MA Graphic Design (Online)

This unit will kickstart the course, introducing you to studying online with London College of Communication and a spectrum of graphic design practices. You'll be introduced to the critical discourses, cultural contexts and socially aware approaches that underpin contemporary graphic design. You’ll explore, then re-examine fundamental principles including composition, typography, colour and visual communication. You’ll familiarise yourself with practical, critical and technical skills that align with industry standards, as you push your creative boundaries.

The essence of graphic design is communication. It’s a dialogue between the designer and their audience. Understanding and harnessing the communicative power of graphic design is a skill every designer must learn and embrace.In this unit, you will explore and harness the power of communication that graphic design holds. Building on central principles of graphic design and design history, this unit re-engages with the fundamentals while giving you opportunities to re-imagine the potential of graphic design. Through a series of industry-facing project briefs, you will develop your portfolio of work, take on new design challenges and experiment with your existing style to deliver powerful messaging. Discover the value of practice-based methods and approaches as you investigate and test how your individual graphic design practice impacts your audience and the world.

This unit provides opportunities and resources for you to build the knowledge, confidence and skills needed to pursue your own creative goals in the graphic design industry. Through a series of industry-led talks, lectures and readings, you’ll examine critical conversations, key issues, cultural contexts and creative practices that inform and drive contemporary graphic design. Through practice and theory, you’ll develop and cultivate in-depth critical perspectives, connections and knowledge relating to the field of graphic design. You’ll initiate, plan and implement a critical practice-based investigation into a subject of your choice within the field of graphic design.

The world is evolving at an accelerated pace and, with it, the role of the graphic designer and prospective impact of the design industry. This future-facing unit examines emergent and speculative practices, technologies and processes that influence and define the leading edges in graphic design. Responding to the rapid advancement of new technologies, evolving digital applications and the implications of post-human design, this unit introduces you to a range of cutting-edge concepts and technologies that expand and (re)define the boundaries of contemporary practice. You’ll be significantly challenged, stretching the limits of your imagination and creativity, as you critically analyse the role you play as a designer in shaping and manifesting the future in design.

This unit stands as a pivotal moment in your graphic design journey. You’ll be empowered to identify your career goals, your place in the industry, your design style and consider your ethical position by researching specialisms, modes of practice, business models and critical contexts. Whatever your chosen specialism is, you’ll synthesise the knowledge, skills and practice you’ve gained through self-directed projects that align with your chosen career. We’ll help you define your purpose as a designer and how to present your design practice to future employers and clients. This unit offers a space for you to work independently, balancing creativity with critically informed practices suited to your academic or career path.

In this exciting unit, you will explore industry professionals, design studios, brands and academics who are defining the field. Guest speakers will be invited to present the practices and techniques that define their unique identity as designers, inspiring you to be bold in your own design approach. Through critical thinking, you’ll research the histories, trajectories, successes, opportunities and challenges renowned designers have tackled to build their reputations. You’ll research and produce high-level graphic design artefacts in line with the approaches, style and specialisms of the industry designers you admire. This unit encourages you to push your creative boundaries, expand your perspectives and produce original, courageous work that advances your practice.

In this unit, you’ll address the broader ethical and social implications of graphic design as a tool for communication, influence and change. You’ll be encouraged to open yourself to new ways of thinking and be a driving force for responsible design, responding to societal systems, cultural contexts and ethical frameworks.

Drawing on social justice, environmental regeneration, inclusivity and accessibility principles, you’ll engage in graphic design practices that spark critical thinking, advocate sustainable practice and inspire social values. This unit encourages co-design and collaborative engagement. We invite you to seek, develop and nurture connections with select industry partners, creatives, clients and other relevant stakeholders to enhance your experience.

The final 2 units, Major Project Investigate and Major Project Amplify are designed as an integrated sequence. Collectively these units offer a valuable opportunity for in-depth self directed research to boost your knowledge and skills to support you as you move towards your next career steps in graphic design.

In this penultimate unit, you’ll develop an independent research proposal with the approval of your unit tutor. The research outcome you produce here will be the starting point for your final practice-based project.

In this final unit of your MA Graphic Design course, you ll commit to a self-directed practice based research project that builds on the knowledge, skills and experience you’ve gained throughout your MA journey. Building on the theoretical outcomes from Major Project Investigate, you’ll produce a critically informed graphic design artefact that advances your design practice. You may choose to focus on a specific graphic design practice or specialism launch an innovative entrepreneurial venture pursue a conceptual design proposition advance your academic research to prepare for further study or strengthen your portfolio.