Design (Visual Communication)

Working alongside other postgraduate students from Design, Illustration, Graphics, Textiles and Fine Art pathways, you’ll develop your own projects while undertaking practice-led research, theory and professional practice modules. 

Specialist tutors and technicians will guide your progress, supporting you to create your own approach and make coherent and visually exciting Visual Communication  outcomes. 

You'll use subject-specific studios and workshops and have access to technical equipment, specialist software and computers. Our excellent art and design library provides access to printed books, ebooks, magazines and periodicals and a range of other resources through interlibrary loans. You will be supported by a dedicated art and design librarian and an enthusiastic team. 

The MA Design (Visual Communication) programme culminates in a public exhibition. Our aim is for you to graduate with a broad, informed outlook, a genuine and proven confidence in your abilities and the professional skills necessary to succeed in your chosen specialism. 

This Design Master’s runs over one year and is divided into three trimesters.

Trimester one 
From the start of the programme we encourage playfulness and risk-taking. You’ll begin by making work that responds to a range of instructions in ways that will help you to interrogate your practical approach, and to learn from lecturers and other students as you progress. You'll develop primary and secondary research that will feed directly into your practical work and assessments, and the project that you produce will form the basis of your developing practice. 

We introduce a range of key issues in design and communication practice that allow you to explore how your specialist pathway relates to the wider field and to gain professional, critical and collaborative working skills. 

Trimester two 
Maintaining an experimental approach, you'll consolidate what you are learning and begin to narrow your focus within your chosen pathway or subject area. Academic staff will help you evaluate your development and refine your approach to support your project outcome. You’ll be encouraged to scrutinise the way in which your project functions and engages its audience. With help from our excellent subject specialists, technical demonstrators and technicians, you will hone the conceptual, technical aesthetic and contextual components of your project. 

Trimester three 
In the final trimester, you will work exclusively on your Masters Project. This is a self-directed, double weighted practice module in which you’ll be focussing your attention on your final Degree Show. By this stage you will have established a line of enquiry for your practice and will be working to a proposal for the show that you have developed.  You’ll work in the studio with increasing independence to produce a body of work that demonstrates your advanced knowledge and understanding of your professional practice. The final MA Show exhibition will take place at the Locksbrook campus and will be open to the public. 

This course includes or offers the following modules. Please check the programme document for more information on which modules are core, required or optional.

• Research Methods
• Theory and Professional Context
• Practice 1 (Design)
• Research Practice
• Theory and Professional Practices
• Practice 2 (Design)
• Master's Project

Your progress is evaluated by formative assessment (throughout the duration of the course) and summative assessment (at the end of each trimester), through a mixture of exhibitions, verbal/visual presentations, research folders/blogs and written assignments.

You’ll learn through lectures, seminars, workshops, talks, individual and group tutorials, studio critiques and self-directed study. 

Throughout the year visiting lecturers and professionals, designers and artists, visit the campus and give talks and seminars. You will have the opportunity to attend many of these. They will help you determine where your current practice sits within industry. 

Our collaborative structure also means that you’ll learn from each other – for instance, Illustration, Photography, Textiles or Painting students might engage in debates with a range of other Art and Design students. 

Technical Demonstrators, who manage our workshop facilities, provide teaching and support across a wide range of subject specialisms. Your learning is also supported by specialist librarians. 

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

When permitted, Bath School of Design offers fieldwork opportunities throughout the academic year.

Career opportunities may involve utilising skills in digital two and three dimensional design, infographics and graphic design, typography, branding and roles such as: 

• Illustrator
• Graphic Designer
• Visual Communicator
• Textile Designer
• Interior Designer
• Photographer
• Picture Editor
• Art Director
• Multimedia Artist
• Animator
• Set and Exhibition Designer
• Picture researcher

You’ll benefit from access to comprehensive digital workshops and specialist art and design facilities, including:

• Our student service point at Locksbrook where you can purchase subsidised art and design materials, hire out equipment for free and collect Library resources
• Access to our well-stocked Library at Newton Park
• Specialist technical workshops across all of art and design
• Access to studio space where you can work on projects and refine your practice