Anyone here take Graphics for A-level? If so, HELP!

Hey there, I'm a current year 12 (going into year 13) Graphics communications student (predicted A) and the course won't drive you crazy - as long as you keep up with the coursework and catch up on any undone work asap. I missed loads of my lessons which meant i was quite a bit behind and its snowballed into me being 3 months late in giving my coursework in but luckily i have a laid back teacher so he won't strangle me once i get back in September (i hope) but i am in a bit of trouble anyway.

Getting good grades is more reliant on the ability to review your work and make developments, but of course the work in itself has to be decent. Most of the time i would make my pieces by hand and scan them through to present them on indesign, where i kept a digital sketchbook (but it may be on a different platform in your college), and you probably will have to make some digital pieces such as animations, zines, digital line drawings...
I'd advice to play around with layouts, sizing and colour indesign as that's where i had to present and eventually print my sketchbook from - and don't be afraid of leaving lots of white space (the teachers love it)

Judging by what you've studied already, you'll probably like it but if you don't i'd switch into another subject asap because the work load wont be worth it if you don't like it. I had done graphics at GCSE too but it was product design and the graphics i'm doing now is art and design which i had only realised once it was too late, so it's obviously a lot more 'arty' which i wasn't expecting and if i could go back i wouldv'e probably picked media studies over graphic communications

Hey I didn't take Graphic Design as a A-level but I took it as a BTEC which was equal to 3 a-levels and I got a A* A* A. So I would be happy to chat to you about my course but will probs be a bit different for your course xxx

Thank you so much for your reply! Did you find it hard to get used to the workload? How many hours a week did you find you had to spend a week? What do you think is the ultimate reason you're predicted such a good grade?

wow! well done for getting such good grades I have a few questions I hope you dont mind
-what tips do you have to staying motivated?
-what are the ultimate pieces of advice would you give to anyone hoping to achieve high marks such as yourself?
-Biggest mistake you made whilst doing your course which you wish you could warn your past self about
-And finally, what are the basic skills every GD student should have in order to succeed?

Thank you so much for initially replying to my thread as it's hard to find Graphic Design/Communication student on here and I hope you don't mind me bombarding you with these questions

In all honesty the workload wasn't as much of step up as everyone was on about, but the amount of time you had to do things in was definitely shorter as they're probably gonna want to teach you as much as possible, so if you work at a slow pace you'll probably have to complete work outside of lessons.

My teacher recommended that you spend as much time doing work as you do in lesson- so I had 4 1/2 hours of graphics a week, and that was the minimum I was expected to spend at home or wherever else.

And I'm predicted an A simply because I did graphics for GCSE, so my teacher thinks I have an advantage compared to other students

Hope that helped!

Motivation was a real hard one actually during the 3rd year as well I had to move in with my bf (now husband) and we had to care for his dad as he got diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. The best way to cope at uni is to keep honest if you are struggling as there is so much help available, extensions for mitigating circumstances, unions and student support. To keep motivated sadly I figured out the cost per day I was paying for my course ah! was about £100 :,( Just try and keep social asking people there thoughts on your projects as somethings you can't notice when you stare at it for so long. Also make sure to treat your self loads even just the little things like I did a Maltesers every couple of sentences during my dissertation to keep me going. Skyping my college friends while I was working on my uni projects in the evenings also helped loads with isolated study

The biggest mistake I made would be that I put so much in to the first and second year that didn't actually count towards my degree that by the time I got to the 3rd year I lost enthusiasm. Also some tutors were really pretentious and didn't agree with there opinions just remember to keep true to yourself at the end of the day you aren't just there for a grade but to build up a portfolio of YOUR work

The basic skills you need really is just persistence just keep trying new things but most importantly has fun I probs stressed to much during uni and over worked myself if I chilled out step back and thought about a assignment first in areas of getting stuck in the second I got home then maybe I would of developed a different process. Also keep some savings my uni wanted me to print out soooooo much stuff it was ridiculous cost me about £100+ per project.

I know it is hard there aren't many designers on here, but I work for The Student Room as a Graphic designer so I am always around and about if you ever need anything xxxx

I'd say the biggest mistake I made was missing out on so many lessons because I wasn't bothered to go in for whatever reason, and not spending enough time outside of class on my work or developing my skills.

People were pretty chilled in my class so nobody was that competitive and half the time, most of us didn't know what we were doing even though we looked like we did.

I'd advise to brush up on your sketching skills because you'll probably have to make really quick sketches and you don't want to spend too long on them - also try to be open and adaptable because the best students are always able to change their original idea into something else to make it even better.

