Handbook

The graphic image has emerged as a prevailing form of communication in everyday life as a result of the shift from textual models, which represented the lingua franca for discourses in the arts, culture and media, to one of visual experience. This 'pictorial turn' has been spearheaded by the emergence of new digital technologies available to the masses in the creation, display and rapid transmission of the image to wider audiences via the Internet, film, photography, print and video.

The course introduces topical issues in contemporary graphic design and its significance in society, including communicating identities, designing for national and global audiences, graphics as strategic communication between the client and the public, and design as social policy. As a social activity, the graphic communication of image and text engages critical reflection in the production and consumption of cultural knowledge, particularly the process of meaning making in national iconography, product advertising and editorial design.

This fully online course comprises a series of integrated lectures, learning activities and assessment tasks that inform your ability to analyse and interpret the graphics in the world around you. You will apply this knowledge in the creation of a series your own graphic design responses to progressively challenging briefs that enable you to explore the relationship between image and cultural interpretation and identity. You will have the chance to discuss ideas and graphic design solutions with your peers and lecturer, encouraging critical reflection, group interaction and collaborative development of ideas and projects.