Graphic Design

This is a Connected Degree
Portsmouth is the only University in the UK with the flexibility to choose when to do an optional paid placement or self-employed year. Either take a placement in your third year, or finish your studies first and complete a placement in your fourth year. You can decide if and when to take a placement after you've started your course.

Overview

On this BA (Hons) Graphic Design degree, you’ll develop your own visual style, with an emphasis on developing your confidence applying digital and traditional design skills. We have an exceptional list of professional connections gained from our industry-active, research-led teaching staff.

With opportunities to specialise in your area of interest and win awards from prestigious graphic design bodies, you’ll build an inspiring design profile that no employer can resist.

Graphic design is a cornerstone of many industries, so you'll have lots of career options after graduation. If you want to start in web design, advertising, branding, and other media, or advance to a Master's: now is your time to explore.

Course highlights

• Show your Adobe expertise to industry peers by gaining an Adobe Certified Professional (ACP) qualification

• Hone vital design techniques – including screen printing, letterpress, laser cutting and dye sublimation printing – using our specialist facilities

• Get your talent recognised by entering international competitions by renowned organisation Design and Art Direction (D&AD), the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (RSA), and the South West Digital Design Awards (SWDDA)

• Elevate your professional profile by becoming a member of the esteemed International Society of Typographic Designers (iSTD)

• Impress future employers by showcasing your work at our annual Graduate Show

• Experience the graphic design profession by taking a one-year placement – either with a company or by setting up your own

• Connect with companies and communities by taking part in events like the Dyson Challenge Week

Careers and opportunities

With the skills and knowledge you gain from this course, you can work across a variety of creative industries. In 15 months after graduating, 90% of Graphic Design graduates have already started work or are pursuing further studies (HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019), so you'll be in excellent company.

Areas you could work in include magazine design publishing, branding and design, advertising, web design, and TV and film. You could also set up your own business, work as a freelancer, or go on to postgraduate study.

Graduate destinations

Companies and studios our graduates have worked at include:

• Why Not Associates

• Aardman Digital

• The Light Surgeons

• Fitch

• 4IV

• Rubrik

• FHM Magazine

• Graduate startups

Some businesses our graduates have started up include:

• Territory Studio

• Bright Agency

• Debut Art

• Strong Island

• MWM Creative

• Lethal Creative Studio

• iLoveDust

Ongoing careers support

Get experience while you study, with support to find part-time jobs, volunteering opportunities, and work experience.

Towards the end of your degree and for up to five years after graduation, you’ll receive one-to-one support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to help you find your perfect role.

Year 1

• Create, Transform and Promote (40 credits)
• Principles of Design (40 credits)
• Research and Development (40 credits)

Year 2
Core modules

• Editorial Design (20 credits)
• Ethical Design (20 credits)
• Professional Practice - Design Studio Practice (20 credits)
• User Experience Design (20 credits)

Optional modules

• Engaged Citizenship Through Interdisciplinary Practice (20 credits)
• Experimental Practice - Hyper Graphics (20 credits)
• Professional Experience (20 credits)
• Student Enterprise (20 credits)
• CCI Study Exchange (60 credits)
• The Hidden Lives of Things: Material Culture in the Early Modern World (20 credits)
• Visions of the Past: The Artist/Designer as Historian (20 credits)
• Visual Culture: Issues of Representation (20 credits)
• Body and Interior Space (20 credits)

Year 3
Core modules

• Major Project in Graphic Design - Research and Development (20 credits)
• Major Project in Graphic Design - Resolution and Presentation (20 credits)
• Professional Practice - Design Briefs and Competitions (20 credits)
• Professional Practice - Independent Design Practice (20 credits)
• Professional Practice - Promotion and Employability (20 credits)
• Visual Culture: Exploratory Practice (20 credits)

Changes to course content
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry. If a module doesn't run, we'll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.