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Graphic Communication Design BA and Graphic Communication Design (Top-Up) BA Welcome Pack

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Welcome to Graphic Communication Design BA and Graphic Communication Design (Top-Up) BA 2024.

Hello, my name is Trevor Brown and I am the Programme Leader for BA Graphic Communication Design. We look forward to meeting you online in mid-September, and then face-to-face for Welcome Week which starts Monday 16 September 2024.

You are joining a vibrant course at a super supportive and future focused university that will provide the skills you need to succeed in the creative industries – come with enthusiasm and an open mind and in return we will prepare you for an exciting career.

At the heart of our programme is the creation of visual ideas that convey messages – this could be to sell, entertain or to expand awareness of an issue, or to persuade people to think about something differently.

We do this through well researched designs and use targeted technologies and channels to reach out and make a difference – the successful communication of a message is determined by its effective design; that’s how we influence, create emotion, and have impact. We explore the communication of ideas and messages to diverse and evolving audiences through a dynamic range of media that highlights the potential of what design can achieve.

Working in our studio with fellow students, lecturers and our industry contacts, you will develop your individual creativity whilst encouraging collaboration on projects that will inspire debate about the world around us. You will develop your own perspectives on design as you experiment with a range techniques and technologies that challenge what image-making means to you and to those you are designing for.

Programme Leader

photo of Trevor Brown Senior Lecturer in Graphic Communication

Trevor Brown BA, MA, FHEA

Programme Leader Graphic Communication Design
trevor.brown@northampton.ac.uk

Welcome and Induction Sessions

This is your induction timetable with an online session on Monday 9 September 2024 (details below), and in-person sessions starting on Monday 16 September 2024. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Trevor Brown: trevor.brown@northampton.ac.uk.

  • Monday 9 September 

    The Blackboard Collaborate online platform operates very similarly to Zoom etc (and is the same platform you may have had your interviews on), so there is no need to download any applications. Just click the link five minutes before the session starts, add your name when prompted and that’s it. You’ll then see me on screen, and I will talk though the functions of the platform.

  • Monday 16 September

    • Session: Campus tour for new First Year students, meet the team and studio/programme introduction
    • Time: 10am-3.30pm
    • Location: Meet outside the main doors to the Creative Hub. You will be with us all day in our studio CH103, with an afternoon workshop too. You will finish with us at 3.30pm

     

    • Session: Campus tour for new 2nd & 3rd Year students, and studio/programme introduction
    • Time: 1.30pm-4pm
    • Location: Meet outside the main doors to the Creative Hub. You will be with us all afternoon in our studio CH103 and you will finish with us at 4pm

    Tuesday 17 September

    • Session: Trip to be confirmed – we plan to have a trip to see some exhibitions, the times and location will be confirmed to you in the Welcome session on campus on Monday 16 September.

    Wednesday 18 September

    • Session: Studio and Library Inductions
    • Time: 10am onwards
    • Location:  CH103, first floor, Creative Hub. The Student Union will be running its Freshers Fair all day and we will also arrange inductions to the Photography studios and the library too. Exact times and where to meet for these inductions to be confirmed in the Welcome session on campus on Monday 16 September.

    Thursday 19 September

    • Session: Personal 1-1 tutorials for new First Year students
    • Time: 10am-1pm
    • Location: Creative Hub, CH103. You will have a 10-minute tutorial with one of your lecturers where we can get to know you a bit more, you can ask us questions and we can offer you any additional support you may need. Tutorials times will be confirmed on Monday 16 September.

    All activities and dates are subject to change and any changes will be communicated with you asap.

Equipment

I will talk through what equipment you will need more during the online session on the Monday 9 September, but to get you going you will need:

  • SD card for using Digital cameras
  • Memory Stick or External Hard Drive to back up your work
  • A3 sketchbook &/or layout pads
  • A3 Presentation folder
  • Note pads
  • Stationery – Pencils, fine liners, sharpies, coloured markers
  • Any other art and design materials as appropriate to your chosen ways of working
  • Laptops and power cable (if you have one – don’t worry if not, we have Macbooks you can borrow when in our studio. If you are looking to get a computer, we teach on and use Apple Macbooks – this is the industry standard. Windows based laptops are fine too, but they are not what you will use the industry)
  • Phone charger if you need one.

Enhancing skills, building networks and engaging in the wider University community

Have a look at our course page for Graphic Communication Design BA and the course page for Graphic Communication Design (Top-Up) BA, and if time, I suggest you read a few of book recommendations in the ‘Reading List’ at the bottom of the page and start reading ‘Computer Art’s’ magazine – this magazine is all about Graphics and the creative industries.

Also spend some time on the Creative Bloq website – this is full of excellent articles about design, along with It’s Nice that, and Design Inspiration.

Additionally, here are some books and magazines from our Reading lists that will get your creativity flowing… if time, read a few!

Books
  • Graphic Design: a User’s Manual – Adrian Shaughnessy
  • Know Your Onions: Graphic Design – Drew De Soto
  • The A-Z of Visual Ideas: How to Solve any Creative Brief – John Ingledew
  • The Art of Looking Sideways – Alan Fletcher
  • Design History, A Students’ Handbook – Hazel Conway
  • Graphic Design: A New History – Stephen Eskilson
  • On Creativity – John Hegarty
 Magazines
  • Creative Review
  • Eye: the international review of graphic design
  • Baseline: international typographics journal
  • Computer Arts Magazine
  • Aesthetica
  • Adbusters
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