Introduction
Develop your understanding of graphic design and visual communication, solve challenging design briefs and prepare for a career as a designer with our BA (Hons) Graphic Design degree.
With its vibrant studio culture, our Graphic Design degree will encourage you to push boundaries and challenge existing thinking by developing innovative design solutions as well as a keen understanding of professional practice. You’ll experiment with print-based design as well as digital commercial practices including site-specific, interactive, motion graphics, mobile media, app design (UX/UI), web and multimedia work.
Our Design & Crafts courses are ranked 8th in the UK for 'Satisfied with Course' and 3rd for 'Satisfied with Teaching' in The Guardian University Guide 2020 reflecting how our students value their experience at Cambridge School of Art.
Course options
Key facts
Studying Graphic Design at ARU
BA (Hons) Graphic Design student Ella talks about her experiences on the course.
ELLA ROWLAND
Brand book mock-up
ELLA ROWLAND
Product photography
ELLA ROWLAND
Social posts photography
AASIA STAFF
Ambition
AASIA STAFF
Empowerment
AASIA STAFF
Gratitude
GEORGE HUNT
GEORGE HUNT
GEORGE HUNT
Club Match design
GEORGE HUNT
Club Match design
GEORGE HUNT
Club Match design
JOANNE FU
Alice in Wonderland
JOANNE FU
Metamorphopsia
JOANNE FU
Oscillopsia
ROBYN MCCURDY
ROBYN MCCURDY
ROBYN MCCURDY
A picturebook for the blind
For her Degree Show, Graphic Design student Poppy created a picturebook for the blind "Nothing, but the beginning", a story about the creation of the Universe.
Year 3 Major Project
Timelapse of a material typography project exploring modern aphorisms, by final-year Graphic Design student Emily.
SECOND-YEAR DESIGNERS
Award entries
Designs for the Penguin Random House Student Design Award
ROBYN MCCURDY
Gin brand labels
2020
NISHANTH VALLURI
Fitness icons
Statera health fitness app interface icons 2020
DIANA MONTAÑEZ
Kinetic type
Kinetic type for motion graphic installation and exhibition 2020
NICK RICHARDS
Designs for Apple Techcare
Experimental designs for Apple Techcare 2020
BEN WATKINS
Health and well-being app
Health and well-being app interface and graphics 2020
ROBYN MCCURDY
Map signage and wayfinding for Ely Riverside walk
2020
ELITSA STOYANOVA
Major Project
Elitsa used visual communication to explore the emotional experiences of those suffering from poor mental health
FIONN OVINGTON
Major Project
Fionn explored forgotten words, particularly those relating to the natural world
GITA KOWLESSUR
Risograph-printed cover
Risograph-printed cover for ‘Goodnight Mister Tom’. Designed and shortlisted for the Penguin Student Design Award
LAUREN MAXWELL
Major Project
Lauren investigated new revenue streams for theatres, and proposed a series of souvenir posters for Cambridge Arts Theatre
LUKE NASH, CHELSEA MAN & MARA LECOIU
Image and Imagination
Three submissions for the first-year ‘Image and Imagination project'
ROBYN MCCURDY
Penguin Student Design Awards
An enigmatic submission to the Penguin Student Design Awards
DIANA MONTAÑEZ RIVERA
Letterpress experiments
Creating using handmade, environmentally friendly plant-based inks (2019)
VIKTORIJA LEMEZYTE
Pattern-making with letterforms
2019
KATIE VEITCH
Exploring ADHD
Project exploring ADHD through graphic arts and printmaking - 2019
JAVERIA SHEIKH
Henna magazine
Oversized magazine exploring the culture and history of henna - 2019
EMILY ENGLAND
Ted Hughes and tactile typography
Using the poems of Ted Hughes to investigate tactile typography
EVIANNE VERHAGEN
Rex Factor podcast brand identity
Brand identity for Rex Factor, a podcast about the history of the monarchy
GREG BLAND
Kobi-Serif, a font based on braille
Kobi-Serif, a font based on the Kobigraph writing system used for teaching braille
ANA FERNANDES
Prints exploring anxiety
From a series of prints exploring anxiety through text and image
LAURA WILSON
Book cover designs
Book cover designs for 'The Cultural Concepts Series'
TUIKE TUOMINEN
Challenges of bilingual thinking
Illustrated book exploring the challenges of thinking in two languages
STEPHANIE MINGAY
E-book publishing
Contemporary interactive illuminated manuscripts
REKA TAKACS
Material typography
Project exploring local cultures
FLOSSIE AYLIN
Brand identity for Desturi Safari
FIONA BARNES & MAGDELENA CIESLA
Brand identity
For the Cambridge School of Art Degree Show, '...' - 2018
AIMEE ROSE
THOUGHTS FROM JAPAN
Book and editorial for a collection of Japanese philosophical concepts (2020)
AIMEE ROSE
Major Project
2019
AMBA SMITH
Major Project
2019
EMMANUEL ASARE ADU
Major Project
2019
GABRIELA DOMINGUEZ
Major Project
2019
INES STEARMAN
Major Project
2019
SANAM BECHOO
Major Project
2019
TORLA LYNE
Major Project
2019
Entry requirements
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Fees and paying for university
Facilities and showcase
Industry-standard facilities
As a Graphic Design student at ARU, you’ll have access to all our facilities including:
- Dedicated Mac and PC suites with the latest software including Adobe Creative suite
- Wide-format printers and scanners
- Ruskin Gallery, a professional digital art gallery
- Life drawing studio
- Specialist printmaking workshop including etching, screen-printing, and lithography
- 3D workshops for physical media including wood, plastic, metal, and clay
- Photography and media facilities including darkrooms; studios; film processing; digital printing suite; video editing; and professional equipment loans.
