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Advice for Applicants
Academic qualifications
The programme is both practical and theoretical - you need to understand the history, theory and context of your subject in order to produce high-quality work. Our starting point is 285 tariff points: our current students have an average of 362 points since the majority complete a 1-year Foundation in Art & Design or a 2-year National Diploma before coming to study with us.
However, we welcome 'direct entry' applications from those with non-traditional educational backgrounds, from mature students and from strong A-level students. Direct entry students are asked to complete a short, pre-interview, Evaluation Project which will help us (and you) assess your ability to cope with the creative challenges of the programme. The project is designed to be a useful (and enjoyable) addition to your portfolio regardless of the outcome of your application. In general, provided that you can convince us of your aptitude and commitment at interview, and provided your written and practical work is strong, we are happy to be flexible regarding formal qualifications.
Your portfolio
The offer of a place on the course is largely based on your portfolio and interview. We will ask you to bring a limited selection of portfolio work (approximately 12 x A2 folio sheets), carefully edited to show your strengths.
We are looking for evidence of visual thinking and creative problem solving in the work itself. The way you present the work is also important: think about how each page is laid out, use changes of scale to to draw our attention to specific elements, try using repetition (of scale, colour, media, subject) and then a contrasting page to emphasise the breadth of work.
Consider including working roughs for one or two projects to show your creative thinking process. Also bring up to two sketch-books / research books, chosen to reveal your creativity and media experimentation. If your drawing is strong make sure you include some examples - particularly those which focus on particular aspects of the visual form e.g. light & shade, mass, movement, texture etc.
In addition, we suggest you include a small selection of personal work; self-set projects, obsessive collections, visual experiments, creative writing, musical composition... work which helps us get a sense of who you are beyond the world of formal education. Finally, you must include an example of written work - an analytical essay or critical report - to show your capacity for written communication.
The interview
We are aiming to select students both for their individual capabilities and for their capacity to contribute positively to the life of the course. This approach helps to build a lively creative community within which current students and graduates support and mentor each other.
Members of the course team review your portfolio, and on the basis of the quality of work, will select those students who will be offered a full interview. The full interview will normally take 15-20 minutes. We will ask you about your work, your interests and sources of inspiration, and your opinions about life and the universe. We will also ask you why you would like to study with us and what you feel you could contribute to the course. We are looking for evidence of communication skills (although we do take in to account the state of tongue-tied stress that an interview can create!), engagement, passion and ambition.
If we believe, on the evidence of your portfolio, that our course is not appropriate to your interests and/or ambitions, we will let you know that you have not been selected for a full interview and will offer you the opportunity to receive feedback about our decision via an email to our Admissions Tutor.
News
Gareth Dunt shortlisted for Graduate of the Year Award
2010 BAGC Graduate Gareth Dunt has been shortlisted in the top 10 for the Media & Arts Graduate of the Year Award.
The Graduate 100 initiative recognises and celebrates Britain's outstanding Graduates. This year over 13,000 students have taken part, and as a shortlisted Graduate Gareth will be profiled in the 'Graduate 100' magazine.
Winners will be announced on the 15th September 2010 at a gala dinner in London's Grosvenor Square.
More details on the 'Graduate 100' website.
Many congratulations to Gareth on his nomination.
posted 1st Sept '10
iPhone app success for BAGC Graduate
2008 BAGC graduate Tom Harle, who works for Public Zone, is part of the team who designed and built the MyMP iPhone app. The app has now been distinguished as an Honoree at the 2010 Webby Awards. Congratulations to Tom and Public Zone on this very impressive achievement!
posted 5th July '10
Olwen wins ‘Inspire Wales’ Award
Senior Graphics Lecturer and Director of the Cardiff Design Festival, Olwen Moseley, won the 2010 'Inspire Wales' Award in the category of Arts Media and Creative Industries. The award is made for her outstanding contribution to the enhancement of Wales’ reputation through her work on Cardiff Design Festival. The awards are organised by the Institute for Welsh Affairs, in association with the Western Mail. Congratulations to Olwen from all at BAGC on her prestigious win!
posted 16th June '10
Rotterdam Centraal
Following a visit to Cardiff School of Art & Design by representatives from The Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam last summer, Ian Weir, BAGC Programme Director, visited the GLR in May to continue with discussions about cultural and educational exchanges between our two institutions. Our aim is to provide exciting opportunities for students and tutors from both institutions in the near future.
posted 16th June '10
Olwen is ‘Inspire Wales’ finalist
CSAD’s Director of Enterprise, Director of the Cardiff Design Festival, and BA Graphics Lecturer Olwen Moseley is a finalist for the 2010 ‘Inspire Wales‘ award in the category of Arts, Media and Creative Industries.
