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Advertising & Brand Design
General Illustration
Graphic Design
visual communication
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lausiv noitacinummoc 26
BA (Hons) Photography & Video
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Dom Wint
Are you creative? Do you want to be an enterprising, business savvy professional who is ready to hit the ground running? Then advertising and brand design may be just the thing. Advertising is all around us, whether it’s selling the latest packet of crisps, promoting a charity event or simply raising awareness – it’s part of our everyday life. So who does it? Who comes up with great new ideas? Who creates the memorable brands? That person could be you.
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BA (Hons) Photography & Video
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04 / 05
We liaise with businesses and look at real problems to solve from the very outset. Our ‘hands on’ projects include design for branding, creative art direction (working with photographers and video students amongst others), ‘pitching’ your concepts and ideas, marketing strategies and leading innovative new campaigns. This is what we are about. We can’t promise you an easy ride, but all our ex students say it’s been an enjoyable one – and they’ve ‘learnt loads’. Just glance over some of their comments on these pages – it says it all.
Why Advertising and Brand Design? People in advertising have an immense creative ability and a real desire to make their mark. It’s a bit Fine Art, a bit Graphic Design and a bit Business - all tied up with the latest technologies. Above all they are ideas people, everyday is an exciting challenge to find something new and innovative. BA (Hons) Advertising and Brand Design is all about studying to become a professional creative. Our projects encompass all kinds of media, from magazine to social media, radio to TV and from billboards to public events. It’s all about communication for business and enterprise – without which few businesses can survive.
UCAS CODE W221 Course Code Title BA/ABD artanddesign@smu.ac.uk
03. Third year students ‘Lab’ identity 04. Jade Lundie and James Newton 05. Crowdfunding viral for end of year show
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Want to know how advertising creatives get all their great ideas? Want a chance to think outside the box?
01. Advertising and Brand Design Department 02. London Tube advertising
BA (Hons) Advertising & Brand Design
So, if you have been wondering what’s the best way for you to put your creative juices to work, carry on reading…
The course is spread over three years and is designed to enable you to get the skills you need step by step. Each year has two semesters and we offer you new building blocks in each one. It’s a journey of discovery and you can’t just sit back for the ride, you have to get involved. We believe that to understand things you have to experience them, not just talk about them, so almost 75% of the course is hands on project work.
Our position is at the cutting edge of communication, a place we are proud to be. BA (Hons) Advertising & Brand Design
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02
Year 2 In year two, you will continue to develop your understanding of design theory in the module History & Contextual Studies. The Branding and Corporate Graphic module allows you to explore branding in terms of design and communication strategy. Lens-based Advertising such as art direction of photography and video in our very own Faculty TV studio, helps you to realise your concepts in tangible form. It doesn’t stop there in year two, Interactive Design for the Web is introduced, in Professional Studies you will be able to experience setting up a business venture of your choice. This is just one opportunity that will prepare you for the world of business. Visual and Technical Studies supports and underpins all of this, and helps to develop your creativity through audio and visual exploration. Curiosity is the key to year two, there is so much to learn and it never stays still, so we bring in more clients and professionals to set the challenges and to keep us up to date with current industry trends.
03 / 04
Year 3
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03. Lens Based Media - Video 04. Lens Based Media - Art Direction
In year one, you will be helped to understand the foundation blocks of creative design. Modules in History & Contextual Studies will help you to understand art and design theory. Typography and Copywriting, Graphic Communication and the Advertising Environment are all classes that will help you to take those first creative leaps. We include marketing lectures that give you a chance to work within the Business School. Visual and Technical Studies classes include workshops in computer based design programmes.
01. Liam Thomas 02. Yr 3 Studio
Year 1
In year three you will embark on a self-driven learning process culminating in your final degree show. It is time to turn the tables on the staff, and to explore and develop your skills and areas of interest. Negotiation is the key here, not only with the staff but also with your very own clients. Personal and External (client driven) projects are the name of the game and you still get to hone your skills in conceptional thinking in the Advanced Creative Enquiry module. You will also be asked to develop a dissertation of your choice. Ex students from over 20 years are also drawn into this third year mix. Their stories have a lot to do with the way this course has been developed, so we encourage discussions beyond the traditional university boundaries and welcome their input. Facilities Large open plan purpose built rooms with MAC computers form our suite of studios. Our Faculty also encourages all departments to share resources so there is an endless list of mediums you can work with! BA (Hons) Advertising & Brand Design
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03 / 04 / 05
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03. YR3 degree show Brand extension 04. Rose Authbert 05. Client meeting 06. Jacob Bagnara 07. Laura Marquiss 08. Henry Smith
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01. Workshop 02. Guerrilla Spirit agency exhibition
What do students say?
