Communication Design

Key Facts

Staff

Programme Overview

Award

MDes Communication Design. All GSA degree programmes are validated by the University of Glasgow. Established in 1451, the University of Glasgow is a member of the prestigious Russell Group of leading UK research universities and a founder member of Universitas 21, an international grouping of universities dedicated to setting worldwide standards for higher education.

Assessment

Coursework, essays, practical design projects. Formative assessments take place at key points throughout the year with summative assessments at the end of each academic year.

Facilities
Range of facilities including dedicated studio space, crit/group tutorial spaces, Case Room with a range of equipment including letterpress, Macs, digital cameras, animation, linoprints, wood engravings and monoprinting, photographic studios with facilities for colour and black and white processing.

Indicative Additional Costs
Individual departments levy material fees as indicated on this page. You should budget for each year of your programme of study and should allow for costs over and above your fees and maintenance, particularly if expensive materials or projects are chosen.

Graduate Destinations
Graduates from the GSA's department of Communication Design have gone on to work with Pentagram, Graphic Thought Facility, Studio Fernando Gutiérrez, Lust, O-SB, Weiden + Kennedy, Lewis Moberly, BBC, Stand, ISO, or succeed in freelance practice, working in publishing, editorial, film and TV.

Programme Leader

Brian Cairns

Staff
Colin Faulks
Andy Stark
Matthew Walkerdine

Programme Overview

The Master of Design (M.Des) in Communication Design is a two year programme delivered by the Department of Communication Design at The Glasgow School of Art. The programme is practice-led and process-oriented in relation to definitions of broad design practices. It is also committed to the acquisition of principles within design theory relating to educational and commercial contexts. The programme provides rigorous methods for the interrogation of visual and textual research, positing questions relating to the role of the designer in society, and fundamental questions regarding personal and social responsibility.

The programme aims to:

Offer each individual student the opportunity to critically develop his or her own work in the context of a rigorous but supportive intellectual climate;
Encourage students to identify and explore key contextual issues relevant to their practice as contemporary designers;
Develop students' awareness and knowledge base in communication design philosophy, theory, practice and research in the context of innovative forms of communication design;
Enable Communication Design graduates to critically evaluate their work and that of their peers in the context of contemporary design practices;
Enable students to achieve the highest possible standards in their work, so that graduates have the confidence, maturity and intellectual and interpersonal skills necessary to function successfully in the communication design field;
Equip students with the highly developed intellectual, practical and interpersonal skills deemed necessary for careers in design.

Further information is available online at; http://www.gsamcd.com

Application Deadline Dates

Applications to this programme will be processed in four rounds: Early, Standard 1; Standard 2 and Late. We guarantee to review all complete applications received by the Standard 1 deadline date of 27 January 2023. After this date, this programme can become full and close to applications in advance of the Standard 2 and Late rounds. Early application is therefore encouraged to avoid disappointment.

Round	Deadline to apply	Decision
Early	11 November 2022	10 March 2023
Standard 1	27 January 2023	28 April 2023
Standard 2	10 March 2023	28 April 2023
Late	9 June 2023	21 July 2023

Final deadline for applicants requiring a visa is 28 July 2023

Interviews for shortlisted applicants will take place on the dates indicated below, please ensure you can be available.

Round	Interview dates
Early	28 November - 2 December 2022
Standard 1	20 February - 3 March 2023
Standard 2	3 April - 21 April 2023
Late	3 July - 14 July 2023