Communication Design

The two-year programme in Communication Design is a broad one that can accommodate practice being produced by students working both within and between specialist areas of Communication Design. Students on the programme can explore their individual specialisms in the areas of photography, illustration and graphic design, should they wish to remain within such parameters. At the same time, students challenging the existing boundaries of specialist practice within Communication Design are not confined to one area of production; indeed, the programme’s structure and content delivery support and facilitate interdisciplinary work. The programme format adopted by this programme is a two-year, 240 credit master’s model. The sustained length of the programme enables its students to devote additional time to the production of an enhanced portfolio of work.

The general approach Core Research Methods (CRM) course takes is framed around ‘research as response’ and ‘research as revision’ to support practice-led enquiries in studio and professional contexts. The CRM does not privilege specific ways of thinking about research; it underpins the formulation of research questions through practical engagement with craft process, material awareness, data gathering, contextual and critical evaluation of primary and secondary sources. It establishes a clear value, process and role for collaboration as a professional aptitude. The CRM aims to build confidence across the cohort as students work towards establishing group and individual frameworks for understanding how research can inform design decisions, and to enhance skills in communicating research through visual, oral and written means. The pace of 3 delivery is varied across the CRM course, involving lectures, seminars and workshops for interdisciplinary plenaries, studio groups and individuals.

The stage 2 electives are provided across GSA and support students to further deepen and explore their areas of research interest. This will enable an intensification of discipline oriented-research methods and also foster interdisciplinary learning which is one of the areas of focus in stage 2.