Skip to main content

Graphic Design and Animation BA(Hons)

2024-25 (also available for 2025-26)

Apply now Order a prospectusOpen Days
{{menu.previous.name}}
{{menu.center.name}}
{{menu.next.name}}
Places available in clearing. Find out more.
Places available in clearing. Find out more.

Start date

16 September 2024

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years inc. placement year

Chat with our students  

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. You could enhance your graduate prospects by undertaking a skills-boosting work placement. Alternatively, you might set up your own freelance business through our Enterprise Placement Year.  
  2. Your hard work and achievements will be celebrated at our annual summer degree show – a highlight of the academic year.
  3. You’ll have the opportunity to learn the techniques and skills to pursue a multimedia design career in the evolving creative industries.

If you’re keen to learn core creative industry skills – from the handmade to the digital, including 2D and 3D concept realisations – our Graphic Design and Animation BA(Hons) course is designed to set you up to succeed.

Along the way, we’ll support and inspire you to experiment creatively, to help you become a strong visual communication designer. You can also gain a wider understanding of the strategies behind developing your work, gaining skills in:

  • storytelling narratives
  • visual language
  • branding
  • user experience

During this Graphic Design and Animation degree course, our approach closely aligns itself with creative industry practices. It also encourages innovation through collaboration, which will enhance your prospects when you apply for an optional industry placement.

The ambitions and ethos of this course are championed by our students, staff, graduates, and industry partners. It’s vital that you understand how graphic design – both static and motion based – works in the wider world, which is why we work with a range of communication theories and diverse guest speakers. This gives you the chance to understand the factors shaping the industry.

Why study Graphic Design and Animation BA(Hons)

You’ll have the opportunity to learn the techniques and skills to pursue a multimedia design career in the evolving creative industries. From film and advertising to websites and social media, graphic design and animation co-exist across different media channels, including digital, print and moving image.

You could enhance your graduate prospects by undertaking a skills-boosting work placement. Alternatively, you could set up your own freelance business through our Enterprise Placement Year. Your achievements will also be celebrated at our annual summer degree show.

This degree could open the door to a variety of career possibilities, too, in graphic design and animation itself, or in art, illustration or another related subject.

Course detail

Core modules:

Design Process and Production 1

The module will introduce you to the key principles of contemporary professional practice in terms of principles and process. It will focus on the fundamental techniques of production. It will develop your understanding of two- and three-dimensional space and the importance of physical and digital processes to generate and capture your work.

Design Studio 1

This module will introduce you to the creative thinking processes and tools to undertake good quality research in order to identify and fulfil the needs of the client using 2D and 3D Design and their application through project work. Design projects will enable you to explore and develop design proposals using a range of methods, practical skills and specialist knowledge.

Design Theory and Context 1

This module will introduce you to a range of relevant theories for and about design. It will introduce you to discourses and debates relating to the history, influences, production and critical reception of design. It will contextualise these aspects in terms of your discipline providing an overarching understanding of design in general as well as more focused elements pertinent to your design field.

Entry requirements

To find out if you’re eligible to start this course in September 2024 and get more information on how to apply, please see our Clearing pages or call our Clearing Helpline on 0333 987 900001484 472777.

If you’re interested in studying this course in September 2025, please view the 2025-26 course information.

Placements

The course offers an optional one-year (36 weeks minimum) work placement after the second year, in the UK or abroad. This will give you the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience, insight into your chosen career and open up your graduate employment prospects. Our Placement Unit and academic staff have excellent industry links and can support you in applying for and finding your placement(s), as well as during your placement year.

Students within the area of Graphic Design and Animation have previously taken up placement opportunities with companies including: Fantastic Media; Territory Studio – London and Banter Media – Ashton under Lyne.

Alternatively, if you are a student from within the UK, you could consider starting your own small business by applying for the Enterprise Placement Year in conjunction with the University’s Enterprise Team. You’ll have the opportunity to benefit from business advice, mentoring and networking sessions. You can find out more information on the Enterprise Placement Year here.

You can find out more information on placements here.

During my placement year at Airbus Helicopters GmbH in Donauwörth, Germany I created posters, infographics, social media material, assisted other colleagues in creating graphic elements and edited videos. My team were a great mix of people and helped me to develop my skills.

Profile photo of Maria Lynam

Maria Lynam, Graphic Design BA(Hons) final year student

Student Work

A gallery of work by our students and graduates from Graphic Design and Animation. Click on each image to find out more.

Your career

This course aims to help you develop the skills needed in the growing convergence of graphic design and animation. This could enable you to take up roles in new media design, motion graphics, visual effects, brand awareness, digital strategy, user interaction and concept art, for roles such as design director, digital producer, art director, storyboard artist, social strategist, motion designer, digital designer, interaction designer, interface developer, editor or production co-ordinator.Previous students have been on placements and gained employment with Territory Studio (London), Studio NinetyOne (London) and The Mill (USA)**.

*Percentage of our undergraduate students from this course go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20, UK domiciled, other activities excluded).

**Source: LinkedIn

100% Graduates employed*

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Important information

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by our terms and conditions, Handbook of Regulations and associated policies. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan.

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

Changes to a course you have applied for but are not yet enrolled on

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment. We may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will discuss with you other suitable courses we can transfer your application to. If you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

Changes to option modules:

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have an equivalent range of options to that advertised for the course. We will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes:

We will only make major changes to non-optional modules on a course if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change is a change that substantially changes the outcomes, or a significant part of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum. For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators or a commissioning or accrediting body. We may also make changes to improve the course in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback or to ensure you are being taught current best practice. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment, or pandemics.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but may happen sooner in an emergency. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed in accordance with the student protection plan.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

You may also be interested in...

Graphic Design BA(Hons)

Typography, layout, packaging, branding, motion and user-experience design, Graphic Design BA(Hons) aims to equip you with the skills to be a graphic designer.

Find out more How to apply

Full-time

Undergraduate

View more courses