Graphic Design MA

About the course

MA Graphic Design is a Masters award within the MA Art and Design programme at the School of Creative Arts. Within the programme there is strong emphasis on professional practice and the real-world applications of art and design. You will develop key research skills and gain a good understanding of the work of other practitioners in your field.

The aim of the postgraduate programme is to equip you with the skills, knowledge and understanding required to practice at an advanced level, to foster your creativity and enhance your employment opportunities. You will work alongside artists and designers who are involved with a wide variety of media and forms. Induction, seminars and social events for students and staff mean that you will be part of a friendly and supportive postgraduate community, which also includes film makers, musicians and professionals working in new media. Senior research staff and internationally renowned artists work with postgraduate students, helping you to develop original and challenging work.

Visual communication and the graphic image are increasingly important in the global information economy. On this masters degree, you will be encouraged to adopt a creative, enquiring and critical approach to the graphic image and its uses in contemporary practice.

Through the MA Graphic Design degree you will develop a wide range of advanced abilities, from traditional craft processes to digital image making. The postgraduate degree also encourages you to explore the possibilities of the graphic image and its uses, and features graphic design in both web-based and print formats. We focus on professional practice and enterprise, helping you acquire the skills required to practice in the creative and cultural industries, and equipping you with the skills necessary to work as a freelance practitioner. Key aspects of the course also include social, political, environmental and commercial contexts of graphic design, and the processes by which graphic signs operate to convey meanings in various environments.

Our staff are experienced in research and professional practice, and you will also benefit from contributions from visiting designers and design professionals, as well as from involvement with our international exhibitions programme and our close links with industry partners.

This course is available on campus or online.

Find out more with this leaflet on the course.

Why choose this course?

• On this MA Graphic Design degree you will develop your professional skills as a graphic designer.
• You will work with design professionals of international standing.
• This Master's degree gives you the opportunity to work in professional and industrial contexts.
• There is the opportunity to spend a semester in Germany at the prestigious Hochschule Mannheim as part of your course.
• See examples of work and course news on the MA Graphic Design Blog
• This award can also be taken on a distance learning pathway

Study routes

• Part Time,
• Part Time, 2 Years
• Online - Part Time,
• Full Time, 1 Years
• Online - Part Time, 2 Years
• Full Time,

Locations

• University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

Careers

Particular emphasis is given to providing you with the skills necessary to further your career as a graphic designer. The course is designed to help you understand and work within the contemporary industrial environment and particular attention is given to helping you acquire entrepreneurial skills.

Teaching methods

This course is designed to help you develop your practice and give you the skills recovery to further your career in industry both in the UK and abroad. The course includes practice based modules where you will explore and develop your work as a graphic designer. It also contains course or research skills, entrepreneurialism and professional practice. The final part of the course enables you to complete a major project.

Structure

Year 1

Core Modules

• Creative Enterprise and Context

  This module emphasises the professional contexts of the student's work both in terms of its content and in terms of the kind of outcomes used for assessment. A series of lectures present ideas about key issues in the Creative Industries and Health and Social sectors. The lectures provide a broad context for ideas about the emergence and future of the Creative Industries and Health and Social sectors about Intellectual Property Rights, about the social conditions of the workplace and about the planning and management of projects. 'Break out' seminars lead to the student producing a piece of work that explores topics relevant to their award of study. Alongside these is the development of professional 'presentation of self' skills appropriate for the student's aspirations. This includes the development of portfolios, showreels and other material and skills in preparing and delivering a pitch or bid for funding as if for a Creative Industries or in the Health and Social sectors.

• Creative Enterprise and Context (Distance Learning)

  This module emphasises the professional contexts of the student's work both in terms of its content and in terms of the kind of outcomes used for assessment. A series of online learning materials present ideas about key issues in the Creative Industries. The materials provide a broad context for ideas about the emergence and future of the Creative Industries, about Intellectual Property Rights, about the social conditions of the workplace and about the planning and management of projects. Alongside these is the development of professional 'presentation of self' skills appropriate for the student's aspirations. This includes the development of portfolios, showreels and other material; and skills in preparing and delivering a bid for funding as if for a Creative Industries body.

• Discourse / Reflection: Art and Design

  This module provides students with a detailed understanding of some of the issues and critical debates that inform current movements in contemporary art, design, media and other cultural practices. Particular emphasis is given to using the module as a crucible for informed analysis and debate for use as a tool to advance students' practice. A series of lectures about cultural theory relating to contemporary practice outline the themes of the module. Emphasis is then placed on students' own investigations culminating in the submission of a written text (or alternative submission by negotiation) and a series of student presentations that consist of formally presented papers based on a critical evaluation of some aspect of advanced scholarship, research and/or creative practice that relates to students' practice. The delivery of the module is concurrent with the Practice 1&2 Modules in which students are required to test their studio based practice against various external critical, commercial and/or aesthetic imperatives that have arisen through the process of research.

