Graphic Design BA Honours at Middlesex University

Visual communication through graphic design touches and shapes many aspects of modern life. From mobile apps and interactive posters to pop-up shows and global branding – graphic design is everywhere. Graphic design degrees prepare you for an exciting career that can take you on many diverse paths.

Our course embraces the recent advancements, developments, and changes undergone by the creative industries. You’ll be challenged to develop your own creative voice with guidance from our staff and support from state-of the-art facilities. You’ll have access to photographic studios, an extensive art and design library, dark rooms, workshops with technical support, and much more.

We have excellent industry links and many of our students undertake work placements at top design companies during the second year.

Project work will feature as part of your study from the first year to help you learn to communicate your ideas. You’ll do this through a series of problem-solving tasks in branding, typography, magazine design, editorial design, advertising, art direction, and plenty more. You’ll work on briefs that closely mirror the professional world, getting transferable experience from the very start.

We host regular guest lecturers so you can learn from industry professionals. Past lecturers have included David Carson, Jonathan Barnbrook, Angus Hyland from Pentagram and Sir John Hegarty from BBH, M & C Saatchi Mobile.

Study trips to museums, galleries, design studios, and exhibitions make up a large part of your learning time. Meanwhile, our north London location means that you’re able to explore your interests in this design-minded city.

In your final year, you’ll develop a personal professional portfolio that’ll bring together your study and style as an artist. It’ll be exhibited at our degree show, ensuring that creative industry employers see your hard work. We have excellent industry links and many of our students undertake work placements at top design companies during the second year.

Past graduates have gone on to work at the BBC, Stylist, Nickelodeon, and Ogilvy & Mather.

During the first year, you will be introduced to the diversity of the study area and the breadth of approaches to solving graphic design problems. You will explore research, thinking and communication skills to develop sound working methods, using logical and structured approaches to identify and solve graphic design problems. You will discover the creative and communications potential of typography, and the breadth and diversity of historical and contemporary practice in graphic design. Exploring a variety of different graphic media, you will be encouraged to develop an inventive and experimental response to the use of processes and materials in workshop areas including photography, printmaking, typography, design thinking and digital illustration.

The focus shifts in your second year to problem solving in context and exploring different media. The projects will enable you to investigate the potential of format and structure, analysing complex information to come up with imaginative visual communication solutions. An understanding of specialist subject areas of creative practice is developed through studio and workshop based activities enabling students to develop individual approaches to visual communication with the acquisition of intermediate specialist skills to work effectively in creative workshop areas such as advertising, book art, magazine design, moving image, letterpress, interactive and web design.

For your final year of study you will concentrate on solving visual communication problems to a professional standard and developing an individual portfolio. There are opportunities for students to participate in student award competitions; extend their range of specialist skills in graphic design and visual communication; and pursue creative problem solving projects, self directed projects and graphic authorship utilising production and presentation to a professional level. You will develop an individual graphic design style and a working methodology. Throughout the year your knowledge and skills will be deepened and extended through a choice of briefs in branding, publishing, publicity, advertising, retail, interactive media, internationally recognised creative industry competitions and a self-initiated project.