STUDY

Undergraduate

BA (Hons) Graphic Design (Graphic Illustration)

Packaging design
Course options: Professional Placement
Institution code: S82
UCAS code: W293
Start date: September 2025
Duration: Three years full-time. Four and a half to nine years part-time.
Location: Ipswich
Typical Offer: 112 UCAS points (or above), BBC (A-Level), DMM (BTEC), Merit (T Level)
Course options: Professional Placement
Institution code: S82
UCAS code: W293
Start date: September 2025
Duration: Three years full-time. Four and a half to nine years part-time.
Location: Ipswich
Typical Offer: 112 UCAS points (or above), BBC (A-Level), DMM (BTEC), Merit (T Level)

Overview

Our Graphic Design and Graphic Illustration courses offer you control over your creative direction and career ambitions. Because we teach both degrees together, you are not tied to one study route; for instance, if you develop a passion for illustration you can transfer to Graphic Illustration to study that pathway in much more depth.  

Within both courses, projects help you develop the creative and technical skills you need for industry, while also being open enough to allow you the freedom to steer your work to suit your interests. This way, you get the most out of your time with us—tailoring your degree, exploring your career options and developing a personal approach to your creative process.  

With our small class sizes, throughout your degree you will benefit from generous contact time with our tutors and technicians and easy access to all facilities, supporting you to advance your learning and hone your design skills.   

Employability is at the heart of our Graphic Design course. Alongside developing a broad range of practical skills, you learn how to be a creative and critical thinker, developing transferable skills along the way.  

Our links to professional bodies, experts and design practitioners makes for an industry-focused programme, providing you with fantastic networking and placement opportunities. For example, students have recently received industry-set briefs from BBC Studios, Jacob Bailey and Itineris, and worked on client-facing live projects for Suffolk Archives, 4YP, Saxon Packaging, MT Productions and Ipswich Vision. Tutors will also advise and support you in approaching design studios to arrange practical work experience.  

To give you and your work maximum exposure, we support rolling out competitions from partner organisations as extracurricular projects, as well as embed national competitions within the course curriculum. Read more in Career Opportunities below.  

  

Applicant Portfolio Advice 

Below we provide some useful tips on what to include in your application portfolio. Since there is no set ‘checklist’, if you do not have all of the suggested elements, we still encourage you to apply.  

  • Include a range of work demonstrating creativity in its broadest sense. If you can, provide examples of applied design, typography and digital skills.  
  • Show work that represents graphic design with ideas at its centre and that aims to communicate a message.  
  • Provide examples of drawing skills in a range of different mediums.  
  • Demonstrate your ability to analyse your own work and the work of others.  
  • Show a project from start to finish, so we can gauge your creative journey and understand your design process.  

Contact us with your questions: graphics@uos.ac.uk  

The University of Suffolk is world-class and committed to our region. We are proudly modern and innovative and we believe in transformative education. We are on the rise with a focus on student satisfaction, graduate prospects, spending on academic services and student facilities.

7th

in the UK for Graphic Design

(The Guardian University Guide, 2024)

1st

in the Eastern Region for Graphic Design

(The Guardian University Guide, 2024)

3rd

in the UK for course satisfaction in Graphic Design

(The Complete University Guide 2023)

Course Modules

Our undergraduate programmes are delivered as 'block and blend', more information can be found on Why Suffolk? You can also watch our Block and Blend video.   

Downloadable information regarding all University of Suffolk courses, including Key Facts, Course Aims, Course Structure and Assessment, is available in the Definitive Course Record.  

Design by Maria-Teodora Dragomir

This module introduces key digital software and contexts, familiarising students with industry standard requirements and encouraging them to explore the creative potential of digital processes.

This module introduces students to approaches and methods for the generation of ideas in order to solve visual communication problems.

This module engages students with the activity of image making as a multi-faceted language, reinforcing the idea of drawing, mark-making and image construction as core skills to both the graphic designer and illustrator.

This module introduces the basic principles of formal typography and how type can be used creatively. 

This module explores a range of print processes and media for creating illustration outcomes.

This module introduces the historical and contemporary contexts of Graphic Design and Illustration and explores their relationship to professional practice.

This module develops a student’s understanding of contemporary visual branding and how a designer/illustrator communicates their clients’ identity.

This module allows students to explore how sequential narratives in applied contexts influence and affect an audience's interaction with illustrative outcomes.

This module allows students to develop their knowledge and digital skills in UX and UI illustration and design for screen-based communications.