Futures Lab and workshop equipment
Our new digital workshop includes a variety of computer aided manufacturing machines, helping you learn up to date manufacturing and design processes as well as supporting many traditional techniques. These technologies include:
- 3D printers and scanners - FDM printers; material-specific extruders; SLA Formlabs printers; SLS Formlabs Fuse1; structured light 3D scanners
- 2D printing and cutting machines - laser cutters; Roland BN20 vinyl printer & cutter; Gerber substrate cutter; Mimaki TX300P sublimation printer.
Take a closer look
Our Creative Showcase shines a spotlight on what makes ARU creative and cultural – our spaces, places and people. Find out more about our community, the difference we make, the stories we tell, and the things that inspire us.
Meanwhile, Present is an exhibition that you curate for yourself. Explore the work of our graduating students in this eye-catching virtual degree show.
Jon Melton
Senior Lecturer, BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Nicholas Jeeves
Lecturer, Graphic Design
Omayma Alqatawneh
Lecturer, Graphic Design
Tina Burton
Course Leader for BA (Hons) Digital Media
Emily Godden
Lecturer, Digital Media
Careers
The creative industries are booming in the UK, employing more than two million people. Our BA (Hons) Graphic Design will prepare you for a career as a graphic designer, as well as for design-related roles in digital graphics, online media, communications and marketing, publishing, and advertising.
Our previous students have gone on to work with design studios or media and communication companies, producing advertising, corporate identities and promotions, packaging and branding, informational design, editorial and book design, web designs and interactive media.
We work with employers to make sure you graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements. Cambridge is the perfect place to gain experience – a creative hotspot that’s home to thousands of established businesses and start-ups.
You’ll have many opportunities to generate a strong portfolio of graphic design projects that will help you secure a job in this rewarding, vibrant and growing industry. These include getting involved with regional design agencies and national design networks such as D&AD and YCN, engaging in ‘live’ projects or commercial briefs and building your industry contacts. All of these can lead to freelance projects, work experience and internships, which could result in offers of work before you even graduate.
Cambridge is the perfect place to gain experience – a creative hotspot that’s home to thousands of established businesses and start-ups. Our students have gone on to work alongside the likes of Drench, Filofax, Nash Matthews, Onespacemedia, Coast Digital, Workshop Creative Agency and Piranha Designs.
There are plenty of opportunities to get your work seen, too. At the end of your final year at ARU, you’ll take part in our Degree Show and could be selected to produce publicity materials for the event – the perfect launchpad for life as a graphic designer.
Graduation doesn’t need to be the end of your time with us, of course. You might decide to stay at ARU and study for a Masters, such as our renowned MA Graphic Design & Typography. With our Alumni Scholarship, you’ll even get 20% off your fees as an ARU graduate.
Work placement at Drench
Follow Graphic Design students Blessing and Nishanth on their work placement at Drench Design Studio.
Flossie
“Studying Graphic Design at ARU has been a great experience. I've loved being surrounded by people who are so brilliant at their work. I would never have thought I'd end up with a job at a design agency before I even finished my degree!”
Flossie
BA (Hons) Graphic Design student
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