BA (Hons) Graphic Communication

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BA (Hons) Graphic Communication

Your passion for exploring visual ideas and brand communication across all platforms will be at the heart of your time at NUA studying on our award-winning Graphic Communication course.

Our BA (Hons) Graphic Communication degree is closely aligned to industry and you will work on a wide variety of briefs set by staff, professional design agencies and external competitions.

You will engage in work that explores traditional formats as well as emerging digital technologies such as augmented and virtual reality. Your knowledge and skills will grow in branding, identity, advertising, motion graphics, interaction/UX design, whilst developing strong skills in creative thinking and ideas-led communication solutions.

Design solutions to real world problems

You’ll be challenged to engage with real-world problems, controversies and commercial briefs through research, design and technology.

Your original ideas are as likely to play out through an app, website or augmented reality experience as a printed poster, pamphlet or journal.

Design industry skills

As you hone your craft, you’ll get to meet leading practitioners from the creative industries and work on commercial briefs.

We’ll help to prepare you for a successful career as you compile your professional portfolio based on your own design interests.

Thanks to our strong links to industry, recent graduates are highly-employable and have found full-time employment in leading design studios, working in areas such as branding and digital, motion and cross-platform advertising.

You will be taught by passionate and experienced tutors, as well as many visiting professional designers, whose reputation for nurturing talent means that leading design groups and agencies actively recruit graduates from the course.

Graduates work in a broad range of careers including

Graphic Designer
Digital Designer
Website Designer
App Designer
Branding Designer Advertising Creative

Promotions Designer
Brand Strategist
Copywriter
Printmaker/Printer
Filmmaker/Animator

You’ll also get specialist creative careers advice from our team in the Ideas Factory to help support you as you plan your career.

Graphics at NUA

Course information

Institution code: N39
Course 3 Year UCAS code: W213
Course 4 Year UCAS code: W214
Course length: 3 or 4 year options
Sandwich courses: Creative Professional Development (1 year, Level 5 diploma), or Creative Computing (1 year, Level 5 diploma), available between years 2 & 3

All courses run as a blend of on-campus and digital teaching and learning, and follow current UK government safety advice. Applicants and students will be notified directly if any changes need to be made.

Course specifications
Three year degree
Four year degree
Course related costs

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Course content

Year 1
Develop skills in typography, printing, layout, photography, design research, idea generation, visual narrative and storytelling
Learn technical skills in various design-related digital media such as InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator
Explore print, paper, material, format and hand-craft/making skills
Develop your ability to design solutions for presenting complex data and information through editorial design and infographics.

Year 2
Focus on branding and identity, advertising and promotion, digital/screen design, app design, film and animation, corporate communications, infographics, design within the environment and large-scale graphics (super graphics), exhibition design and experience design
Explore printed and digital formats, including books, journals and magazines, brochures and reports, as well as websites, apps, user interface design and user experience design
Collaborate with others in a competitive presentation and/or pitch environment, and across courses with other NUA students.

Year 3
Create a professional portfolio of work
Explore new territories for graphic design, including new and traditional media
Advance your core skills in 2D and 3D design, specifically in typography, layout, image usage and editing, print/physical and screen based digital technologies
Take part in projects, including competition briefs and other professionally-focused projects
Complete a Research Report that provides broad contextualisation to your practice.

Student work

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Tom Horbury - A bike storage locker and promotion poster design for Bright Hire bicycles

Tom Horbury - App design concepts showing different menus of a bicycle hire app

Tom Horbury & Chloe Kilgariff - Branding and gift card design for Firefly bookstore concept

Mansi Katta - Magazine cover design by BA Graphic Communication student Mansi Katta. A close up photo of a woman's lips, vertically, is the cover image. The masthead says 'Read My Lips', a concept around female sexual pleasure

Mansi Katta - Editorial design by BA Graphic Communication student Mansi Katta. A mockup of a double page spread, showing abstract imagery with written text, and large typography saying 'glaciers have thinned and speeded up leading to a jolt in increasing sea level', with water bubbles above some letters distorting the font.

Mansi Katta - Editorial design by BA Graphic Communication student Mansi Katta. Raising awareness over climate change, a vertical double page spread shows an abstract halftone blue, white and black background with the words '165ft Glaciers' in large capitals.

Mansi Katta - Abstract design for a poster by BA Graphic Communication student Mansi Katta. A black and white poster, with large blown up and blurred typography creating a patterned background. On top is the word 'persuaders' in lower case sans serif font, and the word 'hidden' deconstructed and repeated behind it.