• Major Study: Graphic Design

  The module enables students to develop and realise their practice in the form of a final presentation of Graphic Design work which demonstrates an accumulation of specialist knowledge and creative endeavour. Students build upon ideas established and explored in earlier parts of the programme and bring together various practical, theoretical commercial and other contextual concerns to complete a sustained body of original and innovative practice. This body of work will evidence creative autonomy, demonstrate professional excellence and in-depth knowledge of contemporary practice in Graphic Design. The realisation of this body of work is supported by work-in-progress seminars involving students from all of the Art & Design MAs, group and individual tutorials. During the module students are required to present a summary of their work in a Postgraduate Programme-wide student conference, which is formatively assessed and forms the basis of a summatively assessed contextualising document to accompany the body of Graphic Design work.

• Practice 1: Art and Design

  Students are required at interview to submit a proposal for Masters level study which forms the basis for the development of their practice during the MA. This module is designed to enable students to research and develop this proposal. It aims to help students make a critical evaluation of their work, to identify and acquire the skills necessary to begin to realise the proposal and develop a methodology by which they expand and explore the project. Furthermore, the module aims to help students develop an exploratory and expansive approach to their work and to carry out research into the creative and commercial contexts appropriate to their practice. During the module, the student's practice will be refined and ideas and concepts within the proposal debated, developed and challenged through a series of student-led seminars and tutorials.

• Practice 1: Art and Design (Distance Learning)

  Students are required at interview to submit a proposal for Masters level study, which forms the basis for the development of their practice during the MA. This module is designed to enable students to research and develop this proposal. It aims to help students make a critical evaluation of their work, to identify and acquire the skills necessary to begin to realise the proposal and develop a methodology by which they expand and explore the project. Furthermore, the module aims to help students develop an exploratory and expansive approach to their work and to carry out research into the creative and commercial contexts appropriate to their practice. During the module, the student's practice will be refined and ideas and concepts within the proposal debated, developed and challenged through a series of student-led online discussions and tutorials.

• Practice 2: Art and Design

  Based on the formative and summative feedback received from Practice 1, Practice 2 enables students to further develop their work in preparation for its final realisation in the Major Study module related to one of the following awards: Applied Arts, Contemporary Textiles, Fashion, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior and Spatial Design, or Product Design. Students are required to investigate and prepare a body of advanced practice-based work, together with a summary contextualising document that demonstrates how the work has been developed, the key aesthetic, commercial and contextual issues that have arisen and the impact of these factors on the resulting portfolio of practice. The module is delivered through individual tutorials and student led work-in-progress online discussions.

• Practice 2: Art and Design (Distance Learning)

  Based on the formative and summative feedback received from Practice 1, Practice 2 enables students to further develop their work in preparation for its final realisation in the Major Study module related to one of the following awards: Graphic Design (Distance Learning), or Illustration (Distance Learning). Students are required to investigate and prepare a body of advanced practice-based work, together with a summary contextualising document that demonstrates how the work has been developed, the key aesthetic, commercial and contextual issues that have arisen and the impact of these factors on the resulting portfolio of practice. The module is delivered through individual tutorials and student led work-in-progress online discussions.

• Research and Enquiry

  This module aims to provide students with a range of research skills suitable for postgraduate level study in art, art therapy, design, film, media and music. The module helps students locate their work within contemporary advance-level practice in their disciplines and to make a critical evaluation of the bodies of ideas that sustain them. Key skills addressed include those of data management, critical evaluation, communication skills, notions of creativity and a range of modes of contextual analysis. The skills gleaned on this module will provide students with a platform for research for the remainder of the programme and in their future careers.

• Research and Enquiry (Distance Learning)

  This module aims to provide students with a range of research skills suitable for postgraduate level study in art, design, film, music and media. The module helps students locate their work within contemporary advance-level practice in their disciplines and to make a critical evaluation of the bodies of ideas that sustain them. Key skills addressed include those of data management, critical evaluation, communication skills, notions of creativity and a range of modes of contextual analysis. The skills gleaned on this module will provide students with a platform for research for the remainder of the programme and in their future careers.

Optional

Fees & funding

Fees 2013

UK/EU Students

Full time: £6,700 for the 2013 academic year

International Students

Full time: £11,000 for the 2013 academic year

Additional course costs

For distance learning fees- visit the UH Online website

Other financial support

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

How to apply