Immerse yourself in a dynamic design environment where industry-experienced lecturers will guide you towards becoming a professional in the ever-changing world of graphic and media design.
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Overview
At Hereford College of Arts, we equip you with essential skills for a thriving career in the creative industry. You will explore diverse disciplines like social media design, motion graphics, UI/UX design, print, graphic arts, generative AI and branding - forming the backbone of contemporary graphic and media design.
Our course emphasizes real-world experience, engaging you with local and national creative media companies. You will collaborate with professional designers, artists, and clients, gaining industry-standard knowledge and skills sought after by employers. We foster a professional yet relaxed studio environment, where you are supported by industry-active tutors and have access to cutting-edge technology.
Personalise your journey based on your passions and aptitudes, while you develop your unique graphic style. With a personal approach to education, focussing on the individual, Hereford College of Arts equips you with the skills and enthusiasm you to express yourself through distinctive, commercially focused ideas. Join us to start your creative journey and let your graphic design aspirations take flight.
What our students do...
Find a career you will love
We pride ourselves on offering outstanding professional practice opportunities, regularly engaging with local, regional, and national live briefs, often with paid outcomes.
You will benefit from industry expertise through professional practice conferences (recent speakers have included Peter Saville, Jonathan Barnbrook, Rob Draper and Hamish Muir), workshops, and educational visits to design agencies.
You will also have the opportunity to compete in prestigious competitions like D&AD and the Batsford Prize, gain work placements, and refine your interview skills. Additionally, projects focused on branding and marketing will equip you with the skills you need to succeed as a freelance designer.
92.05
In the 2023/2024 NSS Survey HCA students rated the teaching on their course at 92.05. This is significantly higher than the sector average and something we aim to continuously improve on.
HCA's 2024 scores would place us in the TOP 6 of the Times Ed National NSS League Table. This follows another outstanding year of NSS In 2023, when our scores would have been in the TOP 3.
NSS 2024
RECENT INDUSTRY INSIGHT FROM
Phil Cleaver (Pentagram, Wolff Olins, 'What They Didn't Teach You In Design School')
Rob Draper (NASA, Uniqlo, Nike)
Peter Saville (Burberry, Joy Division, official England football team kit)
Jonathan Barnbrook (Phaidon, David Bowie, Art Basel)
FreeMe Motion Graphics (BBC Sports, BT Sport, JOE Media)
Martin Parr
tommorowisclosed (Channel 4, BBC, BAFTA winner)
Fold Graphics (The Beefy Boys, 2Faced Dance)
Pete Lee (Superdry)
eighteen73 (Chase, Royal Society of Sculptors, SheerLuxe)
All Frills Studio
Paul Jeffrey (Universal Music, Island Records, Sony/BMG)
Career paths include:
Graphic Designer (in-house/freelance/agency)
UI/UX Designer
Marketing Specialist
Motion Graphics Designer
Editorial and Print Designer
Branding Design/Brand Management
Visualiser
Graphic Artist
Animator
Website Designer
Art Director/ Creative Director
Packaging Designer
Studio/Agency Manager
£31874
The average UK salary for a graphic designer is £31,874 with the average salary range falling between £28K and £38K.
Reed.co.uk
Fill your visual data banks, walk the streets. Go to a Museum. Go to an Art Gallery. Go to a flea market. Then design with your body and heart not your head, and remember like a child you are your most creative when you simply play.
Phil Cleaver - HCA Fellow and Associate Lecturer
Become a master of your craft
What sets us apart is our commitment to personalised education - with smaller group sizes, you benefit from significantly more contact hours with tutors who support and challenge you. The quality of that feedback accelerates your growth as a designer - helping you dive deep and begin to master specific disciplines, or discover new areas and broaden your portfolio.
This commitment to individual learning ensures easy access to facilities and workshops, and increases your opportunities to engage with live briefs, working firsthand with clients.
From the second year, you can specialise in your preferred area of design, such as motion, UI, or print. You will also be supported to secure excellent work experience opportunities and placements within the industry, all while experiencing a safe, friendly, community driven atmosphere throughout your studies.
What you will learn
Foundations, learning design principles, knowledge and skills
Learn design principles and develop skills in idea generation, visual narrative and storytelling, design research, typography, social media, graphic illustration, user interface design (UI/UX), Motion graphics, printing, layout, animation and photography.
Learn technical skills in various design-related digital media such as Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, XD, After Effects, Illustrator, Wordpress, ChatGPT, Midjourney AI, Madmapper and Figma.
Explore screen, print, paper, 3D materials, hand-craft and machine making skills in our renowned workshop spaces.
Develop your ability to design professional solutions for presenting information and complex data for print and screen.
