MA Graphic Branding and Identity

Content

Driven by intelligent enquiry and evaluation, MA Graphic Branding and Identity encourages students to challenge what is understood about the meaning of graphic branding. It explores the strategic thinking underlying brands and focuses on how that strategy can drive the creative expression.

Look around you and you will see examples of the power of brands; on the high street, within organisations and in the media. From Coca Cola to Virgin, the most successful brands are worth billions. This MA course focuses on the role of visual identity within branding, with the aim to produce versatile and creative practitioners who understand design within a business, social and cultural context.

MA Graphic Branding and Identity addresses the subject from a broad perspective, covering individual, group, cultural, national, international, corporate and commercial identities. You will be encouraged to look critically at the graphic elements which make up a contemporary visual identity. The emphasis is on practical design, supported by theoretical components and the application of clear research methodologies.

As well as developing a deeper knowledge of branding and graphic design, you'll gain an understanding of how to develop brand strategies and propositions. An important part of the course involves developing an independent personal project that investigates these principles and their application.

Learning at this level will be about intellectual engagement, discovery, interaction and change. The final product, for us, is not in itself the goal - it is the research, evaluation and understanding of branding and identity that makes this MA distinctive.

This course is taught within the Design School.

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24 September 2018

Course units

Each course is divided into units, which are credit-rated. The minimum unit size is 20 credits. The MA course structure involves six units, totalling 180 credits.

Unit summary:

• Brand and Design Principles (40 credits)
• Field of Study Report (20 credits)

These two units involve a process of reflection, broad exploration and understanding of the brand and design process itself, through a practical project exploring the fundamental principles of brand and design literacy and visual grammar.

You will work on identifying your own practice in relation to common approaches and develop a deeper understanding of the techniques required to produce effective graphic, brand and design communication. A series of lectures, workshops and seminars will be available covering research methodologies in theory and practice and the wider contextual framework for contemporary graphic branding.

In addition, you’ll undertake a scoping and profiling project called the Field of Study Report, in order to establish a working rationale and focus for your Major Project Proposal. This will help you to develop an appreciation of current debates that are shaping the future of the subject and gain an informed view of your own practice.

The skills and knowledge developed during this unit will provide you with a firm foundation from which to undertake design research and are a platform for your personal graphic branding and identity practice.

Unit summary:

• Major Project Proposal (40 credits)
• Collaborative Unit (20 credits)

Unit summary:

• Major Project Proposal (continued)

• Final Major Project (60 credits) OR Thesis (60 credits)

The Major Project Proposal moves your Field of Study Report forwards through a series of practical and contextual stages to find a clearly defined and evaluated research question for the Major Project Proposal. This question will then be answered in the Final Major Project in the last unit of the course.

You'll write, design and produce a re-evaluation of the intentions and methods outlined in the Field of Study Report submitted in Unit One, in order to strategically plan the development of the Major Project towards its final resolution.

During this unit, you may choose to refocus or even change your project. At this point, it is also advised to consider the type of final project (Final Major Project: Practical and Report, or Final Major Project: Thesis). These decisions will need to be discussed and agreed with your tutor prior to the completion of the Major Project Proposal.

During this stage, you will also be able to undertake the Collaborative Unit, where you can work within the branding industry, collaborate with another course or organisation on a chosen branding project or brief. The Collaborative Unit allows you to be directly in touch with the realities of a professional branding practice, and to examine these techniques, approaches and theories in a professional context. (Examples of previous collaborative partnerships at LCC include: Pentagram, Wieden + Kennedy, SCOPE, Channel 4, One Show New York, Mother, Blue Marlin and Interbrand).

Unit summary:

• Final Major Project: Practical and Report (continued) OR Thesis (continued)

The Final Major Project builds on the knowledge and skills acquired during the earlier units, together with the defined and tested rationale developed in the Major Project Proposal and definition stages of the course. These elements are then applied in the creation of an original brand design research project.

This involves the completion of an independent Final Major Project on the basis of extensive research and a firm methodological approach. You will develop a programme of investigation and analysis that supports you in the further development of your personal research project.

As you move towards the submission of your Final Major Project, you'll be required to qualify and evidence your design development; exploring the context of your project as well as identifying key issues in the work such as appropriate discourses, your strategic thinking, branding ‘touch points’, materials and media through which you can effectively communicate your branding ideas.

If you are unable to continue or decide to exit the course, there are two possible exit awards. A Postgraduate Certificate may be awarded on successful completion of the first 60 credits and a Postgraduate Diploma may be awarded on successful completion of the first 120 credits.

MA Graphic Branding and Identity Programme Specification 2017/18 (PDF - 127KB)

Staff Course Leader

Grant Rose

John Bateson, Eugenie Dodd, Robert Mowbray

Paul Jackson

Peter Stimpson