Introduction
Develop your understanding of graphic design and visual communication, solve challenging design briefs and prepare for a career as a designer with our BA (Hons) Graphic Design degree.
- A day in the life
Follow Graphic Design student Klara on a day in her life at Cambridge School of Art.
With its vibrant studio culture, our Graphic Design degree will encourage you to push boundaries and challenge existing thinking by developing innovative design solutions as well as a keen understanding of professional practice. You’ll experiment with print-based design as well as digital commercial practices including site-specific, interactive, motion graphics, mobile media, app design (UX/UI), web and multimedia work.
Our Design & Crafts courses are ranked 8th in the UK for 'Satisfied with Course' and 3rd for 'Satisfied with Teaching' in The Guardian University Guide 2020 reflecting how our students value their experience at Cambridge School of Art.
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You’ll develop your skills in information design, visual identities, packaging and promotion, cross-platform advertising and design for the web. You’ll work in our dedicated Graphic Design Mac suites and base room, bouncing ideas off other student designers and getting guidance and support from the course team, all of whom have worked in the design industry for clients including Tesco, Lotus Cars, Manchester United, Saatchi & Saatchi, The NUS, and the UK Film Council.
You’ll also work closely with a number of graphic design studios, including Cambridge University Press, CPL, The District, and Onespacemedia, who will set your live briefs as well as providing lectures and one-to-one feedback, ending with a final review that can often lead to work placements, internships and long-term professional relationships. You can also take an optional placement year.
You’ll also go on field trips, enter design competitions including Penguin Random House Student Design Awards, or D&AD  and can choose to join our annual visit to Amsterdam. There’s even the chance to study abroad for a semester, with funding on offer to help cover the costs.
Facilities and showcase
Industry-standard equipment
All our Graphic Design students have access to:
- the full Adobe Creative suite
- Apple iMacs
- wide-format printers and scanners
- camera lighting and sound recording kit
Our team of technical officers will be on hand to offer training and support.
Studios and workshops
As well as our dedicated digital facilities and design studios, you’ll have use of:
- a printmaking workshop including etching, screen printing, lithography and relief presses, letterpress studios
- 3D workshops with equipment for woodwork, plastics/vacuum forming, metalwork, plaster, clay, mould making, laser-cutting and 3D printing
- a digital photography lab
- photography studios and darkrooms
- Mac and PC suites.
Take a closer look
Our Creative Showcase shines a spotlight on what makes ARU creative and cultural – our spaces, places and people. Find out more about our community, the difference we make, the stories we tell, and the things that inspire us.
Meanwhile, Present is an exhibition that you curate for yourself. Explore the work of our graduating students in this eye-catching virtual degree show.
Careers
The creative industries are booming in the UK, employing more than two million people. Our BA (Hons) Graphic Design will prepare you for a career as a graphic designer, as well as for design-related roles in digital graphics, online media, communications and marketing, publishing, and advertising.
Our previous students have gone on to work with design studios or media and communication companies, producing advertising, corporate identities and promotions, packaging and branding, informational design, editorial and book design, web designs and interactive media.
We work with employers to make sure you graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements. Cambridge is the perfect place to gain experience – a creative hotspot that’s home to thousands of established businesses and start-ups.
You’ll have many opportunities to generate a strong portfolio of graphic design projects that will help you secure a job in this rewarding, vibrant and growing industry. These include getting involved with regional design agencies and national design networks such as D&AD and YCN, engaging in ‘live’ projects or commercial briefs and building your industry contacts. All of these can lead to freelance projects, work experience and internships, which could result in offers of work before you even graduate.
Cambridge is the perfect place to gain experience – a creative hotspot that’s home to thousands of established businesses and start-ups. Our students have gone on to work alongside the likes of Drench, Filofax, Nash Matthews, Onespacemedia, Coast Digital, Workshop Creative Agency and Piranha Designs.
There are plenty of opportunities to get your work seen, too. At the end of your final year at ARU, you’ll take part in our Degree Show and could be selected to produce publicity materials for the event – the perfect launchpad for life as a graphic designer.
Graduation doesn’t need to be the end of your time with us, of course. You might decide to stay at ARU and study for a Masters, such as our renowned MA Graphic Design & Typography. With our Alumni Scholarship, you’ll even get 20% off your fees as an ARU graduate.
4 years with placement
Your final year is all about getting you ready for life after graduation, by developing your portfolio website and honing your ‘design writing’ skills which, ultimately, you’ll use to promote your work.
Back in the studio, you might find yourself responding to commissions, working on live briefs or entering competitions. While allowing you to experiment and get creative, these projects will also get you thinking like a professional graphic designer, by focusing on visual problem-solving.
There’s the option to take a summer work placement as part of your final-year module.
And of course you’ll prepare for your Degree Show where you have the chance to promote your work and everything you’ve learned to industry professionals.
This is a hands-on, practical course and our assessment is based on the coursework you complete for each of your modules. This includes completed project work as well as accompanying material such as sketchbooks.
We’re looking to see how you research, analyse and develop your work – in other words, how you think as a designer.
You’ll also attend lectures and produce written material. We’ll look at these when we’re reviewing your progress.
Assessment
Assessment is ongoing and includes one-to-one feedback, group crits and class design presentations, so you can be sure you’re receiving structured, insightful feedback throughout your degree course.
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