Graphic Design with Foundation BA Honours

Critical thinking is fundamental to our ability to progress in an increasingly complex and changing world. It is an essential skill across a range of academic and practice-based disciplines.

This module helps you understand the importance and function of critical thinking both at university and beyond. By working in partnership with academic staff and peers, you will explore how critical thinking aligns with disciplinary practices, shapes scholarly knowledge, and addresses inequalities. Through problem-posing education and anti-racist practices, you will engage with real-world problems, fostering the ability to create a more just and sustainable world.

This module provides you with an opportunity to develop a broad understanding of the key working methods, concepts and principles of the Art and Design disciplines within the Foundation course. You will be challenged to complete a sequence of short projects, working across a range of techniques within the subject disciplines. Self- evaluation and documenting your learning are both important elements of this process, and you will be learning by doing.

This Semester 2 module deepens and consolidates the fundamental skills, approaches and processes of Art and Design research and practice developed in Semester 1 through a practical Extended Project. It helps you to develop your creative practice, based on iterative practical, technical and contextual research, and undertaken through a negotiated project. With an overarching theme set across disciplinary pathways, you will work within a chosen discipline, with group and individual tutorial support, to develop a project proposal in response to the initial brief that after approval is realised through a body of work aimed at presentation in a public exhibition.

This Semester 1 module introduces fundamentals of Art and Design practice and research. It helps you to develop your individual creative practice based on an understanding of visual and contextual research processes through structured studio, research and technical activities.

This module introduces you to the key academic, professional, and personal skills essential for success at university. It encourages good practices in writing, presentation, and time management, while also fostering reflection to help you build confidence as you transition to higher education. Open to all students enrolled in courses delivered through Westminster Foundation Pathways, the module provides a creative and supportive environment where you can reflect on and develop your academic and professional journey. You'll work with specialist facilitators who play a crucial role in guiding your academic and professional development.

With a focus on managing academic choices in a higher education setting, the module emphasises the importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using methodologies that prioritise equality, diversity, and inclusion. Through these lenses, you'll explore topics that prepare you to address real-world challenges as highlighted in the SDGs in a socially conscious, inclusive, and responsible manner.

Following the Art and Design modules of Semester 1, this module provides you with the opportunity to engage with some of the key themes and practices of Art and Design disciplines. You will be challenged to complete several projects of approximately one month’s duration, selecting techniques and working methods from the available disciplines. Self-evaluation and documenting your learning continue to be important elements of this process, and you will be learning by doing.

This module gives you an overview of the graphic design cultures, the history and concepts that have shaped graphic design and the importance of context in the understanding of design practice. You'll look at key themes in design culture including style, technology, politics and critique history as a practice and a tool for creating effective and engaging design outcomes. The module employs a fusion approach that explores concepts using both writing and making built on a foundation of research that puts authenticity and accuracy at the centre of knowledge development.

Through this module, you will be introduced to and begin developing your industry-defined graphic design software skills to a professional standard. These will expand the range and sophistication of your visual communication problem solving strategies. Their application will prepare you to work both individually and collaboratively in the digitally driven design sectors, which have been identified as growing both regionally, nationally and globally. The needs of a graphic designer to understand digital processes and technologies that enable the creation, editing and manipulation of words, images, and supporting artwork are crucial in supporting such day-to-day tasks as designing and preparing content to be experienced in digital, virtual and physical formats.

The module introduces you to the importance of visual research in the graphic design process. With a focus on the process of experimental and explorative methods of design, you are offered the opportunity to develop your individual visual language and a critical point of view through the practical processes of recording, documenting, mapping, testing, editing and evaluating visual and written material. This is a fusion module, and introduces you to some of the concepts and theories that underpin design practice.

Through this module, you will develop industry-relevant graphic design skills alongside critical analysis, creating a strong foundation for both academic and practical learning. You will expand your understanding of the design industry, build practical competencies, and explore creative production technologies central to the discipline. With guided instruction and independent experimentation, the module aims to strengthen your creative confidence and understanding by broadening your expertise across key areas of graphic design. It will also introduce the fundamentals of researching and presenting information collaboratively.

This module aims to introduce you to the joy of typography. It introduces the concepts, approaches, cultural and technological developments relating to typography. You will explore issues including type as visual message, contemporary contexts and perspectives, and the role of typography in digital media. Workshops and projects give you an understanding of how to employ typographical structures to present the written word.

This module is an introduction to working with 2D animation software. It will give you an overview of the various applications of 2D modelling and animation, as well as an understanding of 2D aesthetics. A series of workshops will introduce you to the skills needed to create your own 2D assets, and you will practice animating a 2D rig. These workshops will be the building blocks you need to develop your own concept for a 2D asset or animation. 

This module introduces you to the practice and production of 2-dimensional (2D) game development. You will consider some of the principles used to develop 2D games. Look at the concepts and methods used to create 2D assets to match a games design brief, including those used to create retro styles such as pixel art.