The award is to recognise ‘an outstanding contribution by an individual to the enhancement of Wales’s reputation in the arts, media or creative industries’.
Congratulations to Olwen from all on the course!
posted 26th May '10
Switch Show 2010 - images
A selection of images from the BAGC second year 'Switch' show are now available on the Graphics W210 Blog - click here to view.
Congratulations to Steffi Roberts who was awarded a work placement with UWIC's marketing team, and to Matt Cornelius, Ruth Lucas and Jon Sheahan who won placements with The Brand Union in London.
posted 17th May '10
BA (hons) Graphic Communication second year Show 2010
Friday 14th May - Wednesday 19th May
The second year show entitled ‘Switch’ opens this Friday 14th May at 4pm, continuing Saturday 15th may (10am – 4pm), Monday and Tuesday (10am – 6pm), finishing on Wednesday 19th May (10am – 1pm).
The event takes place in 'N' Block at the Llandaff Campus, UWIC, Western Avenue.
posted 11th May '10
BA (hons) Graphic Communication Degree Show 2010
Saturday 5th June - Friday 11th June
On Tuesday 8th June there will be a reception at Llandaff Campus starting at 5:30pm, followed by a guest speakers Andrew Shoben from Greyworld and James Graham from Thoughtful.
Full details on the CSAD News page.
posted 7th May '10
Communication Master's Programmes
Cardiff School of Art & Design offers two taught programmes at Master’s degree level:
Communication MDes - A route centred on the professional and applied aspects of creativity generated in the realm of contemporary communication.
Communication MA - A challenging academic route with opportunity for experimentation and stimulating cross—disciplinary collaboration.
Both can be studied full-time or part-time.
More information on the MA/MDes website.
posted 28th Apr '10
Teaching Fellowship Awards
Two tutors on the BA Graphic Communication programme have been awarded University of Wales Teaching Fellowships in recognition of the quality of their teaching. This is the first time that such an award has been made in Wales; Annie Grove-White and Ruth Dineen are the two recipients.
Congratulations to you both!
posted 22nd Apr '10
Gareth attends D&AD - pics online now
Third year Graphic Communicator Gareth Dunt has been attending the D&AD judging event in London as course rep.
Gaz has taken plenty of pics of the work being judged, and you can see them on his Flickr site here.
posted 21st Apr '10
Wendy Keay-Bright's Best Paper Award
A paper written by BA Graphic Communication Senior Lecturer Wendy Keay-Bright with Fakri Othman has been selected as one of the top papers at the ACHI 2010 conference, held in February this year.
The paper was titled 'Using Rotoscopy Technique to Assist the Teaching of Handwriting for Children with Dyspraxia'.
Visit the ACHI 2010 Awards web page here.
posted 7th Apr '10
W-TWO-ONE-0
We are delighted to launch the inaugural issue of W-TWO-ONE-O design magazine, written and produced by first-year students on the BA Graphic Communication programme at Cardiff School of Art & Design. It reflects both theoretical and practical understandings of the major cultural/visual movements of the last century – revealed through studio projects, articles about designers, and through the design of the magazine itself.
posted 9th Mar '10
New work added
The second year 'sustainable:me' project has been added to the 'Student work & links' page.
For this project, students were asked to focus on the sustainability of their practice as Graphic Communicators.
View a selection of images here.
posted 2nd Mar '10
4-Designers
Our annual student trip to the 4 Designers Conference took place again this year, between 22nd-23rd Feb, and an enjoyable, inspiring time was had by all.
Among the speakers were Patrick Baglee and Lise Brian, and the designers of the SomeOne design agency.
posted 28th Feb '10
Reflective Journal
A piece of work by Matthew Weeks has been added to the student work and links page, documenting and reflecting on his first term as a Graphics student at CSAD.
posted 8th Dec 09
Students work featured
Four designers featured in a new book about Marmite are current students or recent graduates of the BA Graphic Communication programme. 'The Bumper Book of Marmite' published by Absolute Press features work by 2008 graduates Ben Clay and Rebecca Cooke, and current 3rd year students Richie Evans and Harriet Cooper. The book is designed by another BA Graphics graduate and friend of the course, Claire Siggery.
posted 17th Nov 09
Politics Show feature
Third year Graphics students Joanne Hawker and Ritchie Evans have designed a poster for a feature on BBC's The Politics Show being aired this coming Sunday (15th Nov) at 12.15pm. A film crew came and filmed Jo and Ritchie in the studio working on their design. Congratulations to you both.
View the BBC article here.
posted 13th Nov 09