I'm going into year 13 this year, I do graphic design A level, and did Graphics GCSE. As pretty much everyone here has said, keeping on top of the workload is important, I do quite a lot of work outside of lessons. That said, the workload isn't particularly more than GCSE, and I do four A levels and am managing it fine so far. Transitioning from art to graphics isnt that big a deal, in my class (8 people) only two or three have done graphics at GCSE. Learning to use the programs is way easier than learning to draw/paint/transitioning from graphics to art. If you are struggling with workload or a project then remember that one upside of art subjects is that they are very sociable - even if the projects are individual, talk to your classmates and figure out an idea of what people are doing or how far along they are. Especially talk to people who have done graphics before if you need advice on how to use programs like illustrator or photoshop - theyre pretty easy to pick up but only if you have stuff explained to you. Alternatively, anything you could ever want to know how to do on adobe is on google or youtube. Also talk to your teachers - they like graphics and like teaching people, so if you ask for help theyll help, thats their job.

If you want references, use pinterest (and you do want references, or your work will look crap- i cannot stress this enough, references are really important). Sketch everything before you start on a computer, its way easier to get ideas (doesn't matter if they look crap, I can't draw for ****). Most of my work is digital, but that's mostly bc I can't draw or paint. Most of graphics is done on either illustrator, photoshop or indesign, which are all adobe programs. They're really great programs and easy to pick up (the company itself is an absolute ******* but dw about that). We did a project on printing, and i did loads of screen printing that i really enjoyed. We also did a project where we made 3d models and took photographs and added text digitally which was really fun. Generally graphics is digital, but it doesn't have to be - talk to your teachers, ask if you can scan in drawings and use them. As an art student you're actually probably at an advantage to be honest. Play to your strengths sometimes, but remember that a lot of your projects won't necessarily affect your grade, and that its important to experiment and learn new skills. Our projects are all submitted as powerpoints bc its easier than making physical portfolios.

On stayin sane - listen to music, even if it slows you down a bit itll probably make you happier while you work which is way more important. Don't work for more than an hour at a time without a break. Take a short walk, get some fresh air. Look up stretches to do for carpal tunnel as well, stretch your wrists out and they'll feel better. Remember to drink water and eat stuff, if your energy is down you'll be way less creative and get rlly tired/cranky. Don't work through lunch and break, go talk to your friends and eat - taking a proper break is way more beneficial than getting an extra 20 mins work in. Also get used to the fact that six months in the future, you'll probably hate what you just made. That's fine, it just means that you've gotten better.

Chances are, even if you love graphics there will be some projects that are just boring or you don't like. You can try and counteract this, mainly by making sure that you don't waste time on outcomes you hate. Sometimes its way faster to abandon an outcome and start again than trying to salvage it. Make sure you use multiple references that you really like, and steal ideas from them. DON'T only use one reference, or it'll look really similar. Use at least three or four. Literally all graphic designers use references - even at professional levels. If you don't then your work looks bad.

I really love graphics, and I like doing little projects that my teachers haven't told me to do. It means that I have a bit more freedom, there's no pressure to finish it, and it means i can practice using programs and learn new stuff (google spoon graphics - its a blog that posts free tutorials for illustrator and photoshop, the neon sign effect is a personal favourite). It also gets you a few brownie points with your teachers, and means that if you need a little break from a project you can still be doing something useful.

Memorise shortcuts for tasks, itll speed you up loads more than using the mouse to click on everything. If you need to type something, don't use the standard fonts - look on dafont.com or myfonts.com for cool fonts. If you can't download fonts bc its on school computers, then use the snipping tool to copy a snapshot of the preview over to illustrator, and then use image trace tool to turn it into a vector. (Google image trace if you don't know how to do that).

Art subjects pretty much naturally attract students that are less traditionally academic, and the teachers are usually the same. the art department at my school are absolute ****ing banter, and are really chill, but they know their stuff. Talk to them if you need to or if you're worried about anything. And talk to your classmates, if you feel like you're getting behind everyone else might be in the same place.

I didn't do art, so idk how different the two are, but im pretty sure theyre quite similar. Its assessed mostly through coursework, with one massive endpoint exam (15 hours on my course). The main difference between graphics GCSE and A level is that all the annoying people who chose it as a doss subject have left.

Sorry if thats really long and rambling - hope it helps. TL;DR - its not a doss subject by any means, but no A levels are. Keep on top of your workload, talk to your teachers, USE REFERENCES and take breaks.

thank you so much for your advice if i coud rep you again I actually would, the website you suggested is awesome especially because I've not used Photoshop that many times so thanks! I've just started but seeing your post helps soothe my nerves so much, thanks again