MA Graphic Design

Can graphic design make a real difference to people’s lives? Our MA Graphic Design is unique in evolving your design practice while exploring and developing your role as a creative designer who wants to effect social change.

This could include issues such as behavioural and perspectival change, community cohesion, integration and diversity, and environmental challenges.

Whatever your background, you will advance your visual practice in the key areas of design, including research, textuality, materiality, concept development, visual communication, and typo/graphic innovation – leading to a more individualised, more coherent, and more competitive professional portfolio.

You'll augment this with more advanced knowledge of the complexities of socio-environmental problems, gaining insight into institutional and government structures, learning how to collaborate effectively, and rethinking how creative project development and management can play a central role in society.

This will enable you to gain the confidence to progress your career as a graphic designer, and take an active creative role in social and environmental change-making processes.

As a postgraduate student at ARU, you’ll have access to a dedicated base studio, along with specialist studios including film, photography, and printmaking.

You'll also be able to make use of (and receive training in) all our other creative resources and facilities, including mono, screen, risograph, letterpress, and photographic printing.

Our Masters course will equip you for a career as a freelance graphic designer (editorial, publishing, packaging, UX and UI design, advertising, self-initiated projects), as well as creative roles in areas of graphic design, advertising, branding, design consultancy, media and communication, PR and publishing; and design and consultancy roles in project teams focused on sustainability and socio-environmental development and change implementation in institutes, organisations, governments and companies.

You could also find work as a designer in areas such as type design; typography; sign writing; promotion; book and magazine design; gallery artist or curator; illustrator; animator; motion graphics; UX, UI and experience design; design or gallery technician; web designer; online/social media content provider; and visual creative and director in areas such as interactive storytelling, vlogging, image mapping, interactive books, data-visualisation, design for games, or networked and automated storytelling.

It will also give you a basis for a teaching career, or to continue to a research degree, like our PhD Art and Design, PhD Graphic Design and Typography, or PhD Fine Art. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and save £400 on your fees.

As an ARU student, you can compete for funding to establish your own projects through The Big Pitch and the Andy Wilson bursary.