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What makes Graphic Design and Illustration at Worcester special?

Increasingly in today's world of multimedia communication and publishing, illustrators and designers work with overlapping interests and on common projects. Joint honours Graphic Design and Illustration is therefore full of possibility: many aspects of these disciplines are complementary and studying them in combination could lead to an innovative, interdisciplinary final year project.

Both subject areas place emphasis on drawing as a tool for thinking and visualisation and both nurture your creative development alongside development of craft, digital and 'transferable' skills that are applicable to a very wide range of graduate career and employment options. These will be further complemented by the Graphic Design course’s focus on giving students the experience of working on live client briefs across its different areas of study. These will be further complemented by the Graphic Design course’s focus on giving students the experience of working on live client briefs across its different areas of study including children’s publishing, wayfinding and information graphics, branding and ID design and sustainable design practices.

There are regular visits to museums and exhibitions in London, Bristol, Oxford and elsewhere; there is an annual opportunity to take part in a visit to a destination in mainland Europe; students submit to international competitions and regularly exhibit in venues locally (with an opportunity for third year Illustration students to showcase their work at a London gallery). Student performance is assessed entirely by course work.

Overview

Overview

Key features

  • Live brief collaborations with organisations such as The National Archives in London, The Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales – one of Europe’s largest eco centres and national campaigning organisation Friends of the Earth. Our links to publishers also include Frances Lincoln and Lemniscaat (Netherlands) and publications such as You Magazine (Mail on Sunday).
  • Both the Graphic Design and Illustration courses were ranked 10th in the UK in the Guardian’s 2021 listings for ‘Design & Craft’ courses.
  • Two students on the Graphic Design course won the prestigious 2019 D&AD ‘New Blood’ Design Award.
  • Opportunity to travel to destinations in mainland Europe
  • Introduction to exhibition practice through illustration fairs, card sales and exhibitions
  • Tailor your course to your individual needs with a joint honours degree
a group of students are sitting and chatting

It’s not too late to apply!

You can still apply to study with us after the January UCAS deadline. Don’t be tempted to rush an application together as fast as you can, you still want to make sure your application and personal statement are as good as possible.

Your teachers can still write you a reference after the January deadline so make sure to let them know you’re applying to university

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Entry requirements

What qualifications will you need?

104
UCAS tariff points

Entry requirements

104 UCAS Tariff points

Other information

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the Admissions Office on 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk for advice.

Further information about the UCAS Tariff can be obtained from http://www.ucas.com

The entire course staff have been nothing but supportive over the last three years, while encouraging and developing creative skills with all students.

Martin Price, Graphic Design BA graduate

Some work by Illustration students

Course content

What will you study

Our courses are informed by research and current developments in the discipline and feedback from students, external examiners and employers. Modules do therefore change periodically in the interests of keeping the course relevant and reflecting best practice. The most up-to-date information will be available to you once you have accepted a place and registered for the course. If there are insufficient numbers of students interested in an optional module, this might not be offered, but we will advise you as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative. 

Year 1

Mandatory

  • Drawing for Illustrators
  • Image and Text
  • Design: Skills and Theory
  • Creative Digital Typography and Imaging

Options

  • Illustration and Print Making
  • Illustration: Digital Processes
  • Multimedia in Context
  • Concept Visualisation

Year 2

Mandatory

N/A

Options

  • Visual Statement
  • Illustration Forms and Genres
  • Location Drawing and Reportage
  • Graphic Design for Internet and Multimedia
  • Graphic Design for Print
  • Children’s Book Design
  • Available Light Photography
  • Motion Graphics

Year 3

Mandatory

  • Contemporary Practice

Options

  • Final Research Project
  • Professional Practice
  • Authorial Practice
  • Negotiated Project
  • Negotiated Project 1
  • Design Awards and Exhibition
  • Pressure Projects
  • Green Design
  • Major Project 1
  • Live Brief
  • Industry Collaboration
  • Documentary Photography
2 female students and 1 male student working at table

Joint Honours

Discover our full range of joint degrees and read about how your degree will be structured.

Find out more about studying a joint honours course
Teaching and assessment

How will you be taught?

