The School of Communication Design

Graphic Design BA (Hons)

UCAS Code - W214
Location - Falmouth Campus
Length - 3 years Full-time

They have 100% student satisfaction rate in the 2013 National Student Survey and their award-winning graduates and staff prove they deliver a learning experience that's one of the most respected springboards to graduate and career success in the country.

Graphic Design at Falmouth is about great ideas and building the skills to make and deliver them. We help you develop as an individual so you can see the world with fresh eyes and have the confidence to realise your aspirations. You'll leave Falmouth equipped to inspire change, ready for a global industry with ever-evolving boundaries and with a passion for design rooted in innovation.

How is the course taught

Weekly group tutorials, seminars and regular individual tutorials will provide the platform for feedback; presenting work in progress, developing your confidence in discussing your work and contextualising the role of design within society.

Year 1

In the first year you are supported by our course team to establish the core building blocks and skills of your practice as a graphic designer. You'll learn how to go about designing and how to tell a story visually, with workshops, assignments, peer critiques and work-in-progress reviews to build your confidence and capabilities. Alongside this, lectures and seminars from our own staff and expert visiting speakers boost your understanding of graphic language and communication.

Importantly you'll begin not only to understand the subject in more depth, but also gain ability in individual and collaborative working practice. This supports your development as a designer and also gives you the study skills you need to take full advantage of your learning experience with us.

Year 2

The central part of our course introduces you to the professional world in greater depth through skills and project-orientated tasks, to help prepare you for your final year before graduation. You'll begin to grow more deeply as a designer, building individual reflection on professional ambitions.

You'll visit studios in London or Amsterdam, attend designer-led workshops and visit agencies such as Pentagram, GBH, Fitch, Mother and Trapped in Suburbia, and have the chance to gain direct industry experience with placements in leading design organisations.

Year 3

By the end of your course you'll have explored the many opportunities for subject study, developed independence in terms of character and portfolio, and be ready to launch your career.

This is facilitated through intense project work, directed by tutor support and key industry-facing events. These provide you with an important platform to showcase your work and include exhibiting at the D&AD New Blood exhibition and our own exclusive event at the Royal Society of Arts. These events and our extensive networks of leading design professionals also help you to target studios or postgraduate study to support future ambition.

Finally, you'll complete your dissertation and work with course staff to ready yourself for employment, with professional practice workshops, CV development and interview techniques.

Facilities

The design studios and workshops include:

• Large, open-plan, dedicated design studios
• Woodblock type and basic printmaking facilities
• Central IT facility providing both Mac and PC platforms, industry-standard software and printing facilities
• Extensive library facilities including thousands of books, DVDs and periodicals

Staff

The staff have worked at many of the UK’s leading design practices and for clients, type foundries and companies all over the world, with awards and professional recognition to their names. This is seen as an important component of the course, so students learn from highly engaged staff who are passionate about graphic design and the future of the industry and their subject.

Whilst they all continue their professional practice, they are also engaged with research and outreach projects that help feed knowledge that can be shared in the studio. Some of these include regional community projects with organisations like the Design Council, European Erasmus exchange projects in Germany and international teaching exchanges in Sri Lanka.

Experience you'll get

• Work placement opportunities and top industry guest speakers
• Live project opportunities and external briefs set by designers
• Professional practice workshops
• Industry visits and showcase student events

Study trips

Each year Falmout offer study trips to design agencies for our second year students. Students choose from London or Amsterdam. Some of the regular hosts include:

• The Brand Union, London
• BBH Advertising, London
• Saatchi X, London
• Fitch, London
• NB Studio, London
• The Chase, London
• NBC Universal, London
• Coley Porter Bell, London
• Lewis Moberly, London
• AKQA, London
• Hat-trick Design, London
• 300 Million, London
• The Partners, London
• Design Bridge, London
• Thomas Matthews, London
• Unreal, London
• Purpose, London
• Form, London
• Airside, London
• Pearl Fisher, London
• Brandopus, London
• Pentagram, London
• Lava, Amsterdam
• Trapped in Suburbia, Amsterdam
• Underware, Amsterdam
• Lust, Amsterdam
• Dolly Rogers, Amsterdam
• Silo, Amsterdam
• Sid Lee, Amsterdam
• De Designpolitie, Amsterdam
• FOAM, Amsterdam
• Design Bridge, Amsterdam
• KesselsKrammer, Amsterdam

Careers

• Work as part of a design consultancy
• Set up your own consultancy or work freelance
• Careers in multidisciplinary design consultancies or as specialists within the areas of packaging design, branding, advertising, television graphics, interactivity, exhibition design, magazine and book design, and animation

Graduate destinations

• Graphic designer: Pentagram, The Chase
• Brand designer: Lewis Moberly, Someone
• Packaging designer: Turner Duckworth, Design Bridge, B&B
• Digital designer: the Sunday Times
• Art director: Arnold KLP, Bartle Bogle Hegarty

Work placements

The course works hard to provide work placement opportunities for our students. Here is a selection of  typical work placement design contacts:

• Mytton Williams
• Biles Inc
• Nixon Design
• ASHA
• Smith & Milton
• B&B
• The Partners
• Springetts
• Open Agency
• Bisqit
• Lush Design
• Thomas Matthews
• Brand Union
• Oakwood
• Unreal
• Fitch
• Music
• The Chase
• Lewis Moberly
• Turner Duckworth
• Design Bridge
• Bow & Arrow
• Sparks

Entry Requirements

A typical offer is between 260 and 300 UCAS points, mainly from the A2 level or equivalent Level 3 qualifications or relevant experience.

Due to the creative nature of the University’s courses, applicants will be considered on individual merit and you should contact the admissions team if you are predicted UCAS points outside of this range.

If English is not your first language, you will also be required to have an IELTS score of 6.0 points, or an equivalent English language test, completed within the last two years.

All applicants will be invited to an interview and to present a portfolio of creative work at interview.