MA Graphic Branding and Identity

The course team welcomes applicants from a broad range of backgrounds, from all over the world. MA Graphic Branding and Identity attracts students who apply direct from an Honours degree course in a field relevant to graphic design, product design or architecture, or those with other, equivalent qualifications.

The course team also welcomes students with relevant experience or those who may have previously worked in industry.

Educational level may be demonstrated by:

• Honours degree (named above);
• Possession of equivalent qualifications;
• Prior experiential learning, the outcome of which can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required;
• Or a combination of formal qualifications and experiential learning which, taken together, can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required.

APEL (Accreditation of Prior Learning)

Applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered in exceptional cases. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:

• Related academic or work experience
• The quality of the personal statement
• A strong academic or other professional reference
• OR a combination of these factors

Each application will be considered on its own merit but we cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

For fees and funding information, please see website 

Block 1 

• Unit 1: Situating Practices (60 credits)
  Situating Practices focuses on Graphic Branding and Identity as a subject area. It introduces you to diverse branding and identity contexts, critically addressing sociocultural and historical canons, enabling you to explore and identify your position as a branding practitioner. Through in-depth inquiry and engagement in the debates and discourses surrounding contemporary brand practice and its possible futures, you will establish a contextual foundation for your ongoing practical project work and a deeper understanding of the techniques required to produce effective and innovative graphic brand and design communication.

Block 2 

• Unit 2: Professional Practices (40 credits)
  Professional Practices focuses on Graphic Branding and Identity as an active commercial and industrial field of practice. You will develop your position as a graphic and brand designer, exploring the possibilities and potential for your future career plans. You will develop appropriate and ethical professional attitudes, behaviours, and values. In addition, you will enhance your process through academic integrity, problem-solving skills, the construction (and deconstruction) of design briefs, and explore the applicability of diverse design methodologies to real-world scenarios. Through an expansion and refinement of your design research processes, you will become part of a broader community of practice.  
• Unit 3: Collaborative Unit (20 credits)
  The focus of the unit is student-driven collaboration with projects being developed to meet the specific requirements of student groups within and across disciplinary boundaries, with potential to work with students from a broad range of discipline areas within and outside LCC/UAL.

Block 3 

• Unit 4: Master’s Project (60 credits)
  Master’s Project develops and resolves design research conducted through Units 1, 2 and 3. You will develop a final project which allows you to speculate on insightful, experimental approaches to Graphic Branding and Identity. You will present a project proposal and methodology which builds on your ongoing brand and design inquiry, enabling you to speculate on innovative, inclusive, and sustainable approaches to outputs. You will write an extensive piece of critical reflection, situating your brand and design output[s] within contemporary, historical, dominant, and emerging contexts.