Develop advanced practice & entrepreneurship, live projects, brand, motion & UI
Expand your knowledge and professional skills, specialise and advance in your favoured area of design.
Focus on branding and identity, advertising and promotion, user interface design (UI/UX), design for social media, motion graphic design, advertising and promotion, design for digital platforms and editorial design.
Work on live projects set by external clients, external bodies such as industry employers and competition briefs.
Work on an a collaborative entrepreneurship project to create, brand and market your own graphic arts business.
Specialisation, sophisticated & innovative creative practice
Create a sophisticated and innovative professional portfolio of work.
Specialise and advance in your favoured area of design (print/screen/motion/interactive/Graphic arts)
Undertake real world projects including competition briefs and other professionally-focused projects and create your own projects from your passions and interests.
Enhance your independent practice through creative thinking, idea generation and problem solving; alongside core skills in typography, image use, Generative AI, UI/UX and motion.
Complete research for your creative projects that provides broad contextualisation to your practice and replaces the traditional dissertation essay.
What our students say
HCA pushed me to be more confident. I'm not worried about taking risks or getting things wrong because ultimately it makes my work better in the long run.
That's something the tutors really helped me understand.
Joel Pitt - Graphic Designer, Sky Sports
One of my favourite parts of HCA was taking something visual and turning it into a product.
It was a really cool experience - getting to really know the workshops like the back of my hand, seeing the endless possibilities and having the support f the the technical demonstrators made my ideas come to life.
Indah Bromwich - Freuds Design Agency
tomorrowisclosed Partnership
Students and graduates have been able to work on high-profile motion graphics projects for the BBC, Sky and Paramount through a partnership with design and animation agency tomorrowisclosed.
Agency founder, Scott Wallace, also teaches motion graphics on the course and taps into his own professional experience to support students with insight on designing motion packages for film and TV.
We take an immersive, project-based approach to learning. This is supported by regular workshops; teaching vital creative, technical and software skills. Throughout the course, you’ll work on a wide range of external projects, developing your professional practice.
Being part of a dedicated creative community at HCA means it is easy to work across boundaries, access an exciting range of workshops, and collaborate with students across other disciplines.
Learn from experienced, practising professionals, whose work includes a wide variety of contemporary screen and print media.
Fantastic access to teaching staff, workshops, and equipment. Consistent challenge and support from an industry skilled team to develop as a designer.
Explore your own passions, with the option of a graphic arts pathway.
Work alongside experienced professionals on live industry projects.
Collaborate with Photography, Illustration and Animation undergraduate students.
Develop your unique graphic voice and build a career that suits your professional desires.
`Benefit from a programme of visiting lecturers from around the world, who introduce innovative practice to HCA students.
Our well-developed links with media industries in the region, London, and nationally, offer you invaluable professional experience, the chance of fantastic work placements, and a stimulating external speaker programme. In the past, final year students have also exhibited at high profile graduate showcase exhibitions in London. Our partners include HelloYes London, Hay Festival, Etal Design, D&AD, Dragon Rouge Design Agency London, Tommorowisclosed – motion graphics and many more.
All of our degrees are designed to enable you to pursue your individual interests within the subject area.
Because we are committed to a personal scale of education, you will have the flexibility within the course to choose the skills you want to develop in greater depth, and the topics you want to explore through project work.
This means you graduate with a portfolio that is uniquely yours, and sets you up to explore the areas of design that you may want to go into as a career.
HCA+ also allows you to take add-on short courses throughout your time at the college, while within this course some students choose to pursue a graphic art pathway
Located within the School of Visual Communication, students on Graphic and Media Design have dedicated studio spaces for group session and project work. You will also be able to take advantage of industry-standard workshops and resources, from large format printing to photo studios.
We believe in collaboration, innovation and interdisciplinary learning - so we don't restrict workshop facilities to certain subject areas.
You will have access to a full suite of industry-standard software tools, from the Adobe Creative Cloud, to Figma and Z-Brush, with the opportunity for introductory sessions or one-on-one support from our Digital Demonstrators to explore the potential of these programmes.
Hereford College of Arts has a diverse mix of students, including people with different learning styles and needs. We have a positive, inclusive atmosphere where all of our students are able to access support for their studies. Find out more here.
Make the campus your playground
Don't wait for workshops
Collaboration and innovation is at the heart of what will make you a brilliant artist or designer.
We don't ring-fence facilities for certain students.
You will be able explore printmaking, textiles and VR modelling with expert technical advice - opening up new horizons for your own practice.
(Or just because it's fun.)
Our print studios our where you can take your ideas off a screen and bring them to life.
That might be using the RISO for posters or zines, screen-printing tees or trying out some of the historic printing kit we have to perfect and scan an authentic gothic typeface.
