MA

Graphic Communication

MA Graphic Communication is a practice-led course that challenges conventions and rewards experimentation and innovation. You’ll push boundaries, engage with real-world briefs, and develop work that shapes culture and society. Collaborating in a vibrant studio environment, you'll refine your practice while exploring new possibilities in contemporary visual communication.

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Key Course Details

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Cardiff

  • Campus Code

    B

Fees

  • Home students

    £11,060*

  • International students

    £17,900*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.
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Take your design career to the next level with MA Graphic Communication - where bold ideas, critical thinking and creative collaboration come together to shape original, impactful work.

DESIGNED FOR

MA Graphic Communication is designed for ambitious creatives ready to grow. Whether you're an established designer or progressing from another creative discipline, this course helps you expand your skills, build confidence and push your practice—preparing you to thrive in the ever-changing world of graphic design.

Career Paths

  • Graphic Designer
  • UX/UI Designer
  • Motion Graphics Designer
  • Brand Strategist
  • Freelance Designer

Skills taught

  • Design Thinking
  • Creative Problem Solving
  • Design Research Methods
  • Digital production skills
  • User centred Design

Course Highlights

Work on real design projects

Get hands-on experience by working with real clients. Past students have contributed to campaigns for National Book Day, charities and environmental organisations in Wales.

Build a standout portfolio

Develop a strong unique portfolio that shows off your range of creative practice and design skills.

Shape the course around your interests

Explore a wide range of design skills while focusing on challenges that excite you within campaign, branding, user experience and motion graphics.

Learn from experienced, supportive staff

Our academics include skilled designers and educators who offer plenty of one-to-one guidance and technical support throughout the course.

Module Overview

MA Graphic Communication is a dynamic, inclusive course that values diverse cultures and creative backgrounds. It supports you in refining your skills, developing a unique design voice and exploring bold, self-directed projects. Through critical thinking and experimental practice, you’ll shape a professional identity and prepare for your next career step.

Graphic Communication Principles

Explore key principles of graphic design, including composition, typography, hierarchy and colour. You will develop and create thoughtful, concept driven visual outcomes through hands-on experiences.

Graphic Communication Applications

Examine branding as a strategic element in graphic design, creating a future-focused identity that reflects values, behaviour, services and audience through creative practice.

Research and Practice in the Creative Industries

Learn design research methods and participate in critical discussions using theoretical frameworks and emerging ideas to develop research-driven design concepts.

 

Graphic Communication Masters Projects

Discover graphic design in digital spaces, focusing on motion graphics, UX, and UI design. Learn how graphic design can move, respond, and interact to create dynamic visual experiences that captivate screen-based audiences.

Professional Design Practice

Study the professional practices of contemporary design studios and agencies, including workflows, client relationships, and creative services. You will develop a creative portfolio that showcases your skills and readiness for the industry.

Final Major Projects

In this self-directed module, you will develop a final major project that reflects your design philosophy and diverse skills within your chosen specialism. You will create a substantial body of work that showcases innovation, originality, and professional relevance.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

A good Honours degree in a relevant discipline, or an appropriate professional qualification, or HND/HNC and appropriate experience. UK applicants will be interviewed with their portfolio. Part-time students are usually required to be practising professionals. Relevant subjects include, but are not limited to, Art/Fine Art, Design, Graphics, Illustration, Art History, 3D Design, Fashion Design/Textiles, Interior Design, Advertising, Design Marketing, Animation, Game Art, Web Design, Fashion Promotion, or any subject that uses creative conceptual thought as part of its main process.

Equivalent accredited international qualifications are acceptable. International students need to supply a CD or DVD of their work, or a link to their personal website, to evidence their ability. Commitment to study will be considered. Where possible, video-conferencing, Skype or other communication will be used to contact you.

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 4 overall and a minimum of 4 in each component or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Fee

£11,060

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£17,900

per year*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Busaries Alumni Discount

Additional Costs

As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.

