Master of Arts in Graphic Design

at Leeds Beckett University - City Campus United Kingdom

Learn the essentials of business leadership, critical thinking and analytical skills, underpinned with a thorough grounding in the key principles of business management.

By specialising in human resources, you will gain an understanding of how to use an organisation's best resource - its workforce - to achieve its strategic goals and get the very best out of each individual and team. You will also study key perspectives on human behaviour, how these behaviours are affected by times of uncertainty and change and what you can do to mitigate these challenges.

This course is ideal for graduates of non-business related courses who want to boost their employability by adding fundamental business and management skills to their CV - with a particular leaning towards human resource management.

With a strong focus on practical learning, you will make use of our purpose-built business simulation suite, allowing you to devise rapid response strategies to address a range of business-critical challenges and crisis situations. Immediate feedback from a facilitator will help evaluate and improve your analytical and decision making skills.

You will be taught through lectures, seminars and tutorials, using both individual and group work. Your tutors are academic experts, many of whom are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy, and industry practitioners, qualified to professional chartered status in their respective fields.

Develop the confidence and expertise to work in a range of professions across the children’s workforce.

As part of this course, you’ll:

• Focus on the sociology and psychology of children and childhood in your classroom-based learning
• Pay attention to the importance of play for children’s wellbeing and development

You’ll have access to work-based learning opportunities with experienced supervisors in a range of child-focused occupations. Upon graduation you’ll have a range of practical and transferable skills at your fingertips, and a critical understanding of contemporary issues central to the study and practice of childhood development and playwork.

Effective health and safety practices are integral to the success of any organisation. Whether you work as an operations manager, office manager, engineer or technician, you will be involved in establishing and maintaining a safe working environment. We will develop your knowledge of how different organisations use varying levels of safety procedures and you will assess their impact on the company as a whole.

By investigating an organisation in its entirety, you will gain a broad knowledge of other departments such as marketing, sales and human resources and how they are affected by the procedures and processes you implement. You will also enhance your understanding of the technical and human aspects of health and safety, learning to identify whether problems were caused by machine malfunctions or misjudgement by humans.

Develop your critical analytical and interpretive skills and forge a deeper sociological understanding of the world around you.

As part of this course you’ll:

• Learn to understand the complex social conditions that drive people to commit crime and how that expert knowledge can enhance your study of criminology
• Critically analyse and challenge responses to crime in order to help shape a better society
• Study a variety of topics such as modern theories of sociology and criminology, exploring issues such as youth crime, social exclusion and how the media shapes our perceptions of crime
• Choose your own area of investigation when researching and writing your dissertation

You’ll engage with sociology and criminology equally. Through a blend of workshops, collaborative projects and observational field trips, you’ll be encouraged to drive your studies in the direction of your choosing.

Sociological projects can include creating wikis or presenting your work at a student conference. You could even see your critical essay published in our school's highly regarded sociology journal.

Gain a thorough understanding of core business and management principles including strategic management and organisational analysis. You will develop your leadership, critical thinking and analytical skills to achieve specific business goals and respond to business-critical challenges.

The finance specialism will introduce you to the basics of organisational finance and how to use financial information to support business decisions.

Our modules have been designed by academics and industry experts to ensure that the knowledge and capabilities you develop match senior level responsibilities in organisations across all sectors.

With a strong focus on action learning, your experience will be enhanced by the business simulation suite, through which you will improve your evaluation and decision-making skills by developing strategies to respond to a range of business-critical challenges.

This course is ideal if you have the ambition to develop your managerial prospects, with a particular focus on financial management.

Explore design in the intersection between art, gaming and technology.

As part of your course you’ll:

• Apply the fundamentals of design theory to game art and related visual media
• Develop practical 2D/3D visualisation and compositional skills
• Establish your practice in the form of a personal portfolio
• Understand the application of critical studies in relation to game art and what is required when working on the production of digital assets within game engine and visualisation technologies
• Undertake personal, detailed academic and practical research in relation to your specialised subject area
• Validate your creative process through your dissertation and portfolio of work

You’ll engage with a series of stimulating summer projects before your course starts, designed to prepare you for first year of study.

Informed by an intellectually stimulating and challenging academic environment and developed in consultation with industry, including game studio and Rockstar Leeds, you’ll build a strong practical skillset focused on developing your creative practice.

