Graphic Design
Graphic design is the practice of using visual elements to communicate ideas, information, and identity. Typography, image, colour, layout, and increasingly motion and interaction are the designer's core materials, deployed in service of clients, audiences, and the designer's own creative intentions. The best graphic design is both beautiful and functional, solving a communication problem in a way that also has visual intelligence and cultural awareness.
It is a discipline that rewards lateral thinking, formal rigour, and an attentiveness to how things look and why.
At the University of Derby, this three-year full-time programme includes a foundation year, equipping you with the creative and conceptual groundwork to develop as a designer before you enter the main degree. You will explore typography, branding, editorial design, illustration, and digital design, working on briefs that simulate the variety of professional practice and building a portfolio that reflects genuine range and skill. The course encourages you to be a creative problem-solver and dynamic communicator, constantly developing your skills and thinking with the mindset of a contemporary designer.
The programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and work placement experience, meaning that by the time you graduate you will have substantial professional experience in design contexts, an international perspective, and a network of contacts in the industry.
Graduates from graphic design programmes go on to careers as graphic designers, brand designers, art directors, digital designers, UX designers, motion graphic designers, and illustrators, working in studios, agencies, in-house design teams, and as independent designers. The visual thinking and problem-solving skills you develop are also valued in advertising, publishing, film, and broader creative industries. Further study at postgraduate level in graphic design, branding, or design research is available for those who wish to extend their practice or move into academic work.