Students will need to purchase design materials, including a A3 layout pad costing approximately £8.00, a fine liner at £2.99 and should allow £100 for print costs. The University provides computers to be used in studio spaces but most students prefer to buy their own laptops. The library has an extensive collection of books and journals that can be borrowed or read on line, but students may choose to buy their own. 

Cost: £110

Media Loans

You can hire a range of equipment, for your assignments and practical work, for free from our Media Loans facility.

Media Loans

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

Course Highlights

How you'll learn

You’ll learn through many hands-on practice-based projects, group workshops and through regular constructive critique and feedback from supportive tutors who are highly experienced and passionate about the subject area. You’ll get to work closely with other students within your studio space. Each module varies, but commonly includes lectures, tutorials, peer reviews, technical instruction, direct and independent study time.

Teaching staff

You’ll be taught by graphic design lecturers that are extremely passionate about this subject area, all are experienced in a wide range of disciplines and commercial industries with an extensive network of professionals that influence the course curriculum.  

 

Ryan Preece (Course Leader / Senior Lecturer)
Dr Rachel Grainger (Senior Lecturer)
Stephen Leadbetter (Lecturer)

Sarah Down (Lecturer)

Facilities

The design studios are Apple Mac-based and equipped with a wide range of design software that supports the expectations of your course. As a student of the university you will have access to Adobe Cloud, Cinema 4D, Figma and all relevant applications you require to digitally practice within this discipline. The Cardiff Campus provides a wider range of equipment and resources to support the diversity of MA students that bring a wide-range of additional skillsets and experiences.

The university has a media loans facility that allows you to borrow industry standard equipment ranging from laptops to high-end film and photography cameras. There are opportunities to explore specialisms through on-site workshops, 3D Printing, laser-cutting, green screen facilities. The university has a wider support network of technicians and software specialists that are Adobe credited, providing an exceptional technical support service for students studying this course. 

Careers and Employability

Graduate careers

Graduates of USW’s MA Graphic Communication course aspire to enter the creative industries with a more sophisticated, distinct competitive edge that builds on the foundations of their BA or previous education experiences.  The MA aims to encourage a more refined level of conceptual thinking and maturity to tackle complex design challenges with diversity and confidence.

Employers seek design graduates that are not afraid to take the creative lead, critically engage with a wide range of local, national or global issues and aspire to demonstrate innovation through design practice, this is central to postgraduate study at USW. Graduates commonly peruse roles in agencies or as freelance designers offering services in graphic design, branding, UX,UI motion graphics. Some choose to continue their studies through teacher training or pursue further academic research with an MPhil or PhD. MA student’s standout in their fields for their maturity, attitude and diversity of creativity and skillsets.

Industry links

The Graphic Communication courses at the university have an excellent reputation and long-serving history of working with the professionals that are shaping the creative industries. The design courses have been written through primary research and consultation with a variety of creative practitioners and academics. This professional network continuously creates opportunities within the curriculum for our students to meet, interact and learn directly from our industry contacts.

Careers support

You will have access to advice from the Careers and Employability Service throughout your studies and post-graduation. This includes one-to-one appointments from faculty-based Career Advisers, in person, over the phone or even on Skype and through email via the "Ask a Question" service. We also have extensive online resources for help with considering your career options and presenting yourself well to employers. Resources include psychometric tests, career assessments, a CV builder, interview simulator and application help. Our employer database has over 2,000 registered employers targeting USW students, you can receive weekly email alerts for jobs. Our Careers service has dedicated teams: A central work experience team to help you find relevant placements; an employability development team which includes an employability programme called Grad Edge; and an Enterprise team focused on new business ideas and entrepreneurship.

How to apply

There is an online application process for this course. Please choose the application form for your preferred start date and mode of study (i.e. full-time or part-time).

International admissions

Please see our international admissions advice for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.

Studying at USW

Our courses are designed with industry leaders and provide the practical skills and experiences industry demands. Our flexible courses reflect the need for life-long learning. If you value education in practice, not just in theory, then USW is for you.

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