Applicants are selected according to their demonstration of potential and current ability to:

• Work imaginatively and creatively in graphic and visual media
• Apply original thought to any given problem and not mimic prevalent styles
• Demonstrate a range of skills and technical abilities
• Provide evidence of intellectual enquiry within their work
• Demonstrate potential to experiment, to test the parameters of design
• Demonstrate relevant research and reflect critically on their learning
• Demonstrate cultural awareness and/or contextual framework of their work
• Identify historical and contemporary graphic design practices
• Articulate and communicate intentions clearly.

What we are looking for

We are interested in students who are prepared to question and to take a critical perspective and who show potential to develop as innovative artists.

Communicating with you

After you have successfully submitted your application, you will receive an email confirming we have successfully received your application and providing you with your login details for the UAL Portal.  We will request any additional information from you, including inviting you to upload documents / portfolio / book an interview, through the portal.  You should check your UAL Portal regularly for any important updates and requests.

What happens next

Initial application check

We check your application to see if you meet the standard entry requirements for the course.  If you do, you will be invited to submit a mini portfolio through UAL’s online portfolio review system.

Mini portfolio

The mini portfolio should be no more than 10 pages comprising of your best work showing your skills and thinking. You can create the pages in any layout (For example: presentation boards) but they should be uploaded as jpeg images. It should include:

• Primary and secondary research, ideas development and experimentation with a different range of materials, techniques and media as well as finished pieces
• Your work could be the result of set projects and self-initiated work. We like to see images from sketchbooks or notebooks, working drawings, life-drawing, photography and media manipulation, 2D or 3D work
• Demonstrate your ability to tackle visual problems and find inventive and creative solutions
• It is useful to organize your portfolio into categories to make it easier to view. Avoid repetition and demonstrate a wide range of your skills. Include brief (one-sentence) explanatory captions.

Following the review of the mini portfolio we select a small number of applicants to move on to the next stage of the process.  These applicants will be invited to a full portfolio review.

Full portfolio review

Full portfolio review takes place at college, normally between February and March.

If you are unable to attend the full portfolio review in person, you will be asked to submit a full digital portfolio (up to 30 pages) through UAL’s online portfolio review system.

Please note that we do not accept portfolios by post.

As part of the selection process you may be invited to a group interview at CSM. Be prepared to talk about the work in your portfolio - for example, which work you consider to be your best and why? You should also be able to explain your motivation for choosing Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins or perhaps your intentions with regard to your future ambitions within the field. It may be useful to consider who or what is your inspiration, etc. Be assured that we endeavour to keep the group interviews as informal and relaxed as possible.

Portfolio advice

The full portfolio should demonstrate a range of skills appropriate to the subject area, containing examples of work completed within recent years, whether for a college project or personal work. It is important that the work applicants include reflects their engagement in creative practice, critical thinking and technical abilities and also that they include evidence of background research, e.g. sketchbooks, preliminary work and written material.

Ideas, visual research and experimentation are more important than finished work.

Please remember:

• The quality of the work is more important than the quantity
• Where possible, large or 3D work should be photographed and scanned
• Please organise your work by project, with supporting work presented alongside final outcomes.

How we notify you of the outcome of your application

You will receive the final outcome of your application through UCAS track.

BA Graphic Communication Design students leave with a broad and valuable understanding of graphic communication design practice in its many forms. Skills acquired enable graduates to become versatile practitioners in many exciting and diverse professions.

Recent alumni activity demonstrates the breadth of careers within the subject, embracing interactive design, web design, advertising, graphic design, information design, illustration, photography, film & TV, animation, editorial design, typographic design, packaging design, brand development, exhibition design, book design, 3D design, as well as in fine art, writing and filmmaking.

Course alumni include: Alan Aboud, Alan Fletcher, Andy Altman, Colin Forbes, Damon Murray, Derek Birdsall, Dylan Jones, Graham Wood, Huw Morgan, Jonathan Barnbrook, Katy Hepburn, Ken Garland, Lucienne Roberts, Michael Worthington, Minkie Spiro, Morag Myerscough, Paul Neale, Phil Baines, Platon, Richard Hollis, Sandro Sodano, Stephen Sorrell, Tom Hingston, Tony Chambers.

Design groups or companies formed by our graduates or employing our graduates include: Aboud Sodano, Bibliotheque Design, Barnbrook Design, Fallon, FUEL Design, GTF, Johnson Banks, Moving Brands, Multistorey, Pentagram, Praline, REG Design, Sans+Baum, Studio Myerscough, Tom Hingston Studio, Tomato, Why Not Associates, Wolff Ollins.

Developing your links

At the end of Stage One you will be expected to take part in the 'End of Year Folio Show' and at the end of Stage Two, the 'Work in Progress Show'; these shows are public exhibitions and although not assessed, are seen as key learning experiences as preparation for your Degree Show.

There are regular opportunities to engage with client-led live briefs featuring brands, such as LVMH, Samsung and Sony, and to participate in national and international student design competitions, such as RSA, Lloyds TSB, and D&AD. The course is a member of D&AD - BA Graphic Design students gain from discounts on submissions to the D&AD Student Awards and other benefits.

Arrangements for work experience or internships are encouraged and facilitated on an informal basis. Study trips, student exchanges, studio visits and collaborative projects (either within UAL or with partner institutions at home and abroad) offer further opportunities to study within a broader context. During Stage Two a number of 'Study Abroad' students from the USA and other countries join the course for one, two or three terms. Context 'creative writing' groups, student clubs such as 'book club' and 'sketchbook club', exhibitions such as 'work in progress', 'pop-up shows' and the 'degree show', 'interest groups', 'guest lectures' and a school-wide 'elective' present additional opportunities for social interaction or collaboration.

For details of the wide range of careers support provided for students, please visit our Careers support page.