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Jacob Bagnara
Adrianne Deakins
“ The Advertising & Brand Design course at Swansea has helped me grow as a person. My communication skills and confidence have escalated, gaining me the place of project manager in the class for the 3rd year exhibition. The course has prepared me for life after Uni with useful CV tips and interview skills, which a lot of other courses do not cover. The lecturers are also very approachable. Definitely the best decision I ever made, I love it!”.
“ This course is ideal for any creative looking to put their stamp on the world. Swansea has given me the confidence to speak in front of others and develop my skills as a creative. Being put in an environment of an advertising agency has prepared me for the work place and journey I am about to take after graduating”.
Laura Marquiss “ The course has helped me develop my skills and feel a lot more confident with my ideas. It is fun and interesting with the diverse areas we cover as well as practical topics like marketing and self promotion”.
Chloris Aspland-Jones “ The course is so dynamic, I have developed skills throughout the course to help me work in the industry and liaise with clients so I feel confident talking and portraying my ideas clearly”.
Henry Smith “ This course has really helped me expand my mind creatively, helped me think outside the box and always expect the unexpected. It is a brilliant course that will help you expand your horizons”.
BA (Hons) Advertising & Brand Design
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“ The creativity and enthusiasm of the students was inspiring. They delivered to the brief and managed themselves in a very professional way”.
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(Fenchurch Clothing) “ Thanks for inviting us to work with you… the ideas you’ve come up with are all realistic and have very real potential”. (Brecon Carreg Water) “ I came here thinking I could help you, I now also feel that you have helped me enormously… your students certainly know their craft!”. (Tredz Cycles) “ Love the branding you’ve done for us, it captured the collaborative ethos perfectly”. (ELVIS management team) “ Your students certainly have an edge, perhaps we can Skype up and share experiences?”. (Colin Jones – University of Tasmania)
“ After visiting the Swansea's Advertising & Brand Design exhibition it was immediately obvious that the course was different from other Design courses. The students had been encouraged to think about the bigger picture, conceptualising solutions that overcome business challenges and implementing those solutions across a much wider range of pieces. I believe the result of this course is students with a better understanding of why certain design decisions are made, what their designs are actually doing, and ultimately, how design can help deliver results. From an employer's perspective the Advertising & Brand Design course seems to better prepare students for agency life and therefore makes graduates far more employable”. (James Good Limited) “ Swansea students turned a bare TV set into a living breathing Ad Agency… I congratulate you all and who knows, we may meet again. That would be good”. (Martin Clunes / ITV)
Cassandra Miles
Tom Kennedy Graduate 2010
“ The course gave me a variety of transferable skills from marketing and self-promotion to art direction. The course introduced me to the latest new media platforms allowing me to take my ideas to the next level.
“ The course taught me about the process of thought to get to an idea. I learnt about client interaction, working to deadlines, and generally gaining confidence in my work.
I gained an insight into the business side of the industry, learning what is involved in setting up a business and how to market a new product/service efficiently to the right target market.
Graduate Profiles
“ I was so impressed by the confidence of the students and professional approach to the client presentation”.
01. Advertising students at Tonto Film Studios
Clients’ & Professional Comments
Fiona McLaren, Managing Director, Bobadeg Personalised Books
The course had given me the confidence to pitch my ideas to clients and find work placements at prestigious advertising agencies including Golley Slater and ASHA. I am currently working as the artist in residence for Visual Communication at Swansea as well as undertaking a design internship for Mid and West Wales fire and rescue services”.
