Graphic Design

Visual Identity System

Required. Visual identity is the foundational graphic design brief: a client (real or real-world-equivalent) needs a mark, a colour palette, a type system, and usage rules. The brief must be documented before design begins, and all decisions defended in a live critique session with a qualified graphic designer or art director. Genuine prerequisite for all subsequent design work on this path — establishes brief-reading, constraint-working, and critique skills.

Editorial Layout Design

Elective. Multi-page editorial design — spread layouts, hierarchy, and typographic rhythm across a minimum 8-page document responding to a real brief. InDesign is industry standard; Affinity Publisher and Canva satisfy the proof standard. Grid system documented, live critique session with a qualified designer required.

Typography Application Project

Elective. Professional typography in a real brief context — type selection, scale, leading, kerning, and hierarchy decisions made for a specific communication purpose and reviewed by a qualified typographer or art director. The proof documents the reasoning behind typographic decisions, not just the output.

Digital Graphic Design Campaign

Elective. Multi-touchpoint digital campaign for a real brief: a minimum of 3 format variants (social, display, web banner) derived from a single concept. Consistency across formats and adaptation for each platform's constraints are assessed in a live critique session with a qualified designer or art director.

Graphic Design Portfolio Review

Elective. Capstone portfolio critique: a curated presentation of at least 4 projects reviewed in a live session by a qualified graphic designer or art director. Critique documents: specific design decisions defended, challenges raised by the reviewer, revisions committed to. Integrating capstone for the path.

Free AIGA publication covering contemporary graphic design practice — designer interviews, project breakdowns, and visual culture analysis. Use to build understanding of what professional brief-response work looks like across identity, editorial, and campaign contexts before starting each step.

Free archive of typography articles — type selection, hierarchy, variable fonts, OpenType features, and web-to-print application. Use for the typography application step: build the technical vocabulary for documenting type decisions before the critique session.

Free colour theory tool — build, test, and export colour palettes against accessibility contrast standards. Use during the identity system step to document colour decisions and verify WCAG contrast ratios for all identity applications.

Free archive cataloguing how real designers use specific typefaces in production work — books, packaging, wayfinding, editorial. Use to research type choices before the typography application step: find real precedents and build a reasoned type brief.