Our print technicians will be on-hand to support you to optimise your digital designs for physical media.
Opened in 2024 our Digital Skills Centre is an alternative space to the Graphic and Media Design Studios to craft your designs.
Kitted out with new Macs and PCs, the area is staffed by Digital Demonstrators who also run weekly intro and How To classes on design software.
Located on the top floor of our CRC campus, your Graphic and Media Design studios are the heart of our studio culture.
These studios are dedicated to your course, with space to work on group projects, get feedback on designs and dive into some research.
It is set up to replicate an agency feel, offering a hybrid space to socialise and create, as well as work.
Our dedicated art + design library puts tens of thousands of books, magazines and moments of design inspiration at your fingertips.
Staffed by dedicated arts librarians who can help you unlock these resources and suggest new ones, our library services recorded some of the top ratings in the UK in recent NSS results.
UCAS Points: For anyone applying for September 2025 entry and beyond, we are looking for applicants who have achieved at or beyond 96 – 112 UCAS Tariff Points.
However, whilst qualifications are important, our offers are not solely based on academic results. We may make offers based on other evidence of talent and suitability for the course – for more details about UCAS Tariffs please see tariff explanation and advice on the UCAS website.
Mature students: Applications from mature students with relevant experience will also be considered.
Recognition of Prior Learning Opportunities: the college welcomes applications from students with prior learning and/or previous experience. Further details on eligibility can be found on page 15 of our Admissions Policy.
Applicants whose first language is not English – proof of IELTS overall score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all sections (reading, writing, listening & speaking) is required.
If you are unsure or have any questions, please contact us at registry@hca.ac.uk and we can offer further advice on HCA and the UWTSD awarding body requirements.
You can apply to HCA by making us one of your options on your UCAS application. In some cases, such as with current students and student transfers, we also accept direct applications.
We receive a high number of application all our subject areas so we recommend that you make your application as early as possible.
You can find out out everything you need about the application process using the link below. If you have any questions, just email registry@hca.ac.uk.
As soon as you apply, our Registry team will be in touch to let you know they have received your application. At this point they will also send out information on portfolios or auditions.
Portfolios and auditions are a chance for you to showcase yourself in a different way. They give us an idea of what excites you about the subject, and what you might want to explore further on the course.
We will send out guidance on how to submit your portfolio, or book and audition date, and if you have any questions you will always be able to reach out to us for assistance or clarification.
After submitting your portfolio online, your work will be reviewed by a course lead, and you will receive personal feedback alongside your offer.
Studying is an investment in yourself, and in your future. It’s important to understand the financial support that is available to you, and to be clear about any fees or funding associated with the course you want to study.
Follow the link below to visit our Fees and Funding pages. These pages are designed to help you plan for your future, so you can start your course with confidence in your financial situation.
Everyone’s personal circumstances are different. If you can’t find the information you need, our Student Finance team can offer additional advice.
Top-ups are when you start a degree somewhere else, but transfer to HCA to start either your second or third year.
There are a number of reason why students transfer to HCA, but often it is because their experience didn't live up to what they expected at other universities.
We get a high number of students transferring to HCA, and can almost always accommodate students providing they meet our standard entry requirements.
You may also be asked to provide your transcript from your previous university.
If you have questions about applying to join as a top-up student, you can find more information at the bottom of this page, or you can email any specific questions to registry@hca.ac.uk.
Our Academic Mentoring Team support Disability Students' Allowance (DSA) students to succeed as well as providing some study skills support for non DSA students with their work - for example writing extended essays in their final year, for those who take the essay option.
The team also support students to apply for DSA where appropriate.
Our Wellbeing Team support students to thrive regardless of events outside their academic studies.
Our support package includes training sessions, information and one to one personal support with low level issues right up to more challenging events and issues.
In addition, you will have access to 24-hour helpline for out of hours support.
Tutors will support you to develop and succeed academically, but they are also the first point of contact for wider issues as they work closely with you.
Careers guidance is built into everything you do on your course but we also have a specialist careers advisor to support you with what happens after your course.
Workshop and Technical Staff support with the development of skills and the production of work outside of your taught hours.
Our Registry provide support with any enrolment queries, the application process, academic regulations, and exceptional circumstances.
Our Finance team can help you manage your student finance, support you with questions around a maintenance loan and Disability Students' Allowance (DSA).
They are available to you to answer any questions around your finances including estrangements, independent students, studentfinance rules, bursaries cash, progression, hardship, emergency loans.
The Library team aid with research skills, and sourcing resources.
The Events and Student Engagement Officerwill be your first point of contact for support with student life, community and helping student realise extra curricular activities.
We also have very active Student Unions and a Student Council that you can join - or talk to as your representatives.
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