MA Graphic Media Design

Course summary:

Places available - Home/EU applications.

This course has places available for Home/EU applicants only. You can apply for this course via the 'How to apply' section on this page. Applications for 2019/20 entry are now closed for international students. MA Graphic Media Design explores the use of graphic design as a critical tool to probe the complexities of contemporary visual culture.

Why choose this course at London College of Communication?

Subject Expertise:

We engage with national and international visiting lecturers - with notable recent guests including Turner Prize-winners Assemble , design historian and writer Alice Twemlow , and world-renowned design practitioners Paul Elliman and Jan van Toorn .

Distinctive Practice:

Our graduates secure high-profile careers in key areas of design practice, research and education - including Sarah Boris (Associate Art Director, Phaidon Publishing), Tzortzis Rallis (PhD student at LCC; Design Museum Design of the Year Awards 2013 shortlist), Marwan Kaabour ( Barnbrook Studio ) and Cat Drew (Work & Health Unit, Policy Lab, UK Government).

Design Discourse, Research and Debate:

Our established MA and PhD community offers opportunities for expert academic guidance. Engage in research-oriented workshops and contemplate progression to PhD, as well as interact with a growing number of research hubs at LCC , such as Design Activism Research Hub, Graphic Subcultures, Conscientious Communicators, Typographic Research Unit, and many others across UAL.

Excellence in resources:

LCC's exceptional facilities span both the traditional and contemporary processes from letterpress, screen printing, photography, 3D construction and bookbinding to 3D printing, laser-cutting and sound engineering.

Anyone Interested.

Course details:

MA Graphic Media Design is renowned for its excellence in teaching and learning at postgraduate level, with established links within the field of graphic design, both nationally and internationally. Your self-authored, practice-led enquiry will drive this programme of study. You will work in collaboration with the course tutors, fellow course participants and external partners. Your long-term independent enquiry will be punctuated with specialist workshops, course-led briefs, tutor, peer and expert critique forums, site visits, lectures and talks from leading practitioners, thinkers and doers. You will join and participate in a critical studio environment where practice-led, theoretical and historical contexts will be explored, critiqued and contemplated alongside one another.

This integrated design-oriented approach opens up new opportunities for you to explore the practice, the writing and the reading as blended visual research tools ripe for critique, invention and application.

MA Graphic Media Design runs alongside a suite of established and newly developed postgraduate courses, spanning the rich and diverse spectrum of the current and emergent practices in the fields of visual communication, illustration, interaction design, service design, branding and identity, advertising, documentary, journalism, photography, publishing, public relations, sound arts and screenwriting. This diversity of individual and collective pursuits promotes a rich discursive arena for all engaged.

Course structure:

The course structure appreciates the varied requirements and aspirations of the contemporary practitioner interested in the pursuit of postgraduate study in the subject. This is a particularly distinctive feature as we are one of the few courses in the United Kingdom to offer this option for postgraduate study in the subject. The course is demanding of time and commitment. A defining aspect of your postgraduate study is the independent, self-directed approach. You are expected to timetable and manage your own learning according to your ambition and intentions. You will work with the course team in the MA Graphic Media Design studios two days per week dependent on the stage of study, plus you'll also attend a lecture series scheduled for another day in the week.

Outside of this core delivery, you will have the opportunity to utilise a range of excellent resources available at LCC to produce your experimentation and continue developing your projects. Tailored Academic Support and Language Support sessions are also scheduled to support and inform your developing academic literacies whilst you are with us on the course. Your success or failure on the course will depend, to a great extent on how rigorously and responsibly you take this self-direction and how well you respond to tutorial advice and advice from peers and collaborators. The level of self-management required will increase throughout the course.

Fees & Funding:

Home / EU fee

University of the Arts London (UAL) is Europe’s largest specialist art and design university. Its unique creative community is made up of six renowned Colleges, each with its own world-class reputation: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion and Wimbledon College of Arts.

UAL is the world’s sixth best University for Art and Design in the QS World University Rankings 2018. Offering an extensive range of courses in art, design, fashion, communication and performing arts, UAL is the main talent pipeline to the UK’s creative industries.

Home to a diverse community of over 18,000 students from 129 countries, UAL has a track record for launching and furthering careers. Our graduates can be found in every part and at every level of the creative and cultural sectors, from heads of global business to self-employed practitioners, and on shortlists for awards ranging from the Turner Prize to the Oscars.

Building on UAL’s association with some of the most original thinkers in the arts, students and staff are inspired to challenge convention, generate new ideas and nurture talent. Home to award-winning staff and students for more than a century, UAL’s Colleges are at the forefront of learning, creativity and practice in their specialist subjects. This close-knit College structure offers opportunities for learning and enquiry for people at all stages of their creative development.