I went into the degree with some graphic ability, but came out confident in my offerings as an Art Director. Within a month of leaving Swansea, I had achieved a placement at the fourth biggest agency in the world, JWT (London), and after four months working on brands such as Lego Duplo, Nokia, Shell, and HSBC I was offered a job as a Junior Digital Art Director. I would happily recommend the course to prospective students looking for direction, life experience, and a taste of the industry. The time and attention you get from the tutors is great with such small classes, and the lecturers have industry experience and insight which helps you know what to expect on the other end”.
“ The quality and professionalism of the students was outstanding. I was able to give them the reigns and they produced some outstanding work for SURVIVA, it was like working with a professional design studio”. Alex Lewis Survivajak Dragon’s Den entrepreneur
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01 / 02
03
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“ I enjoyed D&AD ‘New Blood’ because it gave me an insight into the level of other new graduates”. Ben O’Hara
“ D&AD ‘New Blood’ is an open door to the industry. During the exhibition I had the chance to meet creatives from McCann Erickson, as well as creatives from other top agencies.
“ Meeting other graduates and networking with industry professionals has been an eye-opener”. Georgina Choppen
03. Fran Tinkler 04. D&AD ‘New Blood’ Exhibition 2012
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Exhibitions are a chance to show off those great ideas. Exhibitions are held in Swansea and London each year. This is an opportunity to invite industry specialists to take a look at your work. It also gives you the platform to launch your career.
01. Cassandra Miles and Nick Caroll 02. Golley Apprentice
Exhibitions
Sarah Feeney
D&AD ‘New Blood’ Exhibition The Advertising & Brand Design Course is a member of the D&AD University Network. This gives our students the opportunity to profile themselves and their work at the ‘New Blood’ Exhibition in London during the final Semester of the Course. This is a great opportunity to meet industry Creatives from some of the top advertising agencies in the country. “ The D&AD University Network Programme has been running for more than twenty years. Membership helps your course to establish relationships with leading creative practitioners and agencies, provides teaching packs and resources incorporating the best examples of creative practice and execution and adds live industry focused elements to the curriculum. Through unique and established activities we make sure that the knowledge, skills and developments from the sharp end of creative practice are filtered through to teaching staff and students at universities and colleges worldwide”. www.dandad.co.uk BA (Hons) Advertising & Brand Design
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Ashleigh Mithan
Are you an imaginative individual who thinks visually and likes to generate ideas? The General Illustration course allows you to develop and communicate ideas through the art of word and image.
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BA (Hons) Photography & Video
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“ I think the best thing about the course is the balance of having the set projects in the first and second year, while giving you complete freedom in the third. The first two years taught me the essential skills by having elements such as life drawing modules. Meanwhile, the set projects gave me a good idea of what to expect in the industry while maintaining enough freedom and flexibility to choose my own route and style. By the end of the second year I was raring to get started on my own projects. I would definitely recommend the course”.
In the spirit of contemporary illustration, however, we embrace the subject in a much broader way, encouraging students to challenge the concept of what illustration can be, and to pursue personal directions in their work. The General Illustration course offers a broad and friendly programme which allows students to explore a wide range of techniques, materials and styles in order to determine personal strengths and eventual career directions. The programme is designed to encourage the conceptualising and realisation of ideas and narrative, using a diverse range of media. Utilising both traditional, digital and experimental materials and processes, students determine their own eventual working practices. As well as annual study trips to Europe, a full programme of visiting professionals also ensures that strong links with industry and the commercial world are maintained.
UCAS CODE W220 Course Code Title BA/GI artanddesign@smu.ac.uk
03. Karolina Slawska
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Illustration put simply, is a dynamic and expansive visual language and one inherent in many creative disciplines. Traditionally, illustration has carved itself a specialist, commercial client/ brief profile with areas such as book publishing, editorial and advertising in mind.
01. Georgia Roberts 02. Diane Reesa
BA (Hons) General Illustration
Cole Jefferies
Facilities The General Illustration studios are equipped with personal workstations and an individual locker for each student. The Illustration computer suite comprises the latest Apple Mac computers, scanners and professional software along with drawing tablets. In addition to the studios and digital suite, students have access to printmaking through a programme of print workshops.