This module builds on Contextual Studies at Level 4 and introduces the underpinning research and writing skills needed to be able to approach a Dissertation at Level 6. It seeks to extend students’ critical questioning of their discipline and introduces design writing and publishing as a potential career option.

This module extends student’s knowledge of contemporary illustration contexts through projects focusing on employability and professional practice, where-possible, through client-facing briefs.

This module allows students to use experience of a work placement towards their degree. (Replaces Professional Illustration Practices.)

This year-long module focuses on the development of a Graphic Illustration Portfolio. Through reflective analysis and the completion of set and negotiated projects, it provides the student with the opportunity to produce work that represents their personal career ambitions. The module allows the student to bring together all that they have learnt on the course to date, and to develop a self-awareness of their personal creative process and how to produce highly effective and professionally realised visual communication outcomes.

This module allows students to explore the personal and professional career or postgraduate education options open to them. Through reflective creative projects, engagement with industry partners, discussions surrounding contemporary practice, and exercises that explore employability skills, the module seeks to position the student more confidently in their progression from higher education.

The Dissertation provides an opportunity to conduct a significant piece of research that engages critically with the student’s own interests. It allows them to articulate their findings through a piece of academic writing and to position themselves as an emerging expert in their field of study.

Waterfront Building reflecting in the marina

WHY SUFFOLK

2nd in the UK for Career Prospects

WUSCA 2024

3rd in the UK for spend on academic services

Complete University Guide 2025

4th in the UK for Teaching Satisfaction

Guardian University Guide 2024
Close-up of students sitting with laptops
Graphics Students
A lecturer sitting with a student discussing their work
BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Two students reviewing work
Graphics Students
Corridor in the Arts Building
Virtual Tour of The Arts Building

Entry Requirements

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Career Opportunities

We are proud that many of our graduates find jobs with respected graphic design studios in the region such as Firebrand Creative, Jacob BaileyLinassi + CoStrategiQ and This is Fever ; while others have gone on to work at national organisations including FutureGov, Government Digital Services, M-is and Saatchi & Saatchi.

If you want to run your own business, the degree also equips you with the crucial skills to be a successful freelance designer or to set up your own design practice. Alternatively, you can progress to a design-related Masters degree or initial teacher training.

Our graphic design graduates go on to follow careers in a broad range of areas including:

    • Graphic design

    • Illustration

    • Art direction

    • Publishing

    • Web design

    • App design

    • Exhibition design

    • Branding

    • Advertising

    • Marketing

    • Content creation

    • Film and television

    • Teaching

Your Course Team

Dr Vassiliki Tzomaka

Course Leader for Graphic Design and Illustration Vassiliki Tzomaka is an interdisciplinary artist, with experience in visual communication and marketing.

Vassiliki Tzomaka staff profile photo

Nigel Ball

Nigel Ball joined the University of Suffolk in 2007 and is a Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design and Head of Arts.

Nigel Ball staff profile photo

Jane Hackett

Jane is a lecturer in Graphic Design, who continues to practise alongside her academic career, working on projects for the likes of M&S and British Gas.

Jane Hackett staff profile photo

Rob Ramsden

Rob lectures in Graphic Design and Illustration, and has been a freelance illustrator working for the likes of the BBC, Walker Books, Barclays and Vodafone.

Srin Surti

Srin is a lecturer in Printmaking and works on both the BA Fine Art and BA Graphic Design courses. He has exhibited his work across the UK and abroad.

David Wilson-Nunn

David Wilson Nunn is Visiting Senior Fellow in Graphic Design and Creative Director for BBC Studios, a post he has held since January 2012.

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Tuition Fee

£9,250

per year
International Full-time Tuition Fee

£15,690

per year

The decision to study a degree is an investment into your future, there are various means of support available to you in order to help fund your tuition fees and living costs. You can apply for funding from the Spring before your course starts.

UK Fees and Finance UK Bursaries and Scholarships International Fees and Scholarships

Ipswich Award

The University of Suffolk is offering a £1,000 Award for students joining the University of Suffolk’s Ipswich campus. The Award is based on specific eligibility criteria based on your year of entry.

More information
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How to Apply

To study this course on a full-time basis, you can apply through UCAS. As well as providing your academic qualifications, you’ll be able to showcase your skills, qualities and passion for the subject.

Apply Now Further Information on Applying
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Ayanna Peniston, BA (Hons) Graphic Design (Graphic Illustration)

"What made me choose this university over any other is that I felt that the University of Suffolk had a close knit community and that the small classroom sizes would allow for full engagement with the lecturers"

read more
Graphic Design and Illustration Student

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