Visual Communication MA
Course overview
Take your design work to the next level on our MA Visual Communication degree at UCA Canterbury, and become a cultural innovator who can use your work to entertain, inform and persuade.
On this course, you’ll explore the ways in which you can convey messages and meaning through a diverse range of media - from print and motion to digital - and you’ll be encouraged to develop new skills to strengthen and inform your design practice.
You’ll learn to approach design as an agent of change – a strategy for positively transforming behaviours in desirable and sustainable ways.
You’ll also have the opportunity to collaborate with other members of our creative community and enhance your work in the areas needed to become a creative leader within the field of visual communication - an area that spans print media, user experience, motion design, web design, exhibition design and advertising.
MA Visual Communication is designed to help you develop your identity as an author and innovator, equipping you with the skills and knowledge to identify and solve design problems within cross-disciplinary environments, including traditional and digital printmaking, moving image suites and 3D studios.
Led by Hugh Harwood and a team of experienced professional designers with connections at the highest level of industry – including Slawa Harasymowicz and Vida Vega – you’ll learn through a range of lectures, project briefs, workshops, written assignments, group critiques and individual tutorials.
| Length of study | 1 year full-time |
|---|---|
| Campus | Canterbury |
| Entry requirements | Honours degree and/or relevant work experience |
| Course entry options | Sept 2021, Feb 2022, Sept 2022 |
Course details
You'll be introduced to the University and the technical workshops and facilities available to you. The first term includes a range of lectures and seminars and you’ll start to explore your creative practice.
Defining Your Practice
You'll explore creative practice in order to inform the detailed development of your project proposal later in the course. The unit aims to provide a structured framework to allow you to investigate the potential of methods, ideas and themes in your discipline as well as helping inform and locate your practice.
During term two you begin developing your MA project, evaluating and testing out the aims of your proposal over a sustained period of self-directed study.
Context and Method
Through a series of lectures and seminars, you’ll actively engage in a range of current debates which provide cultural and intellectual context for the consideration of ideas in visual communication. The programme addresses inter-disciplinary issues through the discussion of theory and the consideration of specific design-led work and texts.
Project Development
In this unit you will develop the themes and focus of your final project, evaluating and testing out the aims of your proposal over a sustained period of self-directed study. At this stage, the development of your project will be guided and questioned through tutorials, group critiques and presentations, which will support the progress of your work and provide rigorous critical appraisal from staff, peers and professional practitioners. While encouraging the continued exploration and questioning of your ideas, you will continue the process of developing appropriate methods and strategies for your project’s realisation as you begin to work more independently as a researcher and practitioner, refining your research questions and the research methods you are using.
In the third term of the course, you'll apply the knowledge gained through your research to create a final body of work.
Realisation and Dissemination
You'll apply knowledge and experience gained in previous units to the realisation of your final MA project - the culmination and consolidation of your studies in the form of a resolved piece, or body of work. It should show coherence and innovation at a professional level of resolution. You'll also be required to prepare a critical paper intended to reflect upon the specific practical outcome of the MA project, its interpretation and its success as a demonstration of your approach to creative practice through research.
Tuition fees
The course fees per year for 2021 entry are:
- UK students full-time - £10,400
- EU students full-time - £10,400 (see fee discount information)
- International students full-time - £17,500 (standard fee)
- International students full-time - £16,800 (full early payment fee)
Additional course costs
In addition to the tuition fees please see the additional course costs for 2021 entry.
Further information
Find out more about our course fees and any financial support you may be entitled to:
These fees are correct for the stated academic year only. Costs may increase each year during a student’s period of continued registration on course in line with inflation (subject to any maximum regulated tuition fee limit). Any adjustment for continuing students will be at or below the RPI-X forecast rate.
To support our students and alumni to progress to the next level of study, we have developed a new range of fee discounts across a range of courses.
Course specifications
Please note, syllabus content indicated is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change in line with our Student Terms and Conditions for example, as required by external professional bodies or to improve the quality of the course.
Facilities
Visual Communication facilities include dedicated studios with space for both personal and group working; digital media suites with Macs programmed with the latest industry design software including, Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro and Autodesk Maya. We have photography studios and processing and printing darkrooms for black and white film-based photography; printmaking studios with access to lithography, screen-printing, etching and relief printing.
Course studios, UCA Canterbury
Graphics Print studios, UCA Canterbury
Digital Media suite, UCA Canterbury
Course studios, UCA Canterbury
"Studying at UCA is definitely one of the greatest experiences I’ve had. I can feel creative and energetic vibes everywhere on the campus. The UCA team at the campus are really helpful and friendly, they’re supportive in many ways, regardless of whether we need academic or personal advice."
Entry requirements
- An honours degree or equivalent qualification in the subject or a related discipline
and/or
- Relevant work experience, demonstrating your ability to study at postgraduate level.
Consideration will also be given to applicants who can make a strong case for admission in relation to a particular project and can demonstrate their potential to satisfactorily complete the course.
To view the equivalent entry requirements for your country please select it in the list below.
Don't meet the international entry requirements or English language requirements?
You may be able to enter the course through the following entry courses:
Pre-sessional English courses in the UK or China
For this course, you’ll be required to submit an online portfolio via your UCA Applicant Portal. Further information on how to compile and upload your portfolio will be provided once you have applied. If you receive an offer, you’ll be invited to attend an Offer Holder Webinar where you can meet the course team and learn more about the course.
Apply now
UK applications
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Apply for full-time study - starting September 2021:
International & EU applications
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Apply for full-time study - starting September 2021:
When to apply:
You can apply throughout the year but we recommend you try and apply as early as possible so you have time to arrange accommodation and visas, if required.
For more information visit our how to apply pages
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