“ There are so many great sections of the course, all contributing to enable students to develop their own unique style with confidence. Different tutors from all sections were willing to help in any way they could to support students’ studies. Having group and individual tutorials with the main tutors was great. Shortly after my final days at university I held an exhibition in London with 7 fellow course mates, this continued the professional outlook we were taught at Swansea”. Charlotte Wood
BA (Hons) General Illustration
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Throughout the programme most of the learning takes place through practical, studio-based projects. During the first year you will experience a number of studio workshops that demonstrate the use of traditional materials and techniques which are then applied to projects focussing on visual communication and design. To complement these workshops a programme of both digital and traditional printmaking workshops run throughout the first year. It should be noted that fluency in the use of computers is not a pre-requisite for entry to the programme. We assume no prior experience and you are eased gently into the new technology through workshops and design assignments. In the first year, the practical work is supplemented by a choice of theory modules which deal with the history, theory and social and cultural context of art and illustration. Students take two visual studies modules which are a combination of life drawing and field/ location drawing.
In the second year of the course there is increasing flexibility in the programme delivery which allows you to fashion your studies to suit your own particular needs, interests and aptitudes. Projects are increasingly student-centred which means you are able to make choices and interpret the illustration brief in a way that suits your personal requirements. Second year students can also opt to major in printmaking within Illustration, and carry this on into their third year. Historical and contextual studies and visual studies continue through the second year and a special additional feature is the Professional Studies module which introduces you to the professional and commercial environment.
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03. Helen Fowler 04. Paul Kintas
Year 2
01. Emily Ball 02. Chris Livings
Year 1
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“ The course has achieved something that other courses find difficult and that is that it has developed excellent professional practice links with industry. Successful collaborations with industry have enriched the course and maintain its strong commercial links”. Neil Breedon (University of Wales External Examiner)
Year 3 In the third year you spend a large part of your time developing a variety of self initiated project work which may comprise real ‘live’ commissions from outside bodies and organisations, national and international student competition briefs such as that offered by Macmillan Children’s Books and personal projects where you are given the time and freedom to develop your own
work free of any commercial constraints. You will also complete a dissertation on a subject of your own choice related to general illustration. Your other third year commitment is to organise and mount, within your peer group, an assessed end of year exhibition of your work. BA (Hons) General Illustration
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Student numbers are comparatively small we aim to recruit around 45 students per year - large enough groups to generate energy and a productive group dynamic, but small enough not to preclude individual tuition and personal attention. The atmosphere is friendly and informal. We have an academic support system whereby you are allocated a personal tutor with whom you may consult on a regular basis, discuss your progress and direction, or any problems you might be experiencing. As well as two full-time and three fractional members of academic staff dedicated to the General Illustration programme, there are specialist theory and visual studies staff, part-time staff, a technician/demonstrator and an extensive list of visiting lecturers and professionals. The department has good contacts with business, industry and other establishments concerned professionally with illustration. Arrangements are made whenever possible for you to work on commercial projects and we also organise group education visits to exhibitions, museums, printers, magazines and newspapers as well as a European study visit each year.
Illustration is an expanding industry which offers a broad spectrum of new and exciting opportunities - particularly in relation to the new digital media. Our graduates find employment with design studios, publishing houses, advertising agencies, magazines and newspapers, or choose to work as selfemployed illustrators/designers in private practice. The programme also provides a good foundation for those who want to pursue a career in teaching, particularly teaching art and design in schools and, after professional experience, teaching illustration and design in further and higher education. We also offer opportunities for post-graduate study and research within the Faculty of Art & Design: we currently offer an MA in Visual Communication, a specialist PGCE in Art & Design as well as MPhil and PhD research opportunities.
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03. Matthew Otten
Where do you go from here?
