The programme is ideal for those from diverse academic backgrounds who wish to extend and develop their prior experience through visual communication.
Students on the course have previously studied subjects from molecular genetics to English. The course is a confidence-building bridge to Master's study as well as providing the foundations for professional career development.
What can you expect?
You can expect to become part of a unique learning community, made up of staff and fellow students from a diverse range of creative disciplines and cultures.
Through tutorials, set and self-initiated projects, workshops and group discussions, you will gain a deeper understanding of the design process that will enhance your practice.
Visual language and grammar, typographic hierarchy, graphic representation, identity and information visualisation are just some of the areas you will explore.
Personal projects will provide you with a foundation in the principles of visual communication whilst engaging with postgraduate level research methods and conceptual development.
Examples of personal projects include: mapping directional devices in the city; the promotion of a typeface; visual analysis of people flow and visual surveys of lettering.
Graduates from this course have found employment within high-profile international creative agencies, design management, teaching and professional practice.
Some have established their own design studios, while others have gone on to achieve highly at Master's level.
Distinctive features
- Part-time, flexible study that can enable students to balance work/life commitments.
- Supports career conversion, step up to Masters study, the acquisition of visual communication skills for your professional practice.
- Ideal for those whose portfolio isn’t so developed.
Please note: We expect students to begin the course with a working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite: InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. Software is not taught on the course.
London College of Communication offers Short Courses in portfolio building and the relevant software skills.
Access to facilities
Part-time students need to be aware that access to our technical facilities are generally between working hours: 9am-5pm and Monday to Friday. Please check with the specific workshop area.
What our graduates say
“When I came to graduate, I was armed with…a good grounding in fundamental design principles. This meant that I was well equipped to find work at a studio, and become an active member of London's design community.
My design education began during my first conversation with (the course leader) Tony Pritchard whilst applying to the Postgraduate Certificate and it continues to this very day”.
Tom Hornby – Freelance Designer, Pentagram, formerly Senior designer, SEA Design
“This course took me from design zero to creative hero. I flew out of LCC with a perfectly proportioned Helvetica Black S centrally aligned on my chest and a complementary cape flapping stylishly behind me.
It was the perfect grounding for a career in design and creative thinking. Practical, pragmatic, challenging, and creatively inspirational. This course is very hard work, but it pays off big time. Well it did for me!"
Nick Hearne – Creative Director, Gravity Road
"The structure of the course, the variety of projects and the incredible team of guest lecturers who supported Tony Pritchard – including Teal Triggs (Associate Dean Royal College of Art), Geoff Hadden (Root 2), Tory Dunn (Head of Design HMRC Digital) and Geoff White HonFISTD – allowed me to explore fundamental components of visual communication through emphasis on focused experimentation and rigour."
Kam Rehal – Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design, University of Greenwich
What the industry says about us
"We have employed several graduates from this course and they have never failed to impress. The course is highly unusual. Applicants are not necessarily from a design background, arriving at LCC well versed in other subjects instead.
It is this that gives them the edge as design practitioners. Graphic design is, after all, all about the rest of the world".
Lucienne Roberts, AGI, MISTD, FRSA – Founder and director of design studio LucienneRoberts+ Graphic design for publishing house GraphicDesign&
"The Design for Visual Communication course continues to be a great source of lively, spirited, creative minds. This is exactly what design needs, and long may it continue".
Jonathan Ellery – Browns Design, 2019
"The postgraduate Design for Visual Communication course at London College of Communication is the best of its type in Britain, and internationally.
I say this with confidence, having been involved with operating courses and examining at a variety of levels in several European and Asian countries".
Ian McLaren
Mode of Study
Postgraduate Certificate Design for Visual Communication is in Part Time mode which runs for 30 weeks. You will be expected to commit 20 hours per week to study.
