Course units
Year 1
Unit 1 - An Introduction to Graphic Design Communication
Embark on your journey into Graphic Design Communication with this foundational unit. Through workshops, you'll explore the real-world impact of design choices and begin developing essential skills for independent and collaborative learning. This unit serves as your initiation to the course, the university, and establishes a sense of belonging.
Unit 2 - Communication Design Studio
The Communication Design Studio unit builds on foundational knowledge, exploring essential skills and tools. From typography basics and expressive photography to analogue and digital techniques, this unit synthesises key elements, fostering a mindset of a thinking practitioner.
Unit 3 - Storytelling & Narratives Studio
The Storytelling & Narratives Studio unit is a gateway to refining your creative voice by examining how designers use storytelling and narratives to engage with the world, enriching your ability to authentically express your perspective. Through critical exploration, you'll connect design practices to contemporary issues and historical contexts.
Unit 4 - Interactive Experiences Studio
The Interactive Experiences Studio unit invites you to craft interactive and engaging experiences. Through storyboarding, wireframing, and prototyping, you'll explore the possibilities of user-centric design, where creativity and user experience converge.
Year 2
Unit 5 - Collaborative and Collective Practices
You will be introduced to different ways in which collaborative working can help you to focus and enhance your own creative strengths. You’ll have the chance to work with fellow students and creative communities.
Unit 6 - Strategic Identity and Design
The Strategic Identity and Design unit immerses you in the world of branding and strategic thinking in effective communication design. This unit is a dynamic exploration of how research, strategy, and innovation synergise to transform ideas into impactful brand experiences, encompassing both physical and digital realms.
Unit 7 - Immersive Experiences
The Immersive Experiences unit invites you to explore and experiment within immersive storytelling environments and mobile platforms. Engage in hands-on experiences and iterative making in multisensory digital design, with an emphasis on emerging technologies such as AR and AI, paving the way for more engaging and transformative experiences.
Unit 8 - Expanding Practice
The Expanding Practice unit empowers you to shape your design identity. Through self-directed briefs and specialised workshops, you'll explore design languages, and target audiences within a community of practice. This unit fosters autonomy, encouraging you to define your role and responsibility as a designer in society, preparing you for a confident transition into the final year.
Year 3
Unit 9: Design futures
The professional futures unit aims to address the 3Es (employability, enterprise, and entrepreneurship) the unit will support you to reflect on your learning and skills across the entirety of your study and offer you an opportunity to explicitly showcase outcomes and intentions for your next steps as you enter industry or continue with your education.
Unit 10 - Critical Positioning
In the Critical Positioning unit, you will develop a research-based critical project that encompasses both written and studio elements. This project will explore core themes related to material culture, image culture, and language & technology culture.
Unit 11 - Design Futures Studio
Experience designer, Αuthor, Αctivist, and the Εntrepreneur are the four studios that make up the Design Futures Studio unit, a transformative space where your cumulative learning converges into a self-proposed major project. Through the final degree show, you will showcase the fluency of skills gained on this unit and on the course overall.
Optional Diploma between Years 2 and 3
Between Years 2 and 3 of the course, you’ll also have the opportunity to undertake one of the following additional UAL qualifications:
Diploma in Professional Studies (DPS)
This optional diploma can be taken between years 2 and 3. With support from your tutors, you’ll undertake an industry placement for a minimum of 100 days/20 weeks. As well as developing industry skills, you’ll gain an additional qualification upon successful completion.
Diploma in Creative Computing
Between years 2 and 3, you can undertake the year-long Diploma in Creative Computing. This will develop your skills in creative computing alongside your degree. After successfully completing the diploma and your undergraduate course, you’ll graduate with an enhanced degree: BA (Hons) Graphic Design Communication (with Creative Computing).
