Digital Course Guide 2027 - Flipbook - Page 37
GRAPHIC DESIGN
A Level
Our A Level Graphic Design course teaches you how to
use layout of text and image to communicate ideas. You’ll
be designing logos, branding, posters, packaging and
much more. As a graphic designer, you’ll explore text,
shape, colour and layout, learning to convey messages
effectively across various formats. The course is a mix of
digital and non-digital approaches and projects on this
course can grow out of drawing or photography so you
can work to your strengths.
You will learn Adobe Photoshop as well as Adobe
Illustrator and the graphic design studio has graphics
tablets for every student to explore digital drawing
techniques. The busy practical lessons include collage,
printmaking and typography using letterpress which are
then scanned in and developed further on the computer.
For the majority of our students the graphic techniques and
the stages of a design process may be unfamiliar to them
at first but they enjoy the challenge of exploring a new way
of expressing themselves and soon gain confidence in
their skills and judgements.
Towards the end of the first year each individual student
establishes their own project brief in discussion with their
teacher and the work in the second year is even more
personal and ambitious. One student might be designing
the branding for a music festival and then design the
posters, tickets and promotional flyers. Another student
might create their own fashion magazine and create the
front cover as well as a series of illustrations for the articles
inside the mag and visuals for the app.
COURSE CONTENT
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
YEAR 1
Standard Advanced Level entry
requirements
Use and application of imagination;
teamwork; creativity; layout, composition,
visual and technical skills.
• Introduction to Adobe Photoshop
• Drawing / illustrating from photographs
and direct observation
• Image making with photographs, collage
and printmaking
• Visual identity / branding project for a
local museum
• Collaborative project working to a live
design brief
assessment
60% coursework,
40% external assignment
YEAR 2
• More advanced Adobe Photoshop and
Illustrator skills
• Develop a personal coursework project
on a theme of your own choice
• Critical essay on a designer linked to your
coursework project
• Externally set assignment under exam
conditions
• Mount and present your final design
work for exhibition
VA R N D E A N S I X T H F O R M C O L L E G E 2 0 2 7
OTHER INFORMATION
You do not need any prior knowledge
of Photoshop or Illustrator to enrol onto
this course. We have designers and
illustrators from industry that visit the
department to talk to our students about
their careers and their design work and
about the latest trends in Graphic Design
and Illustration.
CAREER PATHWAYS
The majority of our students use
their graphic design work as part of a
portfolio to help them progress to an
Art Foundation, to a degree or into
employment and this course equips
you with the skills and knowledge to
work to a design brief for a client whilst
also creating design work that you can
be really proud of. Some students go
onto degree courses outside of the
design field, such as fine art, textiles,
architecture, history, politics
and economics.
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