Kirsty McKinlay - Promotional poster for Durex and breaking the taboo around disability and sex, by BA Graphic Communication student Kirsty McKinlay. A black poster with white and pink text playing on sexual innuendos breaking the taboo of disabled people and sex

Kirsty McKinlay - A mockup of a pink paper bag with the 'Britney Shears' branding by BA Graphic Communication student Kirsty McKinlay

Kirsty McKinlay - A bundle of appointment cards for 'Britney Shears', a hair donation scheme concept by BA Graphic Communication student Kirsty McKinlay. On a pink background are a bunch of scattered business cards. Some are pale pink with blue images of hands holding up some hair and scissors, some a blue image close up of hair saying 'Britney Shears', and another pink close up of hair saying 'Britney Shears'.

Jamie Greengrass - Website design for Wild Paths music festival in Norwich, by BA Graphic Communication student Jamie Greengrass. A person has a laptop open on a cream and green coloured website saying 'Wild Paths' with links to the full lineup.

Jamie Greengrass - Editorial design by BA Graphic Communication student Jamie Greengrass. A double page spread on sustainability. Black an white images and text printed on natural grain paper, bound by orange thread

Corrina Mark - Branding for 'Daisy' by BA Graphic Communication student Corrina Mark. A photograph of a bunch of daisies, with a digital pale green promo card in the middle, with a hand drawn daisy on.

Corrina Mark - Bus shelter poster design raising awareness for miscarriages, by BA Graphic Communication student Corrina Mark. A white poster with pale mint green writing saying 'Don't be mislead by miscarriage'

Chloe Turner - Poster design about Co2 emissions by Chloe Turner, BA Graphic Communication. A typographic poster, partially obscured by a black smoke-like patch. Made using hydrothermic ink that dissolves when heated

John Miller - Poster design for Mother Mama by BA Graphic Communication student John Miller. A blue poster with a large floral M, with pink body copy above. The poster is framed and photographed on a white floor next to a bunch of pink flowers.

Sophia Brandt - Typographic poster promoting Kieler Woche, a German boating festival by BA Graphic Communication student Sophia Brandt. A black poster with warped white typography. Kieler Woche is repeated across the poster and warped to look as if it's under water.

Eliza Fudge - Promotional poster for Durex raising awareness of STIs, by BA Graphic Communication student Eliza Fudge. Black poster with white typography saying 'The quiet ones are always the dirtiest'.

Jed Harling - Spread of newspaper designs with black and magenta two tone print

Jed Harling - Newspaper design with black and magenta two tone print

Jonathan Leonard, Jake Gilbert, Alice Twydell -

Melissa Lim Shuen - Product demonstration

Rebecca Suproniuk - Raised icons, one with an ear and sound waves

Cameron Gibson - T-shirt design reads oops, with the letters making a face

Curtis Euan-Page - White text on black strip reads this is hemp, the rest of the text is black on white

Curtis Euan-Page - Folded layout with diagonal set type

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Entry requirements
Portfolio guidance
Fees & funding
Level 5 Diplomas
Four year degree

Typical UK offers

A / AS Levels – GCE
GCE A/AS Levels 3 A-level qualifications at grades BBB. Where candidates are not taking 3 A-levels, NUA will consider combinations of A-level/AS-level and other Level 3 qualifications.

BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit, Merit in an art, design or media related subject

BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction*, Distinction* in an art, design or media related subject

T Levels
A T Level in any subject with overall grade Merit or above

UAL Extended Diploma
Merit

UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Merit

UAL Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass

Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Merit

Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass

International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 27 points

NUA welcomes applicants of all ages from all backgrounds. Your application will be primarily assessed through your portfolio, responses to questions asked and personal statement, so even if you have no formal qualifications or do not meet our typical offers it can still be worth applying.

If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.

If the qualification that you are studying is not shown, do not worry as we are able to accept other pre-entry qualifications as well as combinations of different qualifications. Please do contact our Student Recruitment Team if you have any queries.

International applications

We accept qualifications from all over the world. To find our entry requirements from a specific country, please check our dedicated international pages.

Most international students are required to hold an English language qualification. Applicants are required to have a minimum UKVI approved IELTS exam score of 6.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each section. Equivalent English language qualifications are acceptable such as, IB English language syllabus A or B/English Literature (Grade 4).

