Graphic Design

Graphic design is the practice of visual communication, the craft of using type, image, colour, and space to convey meaning, create identity, and guide experience. It is a discipline that operates at the intersection of art and commerce, requiring aesthetic sensitivity and conceptual thinking alongside practical skills in typography, layout, illustration, and digital production. Graphic designers shape everything from brand identities, posters, and packaging to websites, apps, motion graphics, and editorial design, making their work integral to how organisations communicate and how people navigate the visual world.

Nottingham Trent University's three-year full-time graphic design degree is taught within a vibrant and professionally connected design school, offering access to specialist facilities and a curriculum shaped by engagement with the creative industries. You will study typography, layout and composition, image-making, branding, digital design, motion graphics, design history and theory, and professional practice. The programme develops your ability to think conceptually about design problems and to realise your ideas to a professional standard using both traditional and digital tools.

You will build a portfolio of work across the three years that demonstrates your visual intelligence and technical capability to graduate employers and clients.

Graduates in graphic design go on to work as graphic designers, brand designers, UX and UI designers, art directors, motion designers, editorial designers, packaging designers, and freelance practitioners across the full breadth of the creative industries. Nottingham Trent's industry connections and the programme's professional focus support strong graduate employment outcomes. Many graduates move into senior design roles, creative direction, or establish their own design studios, while some continue to postgraduate study to develop their research or practice in specific areas of design.