Graphic Design and Typography MA

• Process and Practice as ResearchYou will engage with the relationship between research and production. In particular you will explore the process of designing a research project for Art and Design students at Masters level. Lectures and seminars will introduce you to methodology, ethics and exemplars of research methods from a broad range of art and design disciplines. The specifics of designing a research project, such as dealing with failure and evaluating success, will be considered as fundamental aspects of research design. Lectures and seminars will be delivered on a cross-school platform and you will begin to consider alternative paradigms of practice and engage with ideas from outside your own discipline. Using the initial lectures as a starting point, you will be asked to design and undertake a practice-based, self-contained pilot project which tests the scope and limits of a specific research method or methods. Through the research design process you will write a proposal, identify milestones, deliver an outcome and evaluate your pilot project. In group critiques and tutorials within a specialist subject area, you will discuss and support the ongoing progress of each other’s pilot projects.
• Interpretation and Origination: Modes of Graphic AuthorshipOn this module you'll explore the role of self-initiated work in the development and positioning of careers within the graphic design profession and its client industries. In seminars and workshops you will consider the role of 'pro-bono' projects in the public and cultural sectors, and the creative use of designer-driven and self-published outputs in defining and building professional profile. While exploring the wide range of variation in current working relationships between designer and client, you'll interrogate the notion of graphic design as a 'service industry' in relation to the concept of the designer as content provider and strategic consultant. You will also undertake an independent socially pro-active graphic project as a means to exploring these issues in relation to your emerging practice as designers.
• Master's Dissertation Art and DesignThis module forms the major written element of the MA programme. On it, you will be invited to choose a topic related to your area of study, as the basis for a research essay of up to 8,000 words. The essay should demonstrate an awareness of current critical debate in the subject, through appropriate reference to relevant examples both from visual practice and critical writing. Your subjects may be thematic and issue-based, or may focus upon the critical analysis of a particular body of work. It is expected that you will use the module to investigate the use of critical writing as an aspect of your own creative development, by investigating issues and preoccupations for which you feel a particular affinity or concern, and that you will use the dissertation as an instrument of enquiry into the debates, conventions and values which define your own field of practice. In group tutorials you will explore the use of different modes of critical method and conventions of art and design research, and the production of critical writing as an aspect of an individual's creative and professional practice.
• Typographic EnquiryYou will study typography as a fundamental element of graphic design, and consider current developments in type use and typeface design in relation to a range of professional and speculative contexts. You will explore these through detailed investigation of type on the page and the screen, and through the experimental design of custom typefaces. The module will take a content-driven approach which will allow you to address the topic from a semantic and interpretative viewpoint. In seminars and lectures you will consider the relationship between written content and its typographic expression from different perspectives across a range of contexts, from the established disciplines of information design to the innovative use of typographic structure and typographic form in managing issues of complexity and ambiguity.
• Master's Project: Art and DesignThe Masters Project represents the culmination of your learning on the programme, and giving you the opportunity to develop and resolve a major area of enquiry. This is a self-directed visual project negotiated with the staff team and peers. You'll need to negotiate, manage, co-ordinate and bring to successful conclusion a complex, practice-based project within your field of art, media or design. You'll start by formally presenting your research proposal to staff and peers, and will be expected to build on your previous modules to identify a complex area for investigation and enquiry, as well as research methods appropriate to the project. Following negotiation with staff, peers and, where appropriate, outside agencies, you'll then submit a written research proposal. Your project may involve external engagement alongside a personal exploration of themes and concepts in your specialist field. You'll need to show your ability to innovate, think strategically and be sensitive to changing cultural and social climates. You'll be assessed by portfolio (a body of work comprising a written project proposal, and developmental and final visual work) and a 1200-word reflective commentary. This commentary will specifically outline the methodological and ethical considerations relevant to your portfolio work, and evaluate your final visual work.

You’ll show your progress through a combination of portfolio work, evaluative commentaries, blog participation, group critiques, one-to-one tutorials, presentations, log books and analytical reports, and a 6,000-word research essay.