Your learning will be results-driven, taught by staff with a wealth of experience in the principles, theory and application of design.  Our strong links with industry will give you opportunities to start building your professional network whilst you study.

Your attendance at annual events such Games Republic, London’s Vertex 2D/3D art conference and guest lectures by leading practitioners such as Disney Animator Aaron Blaise will give access to the world's best creatives.  

Specialist facilities:-
Within specialist facilities, software such as ZBrush, 3ds Max, Maya, Substance Painter, Adobe Creative Suite and HD screen-based drawing tablets, will provide you with the opportunity to reach your creative potential.

Build on your existing knowledge of finance and economics with a thorough examination of international banking and investment. You will learn about banking regulations across the globe and how economic factors can affect investment growth and financial stability. You will explore theories relevant to understanding current industry practices in the UK and further afield.

You will be taught by a team of supportive tutors, and you will be able to draw on their considerable industry experience in economics and finance, which includes consultancy work with the International Monetary Fund.

Complementing the strong international dimension of this course, you could find yourself working alongside students from around the world, sharing experiences, new ideas and different ways of working.

Your course is international in every sense - from the mix of students, to the backgrounds of our teaching staff to the course content itself - producing a multi-cultural learning environment to prepare you for the international employment market. Our highly-qualified and experienced teaching team also bring valuable industry backgrounds and contacts so you will benefit from an ideal blend of theory and practice.

Civil engineering is a rewarding profession with engineers increasingly working in multidisciplinary teams.

As part of this course, you’ll:

• Study a practical course that will ensure you have the technical and management capabilities to contribute effectively in a wide range of environments
• Be supported in recording your initial professional development for membership of the accrediting institutions
• Secure work placements during the summer, with the help of your course team

Accredited IEng (Full)
This degree is accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) comprising the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Structural Engineers, Institute of Highway Engineers, and the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation on behalf of the Engineering Council as fully satisfying the educational base for an Incorporated Engineer (IEng).

The course team will help you secure work placements during the summer and your sandwich year, if you choose to take one. A placement or sandwich year will provide you with a great opportunity to gain practical experience in the workplace, which will help you apply for jobs when you graduate.

You will choose one of three strands to specialise in fashion design, visual communication for fashion or fashion writing.

The fashion writing strand will be taught through an engaging mix of lectures, seminars and workshops. If you study either the fashion design, or visual communication for fashion strands, the majority of your course will be delivered in a hands-on studio environment. Regardless of your specialism, you will be taught in our industry-standard facilities.

In addition to your chosen specialist strand, your will complete a core module in Research Methods, which will equip you with the knowledge you will need to complete in-depth research and produce a proposal for your independent projects. You will also complete a dissertation, which will be related to your Independent Project modules.

Depending on your chosen specialism, you will delve deeper into an area of personal interest. The fashion-writing strand offers you the opportunity to develop skills related to the creation of editorial content – be it print magazines, online writing, or promotional work. There is scope on the course to enhance your written skills to a professional standard, specifically in relation to fashion journalism, but you’ll also be encouraged to think creatively and innovatively with regards the publishing industry as a whole.

If you are a visual communication for fashion student, your work may explore concepts for traditional and digital visual marketing, or simply develop a relevant technique or process, such as fashion photography, styling, illustration, or film. If you choose the fashion design route, you could concentrate on developing traditional and/or experimental pattern cutting and construction processes. You will be encouraged to explore craft and innovation to inform materials and fabrication within your work.

As part of this course, you’ll:

• Examine literatures past and present, and from around the world
• Be taught by award-winning writers
• Have the chance to work on an extended creative writing project as you collaborate with your peers to produce an anthology and plan a related launch event
• Explore a range of literary and writing contexts to develop the ability to respond creatively to the world around you
• Join a vibrant creative community of students and lecturers with connections to literary festivals and events in the region
• Get the chance to work with our range of industry professionals in the city and beyond 

We’ll nurture your passion by developing your creative and critical thinking. You’ll benefit from:

• Inspired teaching and intellectual debate
• Interaction with award-winning authors and playwrights
• A rolling programme of media industry professionals, published lecturers and world-renowned researchers

Leeds is the Northern heart of culture and the arts. Your campus sits in the very centre of the city, surrounded by museums, art galleries, theatres, film production companies and recording studios. We work directly with Leeds museums and galleries and many regional events, including Leeds Lit Fest, poetry performance events and the Leeds West Indian Carnival.