Module overview
The External Projects module builds upon your experiences in Part 2 of the programme by providing an industry based focus through which you can begin to synthesise your skills, ideas and working methods into ambitious outcomes. An emphasis will be on analysis and evaluation of your practice so that you can acquire the specific skills necessary to further your work in relation to professional standards. An increasingly thorough application of critical thinking will also help you recognise the strengths of what you are producing in relation to, and in challenge of, audience expectations. You will become aware of the importance of detail and refinement within your visual presentations and outcomes. Alongside this exposure to, and input from, a range of industry professionals will contribute to the process of professionalising your working practices further.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Test concepts, strategies and experiments to investigate, and problem solve through effectively interacting with others and knowledge exchange
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- How Diverse and Equitable perspectives, relating but not limited to race, ethnicity, age, disability, gender, class, faith and sexual orientation innovate and enhance civic society and social engagement
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Reflect and engage with critical feedback to enhance your work for an audience
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Creatively resolve problems utilising appropriate current and emerging technologies, skills and equipment to a professional level
Syllabus
The External Projects module is designed around project briefs and competitions that are set by industry partners or organisations outside the environment of the graphic communication course. In this context you are given the opportunity to begin to measure yourself against peers locally, nationally and in some cases internationally. The module requires you to consolidate all elements of your practice into a professionalised process by understanding more about the efficiencies of thought and process required in a professional environment. In addition, the module asks you to employ critical, conceptual and contextual thinking to your working approach and research. The module also offers the opportunity to engage with specialist practitioners at the forefront of your discipline through guest lectures and workshops.
You will be encouraged to be independent and self-motivated, and to strive for ambition and confidence in the presentation of your work. You will continuously question and evaluate your work to arrive at increasingly focused creative outcomes through pitches, critiques and presentations. These will communicate qualities of originality, coherence and a detailed understanding of how to apply specific media and techniques, appropriate to your ambitions as either a specialist or interdisciplinary practitioner.
The quality and depth of discipline contextual awareness will be markedly higher than previous years of study. The work and outcomes of this module can inform and influence the focus and thinking of the Final Major Project module in semester 2.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include:
- Project Briefings
- Group tutorials and discussions
- One-to-one tutorials
- Critical Reviews
- Seminars
- Creative and technical workshops
- Visual presentations
- Industry insight from guest speakers
Learning activities include:
- Research and concept development workshops
- Creative and technical workshops
- School resource based learning
- Seminars
- Peer group learning
- Group critiques
- Self-assessment
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Teaching | 58 |
Independent ÃÛÌÒTV | 242 |
Total study time | 300 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Klein. N (1999). No Logo. New York: Fourth Estate.
Wally Olins (2008). The Brand Handbook. Thames and Hudson.
Bringhust, Robert (2012). The elements of typographic style. Hartley & Marks Publishers.
Jost Hochuli (2015). Detail in Typography. B42.
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Portfolio
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback: Feedback on project brief. You will experience formative feedback during the module in different learning situations, for example: tutorials, crits and written feedback, contributing to the written summative feedback given at the end of the module.
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: No
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Portfolio | 100% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Portfolio | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Portfolio | 100% |