Extended Diploma in Graphics and Creative Media

Delve into graphic design principles, typography, branding and creative media. Through hands-on projects, guided by experienced professionals, unleash your creativity and hone your skills in visual communication. Whether you aspire to work in film or the graphic design industry, this comprehensive course equips you to develop the expertise and portfolio to thrive in the competitive field of graphics and creative media.

The programme offers a thorough introduction to these exciting and developing areas of the design industry and will allow you to develop your imagination and creative thinking through the use of visual communication and practical processes.This course is ideal if you are passionate about creative thinking, problem solving and experimentation through digital and traditional media and want a career in the creative industries.��You will be taught by specialist staff to use industry-standard software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premier and Figma.The course involves a varied mix of practices that�will help to develop both your artistic and software skills as well as your visual awareness and compositional skills in order to produce industry standard outcomes.Work produced by students in the past has been submitted to the World Skills Competition, Newcastle Borough Council, Stoke Your Fires, Shelter and VCCP.The course also offers many opportunities to produce live project work in collaboration with local and national companies as and when appropriate and involvement in selected regional and national competitions is also encouraged.

This is a hands on, practical qualification and you will be assessed throughout the programme at key assessment points. This will involve research, project work, sketchbooks, practical work, design and drawing sheets, presentations and contextual studies notes and essays. All assessments will be graded Pass, Merit or Distinction.

You will need a minimum of four GCSE's, grade 4-9 in subjects relevant to the course you�d like to study, including maths and/or English Language at grade 4 or above. Alternatively, you'll have a Level 2 Certificate with overall Merit in a relevant subject. If you do not hold a GCSE in a creative subject, you will need to present a good portfolio.�If you do not have a minimum GCSE grade 4 for Maths / English, you would study these as a part of your timetable study programme. These structured weekly sessions will help you to improve your skills in these vital subject/s. In addition, Maths & English development is integrated into practical course sessions and assignments.You will be expected to bring relevant examples of your artwork to the application interview to help staff assess your suitability for art and design study.

The breadth and diversity of this course ensures an accurate identification of your creative strengths. You can then progress successfully to a specialist Art, Design and Media University course such as Graphic Design, Media Production, Illustration, Web Design, Multimedia Design, Animation, Marketing and Branding. You could also go on to one of the Higher Education courses here at the College.