Art and Design (Graphics)

Course summary

Graphics is an A-level Art and Design subject focussed around visual communication. Graphic designers create, control and combine image, text and symbols to produce visual outcomes that communicate meaning, messages and moods. This might be in order to persuade an audience or entertain them, to inform, to entice or to educate. Through a series of brief-led coursework projects, you will develop your skills and understanding as a designer and produce personal and meaningful visual responses. You will learn how the pillars of graphic design – image, text, colour and layout – are used to communicate and create meaning, and you will explore and refine the practical skills needed to control these elements yourself. Across these varied projects, you will improve existing skills with media and be introduced to new ways of working, including traditional methods such as printmaking and collage, as well as digital processes in software such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. In order to understand how all these skills can be used to craft successful design outcomes, you will study and analyse the work of other artists, designers and craftspeople, using this understanding to inform and refine your own developing ideas. You will learn to develop and refine ideas and work in a reflective and exploratory way, keeping a detailed record of your ideas, observations and insights and of your creative process.