We also accept some alternative English qualifications. Learn more about our English entry requirements.

You can email us on international@nua.ac.uk if you’d like to discuss your application individually.

BA (Hons) Graphic Communication degree portfolio guidance

We are calling the traditional portfolio a ‘development portfolio’. This is to emphasise that what we would like to see is where you are now in your creative journey. You don’t need to spend a long time making the perfect work, as we can assess your potential from your work in progress. Your development is the most important part of your learning.

Your development portfolio should be relevant to this course, but you can include a wide range of work that shows your creativity, technical competence and understanding of innovative communication.

You may wish to include some of the following:

Visual identity, logos and branding
Digital, motion design and interactive design
Advertising projects/ campaigns
Work created using Adobe Creative Suite or other appropriate design software
Web design
Typography
Photography
Editorial work and poster designs
Drawing Skills
Suggestions for context: branding, corporate communications, advertising, digital/interactive design

Further portfolio advice and tips

Get more advice on presentation formats, layouts, and when to submit your development portfolio in the application process.

2022/23 University fees for new entrants

NUA will assess students’ tuition fee status using the guidance provided by the UK Council for International Student Affairs

Students from the UK or Ireland and EU students with ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status will be charged ‘Home’ fees if they meet the relevant residency requirements. They will usually be eligible for a tuition fee loan from the UK government, meaning that they won’t have to pay NUA’s tuition fees up front.

Students who do not meet the necessary residency requirements will usually be charged ‘Overseas’ fees and will not be eligible for the UK government tuition fee loan. Since 2021/22, this includes new entrants from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland who do not have ‘Settled’ or ‘Pre-Settled’ status, because the UK has now formally left the EU.

Fee status	Course	Annual fee
Home	Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree)	£9,250
Overseas	Undergraduate degree (full-time three and four year degree)	£17,500

In subsequent years inflation may be applied to the fees of those who started in 2022/23, at no more than the Office for Students’ recommended measure based on forecast RPI-X.

See our Fees and Funding page for further information which is also available in a downloadable format.

Financial support for UK students in 2022

Tuition fee loans and loans for living costs are usually available to UK and some EU students, as well as non-repayable NUA bursaries based on family income. Find out more about applying for funding.

All students have an opportunity to spend a year, between the second and third year of their course, enhancing their employability options through a Level 5 Diploma.

These courses are offered in Creative Professional Development; a structured programme of input sessions and work-based learning, and Creative Computing; designed to build the foundation skills in coding and software design that are in high demand in the digital and creative industries.

Four year degree – BA (Hons) Graphic Communication

Four year degrees offer students a chance to build on their experience within their undergraduate course of choice.

Year 0 will help to build confidence and develop subject specific practical, creative and conceptual skills – making full use of University studios and workshops.

Typical UK offers and entry requirements for Year 0 entry

GCE A/AS Levels
2 A-level qualifications at grades CC or higher.

BTEC Extended Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Merit, Merit, Pass in an art, design or media related subject

BTEC Diploma (QCF or RQF)
Distinction, Merit in an art, design or media related subject

T Levels
Pass (D or E on the core)

UAL Extended Diploma
An overall Pass

UAL Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
An overall Pass

Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Pass

Access to Higher Education Diploma (Art and Design)
Pass

International Baccalaureate Diploma
A minimum of 24 points

If you are studying at the time of your application and your application is successful it is likely that you will receive a conditional offer.

Find out more

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Students

Person standing with tattoos on their arm, rainbow flag in background and they have blonde hair and glasses on

Rhys Stawiska

"My work brings together the use of colour, typography and imagery to demonstrate important messages. You'll see this in my ‘No Pride in Poland’ project, with a custom made font and colours picked straight from the country’s flag – it highlights the injustices LGBT+ people face in Poland."

BA (Hons) Graphic Communication

Discover Rhys's work

Tsu-Ann Wong

"Having access to technical workshops and speaking with the courses’ guest lecturers has made me realise that there are so many different ways to approach a project. It’s important not to restrict yourself – exploration helps me realise the best way to communicate ideas."

BA (Hons) Graphic Communication

Wild Paths students stand in Urban Jungle Norwich with pumpkins for a Norwich University of the Arts photoshoot

Wild Paths Festival design team

"I’ve learned a lot about how dedicated my friends & fellow students are to their creative practices, and I’m so proud of them for how much they’ve pushed themselves on this."

Meet the student creative team behind Wild Paths music festival

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