Choosing the right university for a graphic design course - advices

Hey everyone,

I am a student from an eu country applying to uk universities for a graphic design degree course. I am a little bit hesitating whether I chose good ones, it is very difficult to take such a decision from distance. I have applied to Southampton (Graphic Arts), Brighton (Graphic Design) and GSA ( Visual Communication). I prefer GSA most of all, but I am not sure whether I would manage to get in. What do you think about these courses of Southampton and Brighton, are they good in the sphere of art and design ?
I am curious to understand which are the best graphic design courses in your opionion.

Thanks A LOT ! :biggrin:

Reply 1

will...

Brighton's suppose to be very good.
Here's the last years graduates from Illustration and Graphic Design. GDI08
Looks like they like to mix the two course together:

recent graduate

I just finished Illustration at Brighton, we shared a studio with Graphics. I think the course is going through MAJOR changes to make it a combined graphics/illustration degree and I know for certain all the tutors have been swapped about etc. Dave taught on the illustration degree when I was there, good tutor but unless things have changed more than I think I wouldn't expect to get much face time with him on the graphics degree. I know that lots of people are getting lots of work/press etc from this year and the last 2-3 years too, there's some great work coming out of Brighton and I expect that to stay that way. Quite difficult to get onto though so (without seeing your work) be realistic about your chances of getting onto the course, be critical about your work.

If you're interested I have some photos up on my flickr account of our degree show (joint illustration and graphics) at Degree Shows - a set on Flickr Might put some more up tomorrow if you're interested. Message me if you have any questions too.

Oh and Grafik Magazine listed our degree show as one of it's top 50 things of the year for 2008.

Reply 2

da Vinci

Hey there! Would being in the EU get you free university education in scotland? Not sure if thats quite true :s-smilie:

? But yeah back to the question:

I'm not an expert on graphic design courses, but I would advise you to also look at Central Saint Martins and Bournemouth. I did love the GSA! It had a really wonderful atmosphere there and the school itself just seems amazing really. I managed to get an offer for the product design course there. I felt my knowledge of the subject and my notebook with experiments helped me at interview. Yeah it must be hard to judge without visiting, hopefully someone with more knowledge on graphic design courses can help here. Good luck!

Reply 3

curiositykilledthecat

Thank you guys for the useful information.
will..., thank you for the links, they are of a great help and I do like the fact that they mix the two courses together :-)
I have already sent them my portfolio, I expect to receive a decision by the end of the next week.
da Vinci: yes, non-UK EU nationals are eligible for the SAAS tuition fee grant :-)
I am a little bit confused about your saying, how come you have already received an offer ? I thought that you can apply to GSA through Route B only :eyeball:

Anyway, what was the interview like ? What did they ask you ? I make conclusions that the questions could be about a work from my portfolio, the basics about the subject, a favourite artist. I am applying through Route B and if they like my portfolio, I will have a telephone interview in April.

Reply 4

da Vinci

Hey again,

Ah thats great! although I wouldn't make a decision just on the fact you would be eligible for the SAAS tuition fee grant - it's a huge plus!! Perhaps check out Edinburgh College of Art as well, not sure if they do Graphic Design but the college is beautiful and it's one of the nicest I've seen out of all my visits (and I've visited quite a lot!).

I think it's because of the product design course, or perhaps because I did it through UCAS, I could only do it Route A. I was quite scared of this really because I wanted more time to finish my portfolio!! I think when it's not through UCAS or you are from the EU, it is route B perhaps.

The interview was quite casual, although I would say it wasn't easy. Yeah you're right about the questions -Why do you want to go to GSA and why do you wanna do this course? What do you think your best piece of work is and why? -Favourite designer? -What inspires me? -Where do you want to be in 5 years time? -What have I learnt from the exhibitions/galleries I visited? and they also asked about me having no experience of a language and gave me a chance to say a bit about that (and I explained my interest in travel to back it up). They also referred to my reference so make sure you know it.

But looking back, I was quite interested in the subject, I watched a speech from a product designer and it was quite relevant to the course and what I want to be like, so I referred some points about that. And although it was sometimes hard, with some practice of what to talk about and some knowledge of design, it ended as a kind of conversation. The answers will come out if you know what to say beforehand so I guess advice would be to prepare, research, be quite honest and take it a bit easy.

If I am to give you any advice about the whole process. I would include a wide range of work, skills, especially your own projects/ideas with a concentration on the course you are doing. I think one of the aspects that went well was a notebook I had which I carried around with me which was just experimentations, notes from visits or the internet, random ideas, explorations - which linked with some of my chosen work in my portfolio. Good luck!

Oh and I think, if you haven't already, read the graphic design section on this:

http://www.gsa.ac.uk/downloads/registry/UG%20Applicant%20Guidelines.pdf

Reply 5

curiositykilledthecat

da Vinci,

I have chosen ECA as my 2nd Route B choice :-)
I fell in love with the site, the course description and the shown works, but I still prefer GSA :lovedup:

I won`t include sketchbooks because I am sending everything through Internet, but I would make a comprehensive preparation for the interview for sure :-)
In my portfolio I have included still life drawings in which I have used different techniques and materials, some photographs and digital works, I still have some time so I`ll add new works.
Have you already decided which offer you would choose as firm ?
Thank you so much about all your help and kindness :-)

Reply 6

da Vinci

Ah nice, cool :smile:

! GSA is pretty much first choice, I loved it!

And yeah I guess sending everything through the internet would be hard, but I would still try to include some ideas and notes pages if possible, I think they are much more valuable than they seem. Don't be afraid to innovate a bit by including photos of a notebook/sketchbooks (the ideas pages and the best pages in them!) or photos of places where you've visited to show how you're inspired or work. I found it helpful to show them that I've worked on my weakness by providing a sketchbook just on random drawings, perhaps you could do some graphic design on a medium/technique you have never done before or are not strong at.

What you have sounds good! Continue working though :smile:

I think my best pieces, were the last pieces I did in the weeks before they saw my portfolio! I'm waiting for the offer to come through on UCAS but GSA will 100% be number 1 or 2 (extremely likely to be my first choice really) :smile:

and it's no problem, feel free to ask any more questions!

And this will also be useful:

http://www.gsa.ac.uk/gsa.cfm?pid=2359

Scroll down on that page, and there are links to past powerpoint presentations they have done, showing example portfolios of the people who applied. - This actually made me nervous about my portfolio! but it gave me an idea about what could be missing and it is good to see what they've accepted in the past - although mine wasn't too similar at all to the product design examples on here; mine missed technical drawings etc! so if yours is different don't be put off about it :smile:

. But the last link I gave is probably more helpful as that really tells you want they are looking for, and you can prepare for that quite well.

Reply 7

Aiko

I would also suggest viewing the recent winners for the D&AD Student Awards (2008). It does provide an indicator of the standard/recognition the courses and their associate institutions hold in the industry:

http://www.dandad.org/education/student-awards/pdf/SA08_winners.pdf