01. Christina Lewis 02. Caileigh McNeil
The department
“ The illustration course provides a broad perspective for all aspects of illustration, I particularly found the Marketing & Self Promotion classes very useful in helping me to understand how to promote myself and manage being self-employed. The course provides great opportunities for students to exhibit their work locally as well as at the New Designers, a large scale graduate exhibition in London, which helps students to meet clients and promote themselves�. Lianne Harrison
What we are looking for We are looking for applicants to the programme who are committed to illustration; who can talk enthusiastically about illustrators whose work they admire, about books they have read, films they have seen and magazines to which they subscribe. We are looking for applicants with an open mind and an insatiable curiosity about the world we live in, particularly in relation to all things visual; applicants who have travelled, shown initiative and have taken responsibility. We always require the presentation of a portfolio which demonstrates commitment,
a willingness to explore and experiment and a broad range of good work which contains evidence of observational drawing skills. We are looking for applicants with a good educational background in a wide range of subjects, to include English GCSE at C grade or above. Our favoured entry route is via a foundation course or an Edexcel Diploma, but we consider well qualified school leavers with a mature outlook and others with alternative qualifications and experience. We welcome applications from overseas and mature students. BA (Hons) General Illustration
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01. Owen Eaddy 02. David Price
“ I always wanted to paint for a living but didn’t know which avenue to choose. The General Illustration course gave me the opportunity to experience many different areas of illustration and allowed me to experiment with different media and techniques and develop my own individual style. I am now working as a freelance illustrator”. Janet Samuel
03. Victoria Hobbsa 04. Anne-Marie Kemplay
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BA (Hons) General Illustration
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James Webb
Do you want to work in a creative and expanding industry, balancing creativity and flexibility to answer a brief? The Graphic Design programme gives you the opportunity to develop the skills and confidence to succeed in a diverse and competitive industry.
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01. Kat Barcinella 02. Alice Thomson 03. Laura Adams
BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Why Graphic Design?
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We live in a world where our experiences are increasingly mediated by visual imagery, our urban environments are saturated with visual messages of all kinds. Graphic Design is integral to our predominantly visual culture and professional graphic designers play a key role as prime cultural producers. The range of visual communications for which they are responsible is immense: books and magazines, exhibitions and displays, posters and packaging, signage and diagrams, branding and brochures, websites, multimedia, presentations, identities, signs, symbols, logos, labels, letterforms‌ the list is long and continuously expanding to meet the needs of our increasingly complex society. Graphic Design is about designing effective visual communications. It is about the need to communicate something to individuals or to groups of people or organisations by graphic means. The graphic designer creates, manipulates and gives visual form to words and imagery in order to inform, persuade, delight - and occasionally disturb.
UCAS CODE W210 Course Code Title BA/GDes artanddesign@smu.ac.uk BA (Hons) Graphic Design
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01 / 02
01. Hollie Cook 02. Enfys Lowe
Driven by industry standards and supported by state-of–the-art technologies, we produce highly employable graduates. Links with business and industry are an essential ingredient of the programme and are maintained and developed through ‘live’ projects, work placements, visiting professionals and educational visits.
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03 & 04. Alice Thomson 05. Amelia Hardwick
The programme provides you with a broad education in graphic design and, with an inbuilt degree of flexibility, it enables you to pursue individual interests whether in the fields of corporate graphics and brand identity, publishing, general design for print, packaging or interactive screen-based design.
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“ My 3 years at Swansea were truly great. The course provided invaluable facilities and a great team of lecturers who really do know their stuff, which really helped my transition into industry as smoothly as possible. Always encouraging the students to creatively go above and beyond on each brief is something that has stuck with me throughout my career and continues to influence my design work”.
Facilities
Phil Rees Senior Designer at Stag Hare, New York
The technologies that Graphic Design has adopted over the last fifteen years or so has changed the industry out of all recognition and has opened up new horizons for design practitioners in fields as diverse as multimedia, film, music, animation, etc. as well as completely changing the face of traditional print media. The Graphic Design programme is well supplied with the latest Apple computers and professional software, which are regularly renewed and updated. The main teaching suite has twenty-three computers and there is an open access suite of fourteen machines. These are all networked to colour-managed printers, producing colour-accurate proofs. Digital cameras and video cameras, as well as a portable lighting setup are available for students to use to produce their own video and photography. BA (Hons) BA (Hons) Photography Graphic &Design Video
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01. Matthew Boyle 02. Réjane Tardy 03. Lydia Shaw
Year 1 Learning takes place through practical, studio-based projects. We see typography as the cornerstone of graphic design practice; in the first year you are introduced to typography in its broadest sense, drawing and designing letterforms, learning how type functions and how text is manipulated as well as combining text and images. We understand the importance of new technologies and the design training is backedup by intensive workshops on the computers, using industry standard applications.
