Graphic Design (Professional Placement Year)
Bath Spa University
UCAS Code: S168 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Bath Spa University
UCAS Code: S168 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
A Level - grades BBB-BCC including a Grade B in Art and Design or related subject.
Access to HE Diploma
Typical offers for applicants with Access to HE will be the Access to HE Diploma or Access to HE Certificate (60 credits, 45 of which must be Level 3, at Merit or higher) together with evidence of experience in Art and Design.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
A minimum of 32 points are required.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Extended Diploma grades from Distinction Distinction Merit (DDM) to Distinction Merit Merit (DMM) in a related subject, or evidence of experience in Art and Design.
T Level
Grade Merit is preferred in a relevant subject.
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
**Combine the key areas of graphic design and illustration practice in this broad-based Graphic Design course.**
- Understand design conventions to challenge them, working across print, screen and interactive media.
- Learn through carefully structured modules taught by supportive, experienced staff.
- Experience working with clients and solve real production problems through Live Briefs.
- This is a four-year course which includes a Professional Placement Year.
Graphic Design at the Bath School of Design is a well-established course with an excellent reputation and employment record. You’ll learn through a comprehensive making-based experience, designed to equip you with the full range of skills you’ll need to thrive in the dynamic and interconnected creative industries.
You’ll develop works across print, screen and interactive media, and be taught by a team of full-time and visiting tutors, who are design specialists, illustrators or graphic design practitioners.
You’ll be supported through excellent workshop facilities in specialist areas such as letterpress, photography, screen printing, etching, lithography and digital design, and through our course-specific lecture series, delivered by highly-regarded national and international designers and illustrators.
**More about the Professional Placement Year**
A Professional Placement Year (PPY), traditionally known as a sandwich year, is where you undertake a period of work with an external organisation for between 9-13 months. The placement occurs between your second and final years of undergraduate study. You can engage in multiple placements to make up the total time and are required to source the placement(s) yourself, with support from the Careers team. The PPY Bursary can make work experience more accessible, with students undertaking a PPY able to receive between £500 and £1,500 to be used towards placement costs such as travel, food, workwear or accommodation.
Modules
Year one – You’ll study carefully-structured studio modules examining the core aspects of graphic communications, typography and image. You’ll learn to conceptualise, produce, and critique type and images. Attending specialist workshops will help you develop practical skills.
Workshops include: drawing, screenprinting, letterpress, etching and lithography, photography (analogue and digital), motion graphics, and animation (analogue and digital). You’ll gain an awareness of the industry through a Professional Contexts module, and a contextual framework through a Historical and Critical Studies module.
Year two – You’ll explore interactive media in the context of type and image. You can choose to focus on graphic design, illustration or interactive media, or keep an interdisciplinary approach. A Professional Development module will help you consider and develop your professional identity as a practitioner and your Historical and Contextual Studies module will prepare you for your dissertation.
Year three – This is the Professional Placement Year.
Year 4 – You’ll produce of a series of portfolio projects. Live briefs will give you experience of dealing with clients, real production problems, and solutions. Portfolio clinics conducted by professional designers help you consider and prepare your portfolio before graduation, and career workshops help you get ready for career networking, opportunity finding or further study.
Assessment methods
You’ll be assessed in two ways. Firstly, during your studio modules there will be critiques, advice and commentary from your tutor or peers about your work (formative assessment). Secondly, after you present your research and you final design outcomes, you’ll receive written feedback with a mark from your tutor (summative feedback).
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Bath Spa University
Bath School of Design
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Design studies
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