Design

UCAS code: W216

Here's what East Sussex College says about its Design course.

Embark on an extraordinary journey of creativity and innovation with our interdisciplinary BA (Hons) Design degree. This program is specifically designed to equip you with the professional skills needed to excel in the dynamic landscape of contemporary design and to discover the limitless possibilities as you explore a diverse range of creative disciplines and unleash your own unique design voice. Our BA Design course goes beyond traditional boundaries, encouraging you to develop the professional skills ready for the full range of roles within the contemporary design economy. The course promotes design learning through establishing a sensitivity to a broad range of creative disciplines, encouraging your own creative voice and approach to design thinking and fostering the notion of students as innovators within established areas of creative industries. The complex approaches to design no longer demand specialists but rather designers who work within the convergence of boundaries.

Through studio sessions you will continually engage with ethical and theoretical debate around the roles of the designer, as well as practical application across disciplines such as Graphics, 3D Design, Multimedia, Web design, Motion graphics, Illustration, Photography, Fashion, etc. As you build relationships freely across this broad range of disciplines, you will have the opportunities to either engage more within a particular skill or continue to innovate across all disciplines to become the critical practitioner, the established designer.

What qualification will I achieve? A BA (Hons) Design, awarded by the University of East Anglia.

What can I do after completing this course? The combination of design and project management experience frames a high employment success rate, with graduates going on to further study (e.g. PGCE or specialist MA courses) whilst many more find employment in the widest range of organisations in the Creative Industries.

In 2024 we were awarded an exceptional 94% National Student Survey (NSS) rating. Every university in the UK takes part in the NSS, as do many colleges. This survey gathers students’ opinions on the quality of their courses which helps to inform prospective students’ choices and provide data that supports universities and colleges to improve the student experience. East Sussex College University Courses is very proud of our extremely high score. The NSS is managed by the OfS on behalf of the UK funding and regulatory bodies.

This degree will enable you to develop the professional skills ready for a broad range of roles within the contemporary design industries. You will work on live briefs and explore processes and techniques of many aspects of design including; web and mobile design, digital solutions, content creation, animation and motion graphics, interactive design, digital imaging and digital video, during the three-year degree programme

The course covers general principles of design development, digital technologies and current applications in electronic communications and audio-visual techniques. The programme includes live projects and the opportunity to work in teams and with practicing media professionals. This diagnostic approach has enable students to practice within the field of graphic design, advertising, account handling, art direction, TV production, Illustration, Web design and into companies such as Bodum UK, British Airways, IDEO, Imagination, Pentagram, Rufus Leonard, Wolff Olins, Electric Stage Company.

Throughout the course, you will work on a series of interesting and diverse assignments, which will provide you with the skills and confidence to tackle your own projects once you leave, enabling you to compete for work as a designer.

In the first year you will have five modules assessed with practical projects, four projects in year 2 and three projects in the 3rd year which will include an end of year public degree show, as a culmination of your three years of study. In addition there will be one critical study each year, which enables you to explore the language and impact of design in a written manner