Course Catalogue

Enable students to understand and develop their practice within the context of contemporary visual communication. Provide students with the necessary historical and critical perspectives to enable them to engage with contemporary graphic design and illustration practice within a social, local and global emergent context. Facilitate an engagement with external organisations to enrich the students' experience of the professional environment of contemporary graphic design and illustration. Provide relevant learning and teaching experiences within a context that values agency to examine, explore and understand the role of independent visual practice within the context of the interdisciplinary creative professions. Enable students to place the activities of craft and production at the heart of their enquiry and research methodology. Enable students to develop appropriate research skills, relevant approaches to their practice and the technical abilities to support their final project. Be critically aware of a range of international contemporary graphic design and illustration practice and its locations within a wider visual cultural framework.  Understanding emerging models and methods involved in publishing and promoting design led projects. Have a practical understanding of creative, aesthetic and conceptual skills and methods relevant to the realisation of the MA Project. To produce graduates who can apply critical and practical skills, research techniques and understanding within their chosen careers.

The core of teaching will be studio based with tutorials, seminars, supporting lectures and workshops. Seminars provide the opportunity for discussion and the development of communication / verbal skills. Studio based group critiques engage the students in critical discussion around their work in the context of their peer group. Learning on the programme integrates experiential elements with more formal lecture and seminar based delivery. Individual tutorials provide the opportunity for in depth discussion about developing practice and the students' motivation. All students will be assigned a personal tutor who will be responsible for their academic development and assessment. Seminars and tutorials tenable students to establish a professional understanding of the context and emerging Practice The use of the LJMU online platform Canvas is used for making teaching materials readily available and helping students navigate their way through the programme. Assessment methods and requirements are specified in the module handbook and module proformas. All these items are available on canvas. Ongoing seminar and tutorial contact allows for considerable amount of ongoing verbal / formative feedback and assessment before the summative assessment points for each module. This is a student-centred programme that also recognises the need for you to establish a deep and particular relationship with the Research strategies, critical theories and contexts that drive your work. The assessment of intellectual skills is through project work, written reflection and verbal presentations to measure the students work in terms of research critical analysis and communication/presentation skills.

All students are encouraged to identify and evaluate their programme specific, personal and transferable skills in an environment external to LJMU. The undergraduate programme engages with a broad range of professional figures and companies both locally and nationally. Masters level students will be able to undertake projects and collaborate with creative industry practices to develop further critical understanding of their chosen area of practice. Students will be encouraged to collaborate with external agents in the UK and/or Internationally to build a portfolio of knowledge and understanding in their specialist disciplines. https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/eaqs/122164.htm (Methods of Practice - Section 5 Work Related Learning and Additional Information)