Art & Design - Graphics BTEC Level 3
DEPARTMENT STAFF
Subject Leader: Mr Gillespie
DEPARTMENT STAFF
Subject Leader: Mr Gillespie
To encourage students to problem solve and develop an understanding of the creative process. To support, encourage and promote exploration while students are establishing their creative voice.
This BTEC Graphics course is art & design based and specialises in 2D Graphic Design techniques including: digital software such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as well as hand-made techniques such as illustration, rendering, typography, layout and visual editing. In addition to this, students learn to use presentation techniques and to work in a sketchbook.
This course will encourage you to explore and enhance your design skills using a wide range of graphics, media, techniques, processes and workshops that explore graphic visual language. The Art and Design BTEC in Graphic Communication is aimed at students who are looking to develop their visual creativity.
The course is firmly structured, and each Unit has a specific time period for students to engage with a brief. Using Mindmaps to explore at the start of each Unit helps students to establish their initial ideas before advancing to more developed work. Research underpins each of the Units, as does exploration and experimentation. Development through research and visual analysis of work enables students to build up the skills needed to make personal creative discoveries which lead to exciting final outcomes. Students are provided with teacher support, both from 1-2-1 feedback and also with technical guidance.
The course offers experience in the following areas,
- Graphics Materials Techniques and Processes
- Graphic Communication
- Typography and Typographical Design
- Motion Graphics
- Graphic Illustration
- Photography Skills
- Branding in Graphic Design
- Developing and Realising Creative Ideas and Intentions
- Managing a Client Brief
The goal of the course is to set students up with core foundational skills in Graphics, and this in turn offers them many career opportunities. This exciting course places emphasis on exploration and experimentation in the core skills necessary to develop your potential creativity, including Drawing development, Digital design-based work, Professional and studio practice, and Historical and contextual understanding.
The course is structured on assignments briefs, which allow you to move towards the area of industry or higher education that you wish to progress to on completion of the course.
Course: BTEC Extended Certificate in Art & Design Graphics (equivalent to one A Level)
Length of Course: 2 Years
Number of Lessons per Week: 6
Entry Qualifications: Grade C in DT or Art
Assessment: On-going written and practical assessment.
4 units, 3 of which are portfolio based while one unit is exam based
Over the two years you will receive 360 guided learning hours. (GLH)
Career possibilities/routes: The course will help you develop a graphic based portfolio, which will aid progression onto university level art and design-based courses.
Possible Careers: Careers in graphic design can involve you in packaging design and magazine layout, advertising, font design, logo design, fashion graphics or illustration, signage and web design to name but a few. Increasingly, students are wishing to progress into a multimedia design environment and a good grounding in the basics of animation, audio-visual and web design allows this. If your aim is to gain employment in this dynamic, creative industry or simply to increase your knowledge of visual communication and computer applications then this is the course for you.
Further Reading
https://www.creativeboom.com/
Trips & Extra Curricular Club/Activities
https://www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/