Graphic Design supports your development as a graphic designer with the flexibility to work in today's contexts, from print to web to multimedia design. Your creative ideas and approaches will grow alongside your use of computer technology and your critical understanding of design and visual theory.

You will develop your team working skills and your understanding of how to respond to professional briefs, building your knowledge and experience of the current market. There are plenty of opportunities to work on 'live briefs' set by real clients from a variety of contexts, including businesses, museums, local authorities and charities. You will be encouraged to develop work for entry into national and international competitions and increasingly to follow your own interests, whether those involve a passion for typography or a preoccupation with motion graphics. Throughout, you will be introduced to the multitude of professional possibilities that are open to graphic designers, and there are plenty of opportunities to visit design studios and meet industry clients.

Illustration aims to cover the complete range of illustration genres and forms, including children's books, editorial and magazine illustration, the graphic novel, reportage, authorial illustration and advertising.

With its comprehensive foundation in drawing during students' first year, it will support development of your work across a wide range of applications encompassing traditional techniques and digital realisation. Cross media projects are encouraged and, in your final year, there is increasing emphasis on growing your knowledge of, and interaction with, professional contexts of illustration. You are taught by lecturers who, themselves, are also professional, published illustrators.

For more information about teaching, learning and assessment on this course, please see the single honours course pages for Graphic Design and Illustration.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification documents for Graphic Design and Illustration.

Careers

Where could it take you?

Employability

Illustrators are in increasing demand as the media industries expand. Options for the professional illustrator include newspapers and magazines, books, advertising, exhibiting independent work, television and the internet. All these fields are potential showcases for graduates' work. Our interdisciplinary approach gives flexibility and a wider view of the world that is attractive to employers. Graduates will find career opportunities not only in illustration but also television motion graphics, graphic design, story writing, studio management and advertising.

Graduates from this course have gone on to work in sectors such as publishing, graphic design, web design, media and arts administration, or are self-employed. This course also provides an excellent basis for further studies. Its interdisciplinary nature means that students develop skills that are attractive to employers. In a Destinations Survey carried out by the University of Worcester Careers Service, 94% of Graphic Design students had found work or had gone on to further study within six months of graduating.

"The entire course staff have been nothing but supportive over the last three years, while encouraging and developing creative skills with all students."

Martin Price, Graphic Design BA graduate.

Two students are walking next to each other and smiling

Careers and Employability

Our Graduates pursue exciting and diverse careers in a wide variety of employment sectors.

Find out how we can support you to achieve your potential.
Costs

How much will it cost?

Full-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard fee for full-time home and EU undergraduate students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2023/24 academic year is £9,250 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

International students

The standard tuition fee for full-time international students enrolling on BA/BSc/LLB degrees and FdA/FdSc degrees in the 2023/24 academic year is £14,700 per year.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Part-time tuition fees

UK and EU students

The standard tuition fees for part-time UK and EU students registering on this course in the academic year 2023/24 are £1,156 per 15-credit module, £1,542 per 20-credit module, £2,312 per 30-credit module, £3,083 per 40-credit module, £3,469 per 45-credit module and £4,625 per 60 credit module.

For more details, please visit our course fees page.

Additional costs

Every course has day-to-day costs for basic books, stationery, printing and photocopying. The amounts vary between courses.

If your course offers a placement opportunity, you may need to pay for an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Accommodation

Finding the right accommodation is paramount to your university experience. Our halls of residence are home to friendly student communities, making them great places to live and study.

We have over 1,000 rooms across our range of student halls. With rooms to suit every budget and need, from our 'Traditional Hall' at £122 per week to 'En-suite Premium' at £207 per week (2023/24 prices).

For full details visit our accommodation page.

How to apply

How do you apply?

Applying through UCAS

Graphic Design and Illustration BA (Hons) - W292

UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry onto full-time undergraduate courses in Higher Education in the UK.

Read our How to apply pages for more information on applying and to find out what happens to your application.

UCAS Code

W292

Get in touch

If you have any questions, please get in touch. We're here to help you every step of the way.

Ree Han

Course leader

Tobias Hickey

Course leader