A2 Graphic Design

Graphic Design
Graphic Design is a creative course within the art department that is focused on the making of images that are used to persuade, sell or advertise products. Students gain experience of practical projects set with a clients design brief. A variety of approaches to creating outcomes are taught using many research techniques including the use of Adobe Photoshop on Emac computers, creative use of typography and basic drawing skills that underpin an idea. Projects set at AS level include: CD cover, book jacket for a fiction novel, poster for a holiday company, a gallery poster for a forthcoming exhibition.

All students on the course undertake a unit requiring them to develop a greater appreciation of the professional industry and document their ideas about designers and artists. Areas covered as part of this unit include Innovative Advertising; Analysis of Contemporary Design; Movements: including Art Deco, propaganda graphics, psychedelia/punk and their place in contemporary society'

An ability to be flexible when producing work is vital and students who commit energy and enthusiasm to the development of their work will succeed to a very high standard.

What Will I Learn On This Course?

The course aims to give students experience in:

· Advertising: design and layout
· Illustration: book magazine and narratives
· Typography
· Graphics on the Web

The nature and function of Graphic Design is:

• Visual communication: this is the process by which the designer chooses imagery.
• Aesthetic qualities of graphic design, reflecting and influencing contemporary tastes and styles
• Symbolism - signs and illustrative materials used in advertising and the media
• Using images to produce different meanings
• The relationship between image, text and layout to produce solutions in terms of quality, legibility and function.

Graphic Design students will have the opportunity to visit foreign cities such as New York and Paris in order to broaden their experience of the visual world. There are also yearly trips to Hampshire and London based degree shows and relevant design exhibitions held locally.

Course Content And Method Of Assessment

AS
1 Coursework unit
1 Externally set assignment

A2
1 Coursework units
1 Externally set assignment

The syllabus followed is that offered by OCR.

At AS level the students will be set a number of challenging projects that are submitted as coursework. These projects are designed to introduce students to the processes involved in making an image. The externally set assignment for AS is entitled 'Controlled Assignment.' This requires the students to respond to a design brief with research and make a piece of graphic design in controlled conditions over a period of five hours.

At A2 level the students will focus on the more finished products that are possible when making a graphic image. Larger more ambitious outcomes can be tackled and should be handed in along with preparatory studies for the coursework. The externally set assignment for the A2 course is entitled 'Controlled Test.' This requires preparatory studies created over a period of four weeks and a finished graphic design made in controlled conditions over fifteen hours.
Normal college entry requirements apply.

After The Course

A2 level Graphic Design enables access to further study, through a portfolio of work onto foundation courses in Graphic Design and courses at BA Honours Degree Level. Many of the Graphic Design Students have progressed to highly successful careers in the design industry. Employers include: fashion houses, graphic design firms, working for Magazines on a national level and freelance illustration jobs. A large number of students complete a one year art and design Foundation diploma after having completed the A2 level however many students achieve places on the first year of a BA Honours degree after completion.

Relevant degree courses include: BA Honours Graphic Design, BA Honours Illustration, BA Honours Digital Media, BA Honours Animation, BA Honours Design Management etc.

Subject Combinations

Students may choose to study Graphic Design with another Art and Design subject or combine with choices across the curriculum range.

Entry Requirements

5 GCSEs at grade C, including a minimum of Grade C in Art. ( In addition, GCSE Graphic Products is advantageous).

Students are required to complete a written element within each art course, therefore a Grade C in GCSE English is advantageous.