Universities for an MA in Graphic Design (or similar)

Dinomania

Dinomania

Dinomania

Soldato
Joined
21 Apr 2003
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None of the league tables seem to list universities on such a discipline - yes, I know possibly that a study in "Fine Art" is somehow more revered, and as such the top universities listed in league tables for "Art and Design" don't even seem to offer graphics/design-based courses.

I've gone through school and uni having been groomed for engineering and have come out the other side bored out of my tiny little mind. I want to align myself back into the design world (where I was headed before school decided that my maths and physics understanding was too much to waste and convinced young Sara that being an engineer was the life for her).

I'm currently Bristol based and would love to stay near this part of the country but TBH this is my future we're talking about and it'd only be for a couple of years.

So where's good? Where is worth my taking out a loan and a couple of years out of work to re-learn the technicalities, get in some decent practice and build a portfolio?
 
Central Saint Martins in London is rated very highly but I'm not sure they do an MA in exactly what you're looking for. Similar stuff so worth a look. It's in central London near the Strand so a great place to be

EDIT: In response to your last question, I really don't know, so can't help you there. Sorry
 
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CSM have a Graphic Design stream inside their MA Communication Design course. Looks pretty promising, to be honest... Guess I shall have to start putting what work I do have together into a decent portfolio!
 
Hello, ots3go's girlfriend here - pointed me to the thread because I'm doing Graphic Design at uni at the moment.

Don't know a great deal about Masters, however, I did my foundation at Central Saint Martins. Hated the place - you were lucky to get 1 tutorial a term, I heard the degree was pretty much the same so I opted for The Arts Institute at Bournemouth.

CSM has a great rep, but in my opinion is not the best place for Art and Design.. full of very pretentious people. Due to a good rep it does attract good people, and hence the work continues to be of a high standard, and of course a good rep leads to good industry connections... but it's not everything.

They're also very fussy about who they'll take so you'd need a very strong portfolio of work, which I'm guessing isn't as easy having completed a degree in Engineering, but obviously I don't know what you've got so can't comment too much there. Honestly though, I'd personally steer clear of the University of the arts London altogether.

I have two friends who have graduated from the Winchester School of Art who rate it very highly, again, not sure about it at a Masters level but I think they do a communication course which looks interesting.

At the end of the day though, pick the course that sounds the most interesting to you and forget about which has the best rep. Graduating from somewhere like CSM gives you a bit of a headstart job wise, but mostly people are interested in an amazing portfolio, not where you got it from!

Finally, if in doubt, just go to the place where you enjoyed the interview the most! Both my central saint martins ones were horrible, either me and 20 other people or for degree where they didn't bother at all, just a yes or no pasted to your portfolio. Bournemouth consisted of an hour long chat and was definitely the right choice... some of their teaching is somewhat questionable, but you get 5 tutorials a week if you need it.. unfortunately they don't do a Masters in graphic design or I'd probably recommend it.
 
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