Graphic Design Canterbury Christ Church University

Overview

Throughout the course you’ll put your skills to use working with practising designers completing live briefs and entering national competitions. To capitalise on your design work, you’ll learn business and entrepreneurial aspects of the industry through working with a professional design agency.

The Graphic Design course from Canterbury Christ Church University is taught in specialist graphic design studio spaces in the new Daphne Oram building where you will have access to industry-standard software and a range of art and design technologies. We encourage, and support you, to take on freelance commissions throughout the course.

Why Study Graphic Design?

Good designers are always in demand and having the knowledge, creativity and determination will help you find the right job, take on freelance work and even give you the confidence to set up your own business.

From day one, we'll consider you as designer with thoughts and opinions that can lead to great ideas and impactful work.

They'll support you in building your creative confidence, technical skills and critical understanding so that you can step outside of your comfort zone and push your designs to the limit. To do this, you'll hone your software proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, AfterEffects, XD and Acrobat, learn the basics of coding for web and make data visualisations using Tableau to communicate global stories. 

For every module, you'll complete two briefs resulting in 10 new portfolio projects at the end of the first year. Some work will emulate industry in that you'll work in teams; for other briefs you'll work alone as if commissioned by a client. All your course tutors work in the profession and bring their exceptional experience into the studio directly to you.

Although this is primarily a practical course, you'll also: study the history of design; analyse the contributions of global key designers; assess the sustainability of existing design methodologies and develop new ones for an emerging world. 

This course is ideal if you want to study a creative and practical degree and emerge with a range of transferable graduate skills. You might have a background in graphic design, or equally art, product design, IT or photography; all we ask for is your commitment to the course and our community.

Your future career

Graphic design is a creative professional discipline that remains in strong demand, due to the ways that its underpinning principles inform almost all visual communication. Graduates from the course have moved into a range of creative careers, including working as graphic designers either salaried within design agencies or on a freelance basis.

The interdisciplinary ethos and approach assists graduates in working not only in prescribed work roles such as graphic designers, graphic artists and artworkers, but in working across the range of creative industries including graphic design, influencing, marketing, social media, web design and beyond.

Many students also continue on to further study, such as postgraduate courses in graphic design or related creative disciplines both at Canterbury Christ Church University and at other institutions.