Graphic Design
Graphic design is a visual communication discipline concerned with creating images, layouts, and typographic systems that convey information, identity, and meaning with clarity and impact. Graphic illustration, as a related but distinct strand, focuses more specifically on image-making as a form of visual storytelling and expression, often working at the intersection of fine art and design to produce work for editorial, publishing, advertising, and digital contexts. Together, the two disciplines address the full range of visual communication, from the functional clarity of information design to the expressive power of illustration.
At the University of Suffolk, this three-year full-time programme offers you control over your creative direction and career ambitions. The fact that graphic design and graphic illustration are taught together means you are not locked into a single pathway from the outset; if you develop a particular passion for illustration during your studies, you can transfer to the illustration pathway and pursue it in greater depth. You will develop skills in typography, composition, colour, visual research, image-making, and digital production, working across briefs that develop your ability to solve visual communication problems with originality and professionalism.
A sandwich year and work placements are available, giving you professional experience in design or illustration contexts during your studies.
Graduates go on to careers as graphic designers, illustrators, art directors, brand designers, editorial designers, typographers, and visual communicators across advertising, publishing, branding, digital media, broadcasting, and the cultural sector. Many build freelance practices or work in studios and agencies, while others develop specialist careers in areas such as motion graphics, book illustration, packaging design, or user interface design. Postgraduate study in graphic design, illustration, or visual communication is a natural next step for those who wish to develop their practice or pursue research, and some graduates go on to careers in design education.