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We assume no prior knowledge of computers and you are eased into the technology through design assignments. Valuable as they are, you cannot allow computers to define you as a designer, so visual studies modules are there to promote visual awareness and creative thinking. There is also a choice of workshops, which give you access to other areas in the Faculty of Art & Design.
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“ I have no doubt in my mind, that Swansea helped me achieve my full potential as a Graphic Designer. The theory taught broadened my understanding of design. The work pushed my creativity in new, interesting ways, while the lecturers were both encouraging and insightful, going above and beyond to help when needed. If you’re considering a career in Graphic Design, I can recommend nowhere better”. Matthew Boyle Graphic Designer at Lego, Denmark.
Year 2
Year 3
Year two is about becoming a professional designer. We pride ourselves that students leave the programme ‘job ready’. The diverse practical modules are driven by industry standards and students learn about producing design to professional standards in both print and digital media.
In the third year you will spend the greater part of your time on project work. Most of the work at this stage is self-generated, personal projects, where you are given time to develop your own work, free from any commercial constraints and external work, ‘live’ commissions from outside organisations as well as national and international student competitions. This is supported by regular scheduled tutorials both one-to-one and in groups.
We make no secret that year two is a step up both creatively and intellectually. The briefs are longer and more challenging. You are also expected to participate far more in the learning process, using your own investigations and interests to push the programme in the direction you want to take. Insight into the business side of graphic design is provided through the professional studies module, while Design Theory encourages you to investigate your chosen field of graphic design and suggest possibilities for your practical work.
The elective programme and written dissertation further support your practice and the year culminates in a group exhibition, which is your platform to introduce you to the wider world. There are also opportunities to show your work at one of the major student graduate shows in London, from which our students consistently find employment opportunities.
BA (Hons) Graphic Design
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We are looking for applicants to the programme who are passionate about Graphic Design, who can talk enthusiastically about contemporary design issues. We are looking for applicants with an open mind and an insatiable curiosity about the world we live in.
02 & 03. Jonathan Davies
At interview we want to see a portfolio of work, which demonstrates commitment, a willingness to explore and experiment and a broad range of work. We are interested in everything, not just Graphic Design.
01. Leigh Griffiths
What we want
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What you get The staff are passionate about Graphic Design and committed to the course and the students on it. All of us are practising designers who have extensive and varied professional backgrounds. We are supported by part-time staff and visiting lecturers who add to the richness of the programme. Student numbers are comparatively small – we aim to recruit 35-40 students per yearlarge enough groups to generate energy, but small enough not to preclude individual tuition and personal attention. The atmosphere is friendly and informal, and the students, through course meetings, have a large say in the direction of the programme.
Employment Opportunities In our increasingly visual world, graphic design is an expanding industry offering a broad spectrum of new and exciting opportunities - particularly in relation to new digital media. Our graduates find employment with design consultancies, publishing houses, advertising agencies, local government, film and television, new media industries and in-house design studios of companies, or they may wish to choose to work as selfemployed designers.
“ My time at Swansea was fantastic! Along with the great atmosphere, wonderful people and loads of resources I found the Uni had everything I could have wanted. My most important takeaway from the course was the preparation they give you to seamlessly enter the real world of design. Entering a large company didn’t seem so daunting and I already understood most of the processes the business used, which along with an extensive knowledge of design was invaluable”. Anna Jehan Art Director at Sapient Nitro, London.
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BA (Hons) Graphic Design
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Visual Communications Staff Profiles 60
Angela Williams
Caroline Jones
Martin Bush
Andy Penaluna
Angela has spent over twenty-five years as an Advertising Design practitioner and was involved in the Advertising Design Course from its first conception. Her first design and advertising appointment, after graduation, was at Dragonfly Design Consultants Cardiff.
Caroline is a Year 1 tutor and lecturer across 3 year groups, she brings over 20 years design experience to the role. Caroline has worked freelance and directly for design and marketing agencies in the UK and abroad, with a client base as diverse as: Royal Mail, Cable & Wireless, British Airways and Ernst & Young.
