[musergirl]

I'm having a bit of a dilemma. I want to take Graphics at AS level and maybe comtinue into A2 level but I'm just not sure what it really is. I mean, I want to do it because I love Art and Design, but I don't consider myself to be good enough to do Fine Art, and I'm not as interested in the only other design related subjects my college offers - Design Engineering (more electrical) or Textiles. I went to an open evening and it looked really good, just like designing posters and things, but I still don't know what it is, what you do in it...

So I'd be really grateful if anyone here who has done Graphics at AS or A2 could tell me what it's like, how you found/are finding it...

I'd like to go into design as a career, I'm taking English Combined and Ancient History which I think will sit well with it, I want to also take one more A-level but I'm not sure which yet.

[rachmcg666]

I have done it to A2 level on the Edexcel exam board - so i think mine is actually called Graphics - Product Design. Whatever exam board you're on - there will be coursework. And i'll tell you now, it is HELL. At AS there was 3 parts to the coursework - analysis of the packaging of an existing product, creating a replica of an existing product and designing a new product. I can't remember the theory really - go onto the website for your exam board and look at the specification and it will list the bits you have to learn. A2 was similar, but the coursework was just to do an in depth design process for a new product.
I honestly wish i hadn't done it :')
good luck

[abobop]

I do graphics and have just completed my AS, I chose it for the same reasons your saying I love art but didn't feel i could manage fine art. I'm glad I chose to do it as it is unlike any of my other subjects (business, french and further maths) and it gave me a chance to do something different. However, it is one of the most time consuming A levels and to get the top grades you really have to work hard and dedicate lots of time to it. Doing french and further maths I didn't have much spare time at all so just consider the workload of your other subjects and this caused quite a lot of stress. If you want to be a designer its a good idea to do graphics.

[musergirl]

(Original post by abobop)
I do graphics and have just completed my AS, I chose it for the same reasons your saying I love art but didn't feel i could manage fine art.

Thank you! I'm sure any art subject has a heavy workload, but it's something I really love, so hopefully I'll enjoy it. So did you find it fun? Is it just about design?

[musergirl]

(Original post by rachmcg666)
I have done it to A2 level on the Edexcel exam board - so i think mine is actually called Graphics - Product Design.
good luck

Mine's not got anything to do with product design. Maybe it's slightly different?
See, i find the whole product thing quite interesting

Thanks for the advice

[abobop]

(Original post by musergirl)
Thank you! I'm sure any art subject has a heavy workload, but it's something I really love, so hopefully I'll enjoy it. So did you find it fun? Is it just about design?

I did find it fun and very similar to art GCSE except more meaningful as every project had a purpose. For every project we had to do a lot of drawing, take photographs, do artist research and experiment with techniques like lino printing so it wasn't just about the overall design. My teacher told me it's about creating a design and a story to go with it. Good luck with it!!