This module introduces you to the creative and professional practice of concept art across games, film, and related creative industries. You will develop your ability to communicate visual ideas through a range of traditional and digital techniques while exploring the role of research, iteration, and presentation in visual storytelling. You'll investigate how historical, cultural, and global perspectives shape visual languages and production contexts, and how awareness of inclusion, representation, and audience can inform creative choices. Through workshops, research-led visual studies, and iterative creative projects, you will produce original concept work that demonstrates both creative intent and contextual understanding.

This module is designed to open up speculative enquiry and creative exploring of drawing approaches. Learning on this module is transferable and interdisciplinary offering a range of practical workshops and projects to widen the potential of possibilities in drawing practice and deepen your understanding of visual design and image-making.

Visual Identity and branding are key areas of engagement for visual designers. Branding employs design solutions to bring recognition to a wide range of companies, organisations, products, services and causes - providing users with meaningful ways to access and interact with them.In this module, you will consider some of the principles and methods behind visual Identity and branding. The module will introduce design research methods towards the construction of a brand identity and will look at branding from historical and contemporary positions. Through a combination of research, academic writing and design processes, you'll explore the dual sides of branding as both a generator of potent narratives and the impetus behind problematic consumerism, evoking related social contexts and the responsibility of the designer's role in this. As technologies and new user experiences are increasingly embedded within branding and visual identities, the module opens areas of creative exploration to complement physical, spatial and conceptual outcomes.

This module considers the role of sequence, a fundamental approach within visual communication. Students will explore the way that assembling static images and applying sequential media can construct moving images or systems, creating complex messages or visual narratives. The study of this subject area is fundamentally important as we engage with continually evolving creative technologies. Looking at the subject from three areas – static, moving, and interactive sequence – students will become familiar with introductory concepts central to the subject and apply a range of creative approaches, and technologies, within the exploration and development of sequential messages. There will be an opportunity within the module to look at visual communication through the sequence in both linear and non-linear contexts.

This module builds on Typography as Image by focusing on typography as continuous text, information, and reader experience. It prepares graphic design students for industry-standard typographic understanding and application within professional contexts. Workshops explore typographic conventions through continuous-text exercises addressing both macro and micro typography, including reading, structuring, analysing and visualising text. You will work across analogue and digital processes, using conventional and experimental approaches to examine hierarchy, structure, typesetting, formatting, readability and accessibility in the organisation of long-form and complex content.

One of the fundamental tasks of graphic design is to provide visual information, in many different contexts. Graphic design is actively engaged with a range of ways of contextualising ideas. Language, imagery, numbers , diagrams and charts employed for visualisation of data, information graphics, information within the physical environment, visual journalism, etc. It is essential that the designer understands the different ways visual form contributes to how we understand the information given to us in context, and reflects on the needs of the end-user of a design outcome. In this module, you will learn about designers' approach to the visual formation of information, and will reflect on the specific contexts within such design applications. A range of broad-based theoretical inputs, complemented by practical workshops, will enable you to develop your intellectual and practical skills for the production of an effective piece of information design.

This module develops your creative and technical understanding of character and creature design within the context of games and related creative industries. You'll explore how anatomy, form, silhouette, and visual style contribute to personality, narrative, and gameplay. Through research, sketching, and iterative design, you'll generate ideas that can be taken from concept art to a resolved visual piece. Working with both traditional and digital techniques, you will develop awareness of cultural influences, representation, and inclusivity in design practice. The module encourages critical reflection on how different artistic and cultural traditions inform the design of characters and creatures, and how concept artists contribute to visual world-building across genres and media.

This module enables you to create a modern piece of interactive media in the form of a website, while also expanding your knowledge of the theories and practices common to the production of interactive media. Through definition and research, you will develop an exciting and unique website project concept, using creative technologies to produce a final professional product. The final prototype website will be developed using current industry digital tools.

Through immersive technologies, creatives have new opportunities to create interactive and immersive experiences, exhibit work at any scale and bridge distances between audiences and artistic experiences. This module will focus on the different aspects of designing for extended reality, while learning about the development of immersive arts as a medium and exploring the ways in which emerging technologies are being utilised by contemporary artists for the exploration of new digital realms. Within this module, you'll be provided with an academic space to creatively explore a range of emerging technologies suited for producing immersive VR and AR experiences.

You'll be exposed to software and hardware relevant for VR and AR, and a selection of workshops will form the framework for creative enquiry and exploration. You'll have the option to explore either AR or VR-based production approaches in your final project, depending on individual interests, with both pathways supported in the workshop course. Within the assessment, there is scope to be experimental, speculative, or applied within the exploration of immersive technology.

This module introduces students to the narrative traditions of the video game industry, with a focus on the use of interactive stories and text-based games to give players a sense of agency. It compares the nature of these works with more traditional narrative forms, and introduces concepts of narrative mechanics, narrative choice and consequence, and audience agency. Students will learn to develop ideas and designs in response to gameplay and narrative requirements, and then develop them from the concept stage through to full digital artefacts.