Martin has an industry background spanning over 25 years. He has worked in graphic design, print and publishing, but his passion has always been advertising. Having been a Creative Director for a top 30 UK advertising agency for nearly a decade, he has led many successful communication campaigns. These have included a highly effective road traffic initiative for the British Army that was awarded a Cannes Gold Lion. He has also created campaigns for the panEuropean launch of the Mitsubishi Pajero, the introduction of the smoking ban into Wales, the launch of the Oli online fashion label for Grattan and the development of Welsh Lamb into a premium brand.
Andy started teaching at Falmouth School of Art nearly 30 years ago and has extensive experience of teaching creative design skills. He has developed a diverse number of BA (Hons) degrees; these range from illustration to multimedia and, more recently, advertising design. Andy’s background as an airbrush artist and historian has also led to invitations to lecture and exhibit worldwide, for example, Kodak’s International Museum of Photography call upon his expertise. He is a consultant editor of the five - language publication Art Scene International magazine and still finds some time to run his own design business.
In 1986 Angela joined Peter Gill Associates as a Senior Designer working on high profile accounts for the service industry, and government sector and moved to the Advertising Agency, McCann Erickson, Wales, as Head of Design and as Associate Director in 1988, focussing on the leisure and service industry. Over the last fifteen years Angela has run her own Design and Advertising consultancy working for various clients, in the UK and Europe, developing marketing, advertising and design strategies. In 2006 Angela became a Fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management. Angela is combining her role as Programme Director with teaching, consultancy work and research into ‘Historical and current influences in British Advertising, communication strategy, and current day trends in effective visual persuasion’.
Her interests are technical as well as creative, and she has a Master of Science degree in Multimedia. Her lectures use Adobe Creative Suite software and the modules include: Typography; Graphic Communication; Visual and Technical Studies and Lens-Based and Interactive Advertising.
Angela Hughes Angela has worked for many years in film, TV and design disciplines before moving into teaching and lecturing. She delivers the module ‘Communication, Context, Change’ and contributes to the third year Dissertation Module. Having attained her PhD, her research interests include Semiotic Theory, Multimodality and Visual Communication in the context of the Cityscape.
His skills lie with idea generation and copywriting for broadcast, digital and print communications. He has also spent many years providing creative direction, motivation and inspiration to agency teams and mentored many students on internships and work experience. As an advocate of education in the creative industries, Martin has been guest lecturer at a number of universities and a speaker at regular Creative Future events. A member of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising he now combines lecturing with freelance communication projects. If there is only one thing that matters to him, it’s the ‘big idea’.
Andy’s real focus is on creativity within business and promotional contexts, with ideas’ generation and problem solving being central to the teaching styles that he has developed at Swansea. His approaches are constantly being updated as he regularly consults ex students who keep in touch. Unusually for an Art & Design lecturer, Andy is also an external examiner in English and Scottish Business Schools and Chairs the 82 - university network Enterprise Educators UK. Andy believes that creative and innovative students can go far, and he is not alone in those views. The Quality Assurance Agency have appointed him to look at improving the ‘enterprise’ quality of UK university courses, and the United Nations in Geneva consult him as one of their international experts in teaching for enterprise. Visual Communications Staff Profiles
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Derek Bainton
Duncan Mclaren
Steve Thomas
Tracy Thompson
Jonathan Williams
Carl Melegari
Derek Bainton is an illustrator, senior lecturer and programme director of BA (Hons) General Illustration. Having originally studied at the Arts University College, Bournemouth, he went onto gain a MA Distinction in Visual Communication with the University of Wales.
Duncan studied Graphic Design and Typography at Blackpool College of Art, 1962-1965, and was awarded the Graphic Design Prize. He began his career in a Manchester design studio in 1965 and since then has worked in a variety of industries as a graphic designer, illustrator and design manager before moving back to Wales in 1989 to establish his own design consultancy. He has illustrated over 20 picture books for children which have been published in 15 languages worldwide. He has exhibited with several galleries in London and Wales and has had work selected for the National Eisteddfod. His paintings and drawings are in a number of public and private collections.
Steve is a Senior Lecturer in Printmaking, and teaches many forms of printmaking techniques, ranging from etching, photo-etch to lino cut and silk screen.
Tracy is a lecturer on the Illustration course. She teaches modules on different media, processes and techniques in context with conceptualising images used for illustration. She studied natural history/ ecology illustration at the Royal College of Art, both as an MA and PhD student. Currently, through her painting, she is exploring human ecosystems and their relationship to the environment and philosophy.
