​Welcome to the MA Graphic Design course. I am Will Hill, a Senior Lecturer and on the Graphic Design programme at CCCU. The team looks forward to meeting you in September and supporting you as you develop your research and professional practice going forward.

Will Hill
Course Director

Your Teaching Timetable

Teaching for your course will begin w.c 21 September 2026.

To help you plan your first few weeks, you can view an overview of the teaching activities for your course.

View your first trimester teaching timetable.

On a mobile device, click the arrow next to “Search” at the top right of the page to view your timetable.

If your course is taught in groups, the overview will show activities for all groups. You will only need to attend sessions for your allocated group.

Once teaching begins, your individual timetable and group allocation will be available in MyTimetable provided you have completed online registration and created your computing account.

Your Trimester 1 Modules

Contemporary Graphic Design Practice

Creative Collaborations

Key dates

Academic Calendar: Trimesters [15 Week]

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2025-26 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays.

Welcome

We look forward to meeting you for the first time during Welcome Week.​ (14 - 18 September 2026).

During welcome week we will introduce you to the teaching and technical team, your Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) and the equipment and spaces available to you throughout the programme.

You will also get to meet your cohort and start your MA Graphics journey. 

Getting started

Your Course

Welcome Week will ease you into the MA, helping you place your own practice within broader Graphic Design contexts and start building working relationships with your fellow students and the creative professionals connected to the course.

All teaching takes place on campus here in Canterbury.

You can expect a mix of lectures / seminars / workshops / practical sessions within our specialist spaces, including the printstudio and design studios - all designed to develop both your critical thinking and your practical work.

We make the most of our location too — London is on the doorstep, and Kent's creative coastal towns like Folkestone, Margate, and Whitstable are a real part of what makes this course distinctive.

Your First Few Weeks

Welcome Week is a chance to meet the teaching and technical team, get to know the spaces and equipment available to you, and — perhaps most importantly — meet your cohort. Your Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) will also be introduced to you during this time, and they'll be a key point of support throughout your studies.

The first weeks of teaching are designed to help you find your feet. There's no pressure to have everything figured out straight away — this is a time for exploration, conversation, and starting to shape your ideas.

Before You Arrive

A few things worth doing before September:

  • Start thinking about the themes and questions that feel most alive in your practice right now — your tutors will want to hear about them early on. Remember you will be shaping your projects and external relationships, so it’s good to come with some ideas in development.

  • Have a browse of contemporary Design practitioners, publications, or exhibitions that interest you. We recommend you have a good understanding of the area of Visual Communications which most excites you and some research ideas related to this.

Equipment

The course works across both analogue and digital approaches, so we have a range of bookable equipment and studios which supports a range of ways to make images. All of these are supported on the programme by the tutors and technical team.

Your Must Do Tasks

Once you have been invited to register for your course, there are some key tasks you'll need to complete to make sure you are ready to become a CCCU student. 

Registration invitations are sent towards the end of August. We'll send yours to the email address you used when you applied, so please check this inbox regularly to make sure you don't miss any important information.

Pre-course reading

​​Barnard, M. (2022). Graphic design as communication. Routledge.

​Cullen, K. (2021). Design elements: Understanding the rules and knowing when to break them. Rockport Publishers.

​Heller, S., & Vienne, V. (2023). 100 ideas that changed graphic design. Laurence King Publishing.

​Lupton, E. (2021). Design is storytelling. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Manum,

​B., & Nilsen, S. (2020). Design thinking: A guide to creative problem solving for everyone. Routledge.

​Noble, I., & Bestley, R. (2022). Visual research: An introduction to research methods in graphic design (3rd ed.). Bloomsbury Visual Arts.

​Poulin, R. (2018). The language of graphic design: An illustrated handbook for understanding fundamental design principles. Rockport Publishers.​

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

Have a question?

Speak to our friendly team for support.