment, an ability to develop a body of work might be extremely useful, in terms of raising their profile with a view towards the generation of commissions. The module would typically offer students a 'looser' brief than they receive in other modules, allowing for some degree of flexibility within it. Students will be asked to work within a set theme or subject matter with perhaps the direction or the specified outcomes open to personal interpretation. As such, the module essentially allows students to push a body of work toward a particular personal area of interest that might, for example, benefit their employment intentions. Equally, given that there is a degree of flexibility within the 'brief(s)' and therefore a certain amount of student-led authorship, the module offers students an opportunity to develop a body of work that demonstrates to potential employers students' personal interests. With a specific brief to be authored by the student (in consultation with staff) the module allows students a chance to demonstrate what they are capable of in more forgiving circumstances than most industry typical briefs allow for.

Fees & funding

Fees 2013

UK/EU Students

Full time: £8,500 for the 2013 academic year

International Students

Full time: £10,000 for the 2013 academic year

Discounts are available for International students if payment is made in full at registration

View detailed information about tuition fees

Scholarships

• National Scholarship Programme

Find out more about scholarships for UK/EU and international students

Other financial support

Find out more about other financial support available to UK and EU students

Living costs / accommodation

The University of Hertfordshire offers a great choice of student accommodation, on campus or nearby in the local area, to suit every student budget.

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How to apply