Jonathan is a Cardiff based artist and illustrator. He has previously worked in design and publishing studios in London and Barcelona and illustrated over 30 books in the UK and Europe. Jonathan has a PGCE and a Masters Degree in Graphic Communication from the University of Glamorgan. He has also held group and solo exhibitions and designed and produced large scale public artworks including the Captain Scott memorial in Cardiff Bay.
Carl is a lecturer in General Illustration and teaches modules on visual studies and media techniques and design. Carl is a freelance illustrator specializing in photography and digital image.
Derek is a founding member of Varoomlab and regular contributor to Varoom, the international illustration research journal published quarterly by the AOI. His ongoing research follows themes of psychogeography within the context of illustration practice.
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Steve uses a combination of photography and print related images to produce highly personal collagraphs, photopolymer and silkscreen prints, which juxtapose his interests in identity, memory and narrative.
Delyth Lloyd-Evans Delyth lectures on both the Contextual Studies programme and studio practice. She has over twenty-five years experience in the industry: an established career as a freelance illustrator and then running her own award winning, design-led publishing company, producing die-cut and three dimensional paper products. Current research interests are in authorial illustration.
Visual BACommunication (Hons) Photography Staff & Profiles Video
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David La Grange
Gavin Kirby
Phil Thomas
Donna Williams
As Programme Director of Graphic Design David has freelanced since 1982. Working mainly in educational publishing, designing and illustrating books for OUP, Hodder & Stoughton, Nelson and MacMillan to name a few. He has also designed educational material for the ILEA and for The Natural History Museum where he worked as an in-house designer for a year and freelanced for them for another ten years, designing books, marketing material and working on major exhibitions.
Gavin, a Senior Lecturer, comes from a more technical background and has a hands-on approach to the craft elements of graphic design. It is important to have the knowledge of how to use the tools of a graphic designer as well as the ability to generate the idea. Once you have the idea, nurtured and refined it, he assists you in bringing it to life through his lectures.
Phil is a Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design. His teaching draws upon seventeen years of professional design experience, working for a varied, high profile client base including Penguin Books, Ticketmaster, Thomas Telford Ltd, Macmillan Publishing, Nescafé, Renault and The National Youth Music Theatre. He has won a coveted GF Smith Paper Excellence in Print Award and continues to work in a freelance capacity. This experience and ongoing externality brings a sense of realism to the teaching environment.
Donna is a Senior Lecturer graduate from the North East Wales Institute in Visual Communication in 1986 and has worked for top end design agencies in Birmingham and Sydney Australia. After several years as a Senior Designer and then as a freelancer, she then set up a private design course in Sydney working with agencies and providing up-to-date training.
David first started teaching in Higher Education in 1995, and after completing his MSc in Multimedia in 2001 took the reins of the Graphic Design programme.
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There is far more to graphic design than sitting at a computer. There is a world of media available to you to generate your design ideas and it does not need to be a hi-tech solution. He is currently widening his own experience in craft skills such as paper engineering and book making to help bring extra dimensions to the course.
In parallel with a graphic design career, he has exhibited his paintings in solo and group shows both nationally and internationally. Philip has recently been involved in a successful Science Art & Technology Network (SATnet) project - a collaboration with multinational pharmaceutical manufacturer Cultech. After the publication of Signs of Life in 2008, he is currently engaged in further research applications that will stimulate his passion for both the applied and fine arts.
On returning to Wales, Donna has been working as Senior Lecturer with first year students in Graphic Design, specialising in Typography and Visual Communication. Her main interest of research is Art Communication and how to break creative blocks through Counselling and Self Development.
She is resident pastoral carer at the Faculty of Art & Design, and uses this role to influence her research and to be of service to students. Donna’s teaching style is about getting the individual student to perform to their highest potential whilst gaining a variety of useful industry skills. This is achieved through creating a friendly working environment, team work, group discussion, and individual guidance. The best part of the job is working with such a range of people who love doing what they do, eventually helping them to graduate into professional, mature, employable adults who have enjoyed the whole student experience.
Visual BACommunication (Hons) Photography Staff & Profiles Video
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