BA Graphic Design

The BA (Hons) Graphic Design degree course places emphasis on your studio practice, which provides the framework for your entire study.

Your learning experience will integrate contextual research, professional interaction and personal development within workshop-based projects to support creative decision making and practice. Students across all three years are based in an open plan graphics studio, which encourages collaborative discussion and the sharing of influences. Studio teaching is largely based around project briefs within small group settings, where you are required to analyse and respond to other students' work and their feedback on your own work.

The academic staff are all graphic design practitioners from industry and their work is enhanced by a series of invited guest lecturers who share their commercial experience and present examples of their creative work.

Recent speakers include Harvey Bertram Brown (commercial director, fashion designer and set designer), James Webb (Senior Designer, Webb & Webb) David Pearson (David Pearson Design), Peter Silk (Creative Director, Silk Pearce), Gordon Beckett (Design Editor, The Sunday Times) and Simon Loxley (author of the acclaimed book Type: The Secret History of Letters).

NUCA's digital workshops, photographic studios and printmaking facilities are available for you to explore different techniques and media. Through the series of project briefs, working as an individual, within a group, or even collaborating with other courses, you will develop an approach to graphic design built on creative problem solving and lateral thinking, using wit as a design tool and understanding typography in depth.

At all times the fundamental cornerstone of the course is the development of ideas.

Your Future

Live projects with real-world clients and work placements with agencies and publishers encourage you to recognise the importance of developing professional and business skills alongside your creative skillset.

Graduates have gone on to work in all the nationally recognised London-based creative agencies and notable alumni have founded agencies such as Hat Trick, Carter Wong and The Click.

Students and graduates regularly earn industry recognition. Every year NUCA students put in strong performances at the prestigious D&AD awards, in recent years winning three major awards known as Yellow Pencils. In the last year students have also achieved notable successes in the International Society of Typographic Designers Student Assessment Scheme, the PaperCo awards, the YCN student awards and the Book Design and Production Awards.

Students who successfully complete their undergraduate studies who wish to undertake further study before employment can progress to the MA Communication Design, which covers graphics, illustration, publishing, typography and related fields.