This module provides you with the opportunity to explore stop-motion animation practices, including puppet animation, sand or paint on glass, pixilation, cut-outs, time-lapse etc. You'll complete a self-negotiated animation, working either individually or in a group, through a process of negotiation with tutors and peers.

This module gives you an introduction to the use of visual effects (VFX) for film and games. The module will explore digital aesthetics and creating digital workflows, and the software used to create VFX. Technical support will be available through live demonstrations and online support. When possible, external lectures by industry professionals will enhance your learning on this module. You'll have a varied set of digital experiences when you start the module, so teaching and learning activities will be adapted to suit both those who require extra support, and those who are already familiar with the core software and wish to improve their knowledge and experience.

In this module, you will explore key principles and theories of narrative. You will be invited to discuss a range of traditional and contemporary applications for visual narrative. Through practical projects, you will examine basic narrative structure, the role of character, environment, action, time, technology, culture and audience interaction in the storytelling process.

In this module, you will learn to evaluate the means and contexts for contemporary graphic design practice and use this critical reflection to engender self-defined practical outcomes. This encompasses further development of research skills, enabling you to synthesise findings into valid and contextually appropriate design outcomes. Additionally, the module offers an opportunity for creative autonomy, allowing individual concerns to be explored through research, critical reflection, and the development of context-focused graphic visual messages. The identification of design contexts will enable the application of a wide range of media, technologies, and visual voice. Speculation, risk-taking, and inquiry are encouraged, as are engagements with social, political, identity, and ecological concerns through the application of graphic design. You can reflectively experiment with the peripheries of graphic communication to embody a perspective, probe our contemporary condition. Alternatively, the module can be used to identify and fulfil a brief that applies graphic design with responsibility.

This module gives students the opportunity to apply and extend the skills and knowledge gained in the previous years of their degree by developing and working on a collaborative group project. Students will work together across courses and disciplines to design and develop responses that engage with UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development initiative, displaying their understanding of the role their discipline plays in achieving sustainable development.

The Major Project is intended as a summative experience, providing you with the opportunity to reflect and focus on your specific interests within the discipline of communication design. You will also reflect on your learning experiences throughout the course, enabling you to synthesise your intellectual, creative and technical skills in the realisation of substantial project outcomes. You will propose and develop a project that fully embodies your aims and ambitions within graphic design, leading to a signature achievement within design study.

In this module, you will explore the opportunities and creative challenges of publishing in various printed formats, ranging from low-fi to luxury, including zines, booklets, magazines, art books, and books. You will be required to pitch, design, and publish an outcome that incorporates writing, illustration, photography, design, typography, and layout, expressed across a range of possible materials and processes. Working in multidisciplinary groups, you will fill all roles needed to conceive, develop, populate, and produce a publication that channels your personal voice, complemented by an appropriate design and format for a specific audience. Skills covering technical, project management, writing, and creative branding components will be supported. The final publication will be an excellent addition to any portfolio.

This module gives you the opportunity to plan and produce a complete character performance (animated or sequential) to industry standards. The module puts a strong emphasis on self‐directed processes and developing your individual and personal creative approach to the visualisation of your character's performance. You are expected to expand your aesthetic range, make imaginative use of software/tools, and produce a character performance that will be a great asset for a showreel and/or portfolio.

This module offers the space for a research-led critical enquiry into a topic connected to your area of creative practice. Including a research presentation and a short academic essay, you will undertake a self-directed investigation into a key aspect of the discourse specific context that surrounds your visual output. Researching and writing about contemporary concerns that frame visual culture will provide a path to a more critical approach to studio practice. This module will be of particular interest to students who may be considering a postgraduate degree.

The module focuses on collaboration with others from different disciplines, to research, explore and experiment with possibilities for expanding storytelling. Through hands-on workshops and critical provocations, you will explore multi-sensory approaches to interactive storytelling, spatial narratives and installation design. Playfulness, speculation and experimentation are encouraged as you work individually or collaboratively to develop proposals and prototypes for a narrative experience.

This module will support you in researching and planning your postgraduate employment journey, whether as a freelancer or by starting a small business in the media, creative, and related digital industries. Through the module, you will develop an awareness of commercial opportunities and learn how to focus your entrepreneurial skills on a chosen field – learning how to develop business ideas and how to present and pitch them effectively. You'll develop a plan to create a start-up business or become a freelancer, learning about personal branding, marketing, project management, budgeting, sustainability, and building an online presence along the way.

This module encourages you to engage with experimental practice as a form of inquiry and research. You will explore creative processes that push beyond traditional subject-disciplined techniques and methods, embracing risk-taking, innovation, and interdisciplinary approaches. Through practice-based investigation, you'll be challenged to develop work that questions boundaries, explores new territories, and opens alternative ways of thinking about your subject discipline and its role in contemporary culture.