Courses Details

Major in Graphic and Digital Design

Bachelor Degree (BD)
A conceptual artwork of three seashells with intricate golden accents, evoking a blend of nature and luxury.

About the Course

Enhance your visual literacy and unleash your imagination in the realm of Graphic and Digital Design. Elevate your skills across a diverse range of mediums, including print, typography, branding, packaging, and digital design. Acquire both theoretical knowledge and practical expertise to seamlessly integrate words, images, and creative ideas, crafting compelling messages that visually represent brands.

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge

  • K1: Graduates will be able to demonstrate an advanced knowledge of the context, concepts, and principles of business entrepreneurship for creative industries.
  • K2: Graduates will be able to identify and explain the business industry standards and expectations for a range of creative industries.

Skills

  • S1: Graduates will have broad cognitive skills to analyze and evaluate information, concepts, and ideas aligned to entrepreneurship aligned to creative industries.
  • S2: Graduates will have analytical and business skills to develop ideas appropriate for different outcomes and target markets for creative industries.
  • S3: Graduates will have advanced analytical, verbal, and creative communication skills to present information in professional formats.

Application of knowledge and skills

  • A1: Graduates will be able to apply their knowledge and skills through the practice of appropriate and effective ideas analysis and complex decision-making with a commercial and entrepreneurial business focus to achieve viable solutions.
  • A2: Graduates will be able to demonstrate and apply knowledge and skills through the identification and evaluation of effective entrepreneurial practices aligned to appropriate industry and client briefs.
  • A3: Graduates will be able to apply their knowledge and skills to complex issues and scenarios with responsibility and accountability for their professional practice and in collaboration with others within creative industries. 

Profile

Successful Graphic and Digital Designers possess a unique combination of skills, including but not limited to:

  • Problem Solving

    Identify, analyse, and solve complex issues.
  • Communication

    Convey ideas effectively and listen actively.
  • Organisation

    Manage time and tasks efficiently.
  • Creativity

    Innovate original and inspiring approaches to tasks.

Career Prospects

Design, driven mainly by computer system design and related services, contributed 44.1 bn to Australia’s GDP in 2017-18.

That’s 49.8% of cultural and creative activity contributions, or 2.5% of total GDP.

Career Fields

  • Graphic or Digital Designer
  • Branding & Packaging Design
  • Creative Director
  • Illustrator
  • Typographer
  • Web & App Designer
  • Animator
  • Motion Graphics Designer

Discover more opportunities on the Australian Government website.  


Diploma & Accreditation

LCI Melbourne's Bachelor's degree is accredited by TEQSA, meeting international recognition standards.

Vital details and provider information are provided.

Visit the National Register for LCI Melbourne's regulatory status.

  • Provider Name: LCI Melbourne Pty Ltd (formerly Academy of Design Australia Pty Ltd)
  • Trading Name: LCI Melbourne
  • ABN: 97 585 592 579
  • Provider Category: Institute Of Higher Education
  • Provider ID: PRV12113
  • CRICOS Provider Number: 02201G
  • Head Office: 150 Oxford St, Collingwood, Vic 3066

Required Materials

A list of required materials (e.g., for manual drawing) is provided at the beginning of each trimester. Any additional standard or student-licensed software required will be requested by mentors.

Learners are responsible for organising and purchasing materials for final designs.

 

  • Digital device (Mac, PC, tablet)
  • External hard drive (Mac/PC Compatible - 2T recommended)
  • Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
  • Microsoft Office Suite (or equivalent)
  • Fontself
Two designers, immersed in their creative process, collaborate on a project using a laptop and desktop.

Opportunities

Purpose-built facilities and equipment

Benefit from specialised resources, like:

  • 3D printer
  • Computer lab
  • Printing and scanning equipment

Explore different materials, patterns, and designs to effectively harness cutting-edge tools to craft and enhance your creative endeavours.

Acquire practical skills through hands-on experiences with industry-standard equipment, software, and technology.

Work experience

Getting a job is integral to the LCI Melbourne experience.

Professional Practice units follow a unique educational model combining work opportunities and industry-aligned curriculum.

Participate in:

  • Industry projects
  • Exhibitions
  • VIP events

Gain sought-after experience while you study.

Admissions Criteria

  • Local applicants

    • Satisfactory completion of Australian Year 12, or one of the equivalent qualifications as defined under minimum academic entry requirements.
    • An Admission Consultation

    ATAR scores are not used in the consideration of your application. Unscored VCE (or equivalent) is accepted for entry.

    Students must be 18+ years of age at commencement of course.

    Find out more about new exemptions for Year 12 applicants via VTAC

  • International applicants

    • Satisfactory completion of Australian Year 12, or one of the equivalent qualifications as defined under minimum academic entry requirements;
    • Proof of English Language Proficiency (IELTS overall score of 6.0, with no skills band lower than 5.5 or equivalent like TOEFL, Pearson Test of English or CAE);
    • An Admission Consultation.
    • A current Student visa to study in Australia. Australian visas are issued by the Department of Home Affairs;
    • Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC).

    Students must be 18+ years of age at commencement of course.

Academic Dates

List of Units

Exploration, Contextual, and Professional Practice Units

Exploration Units

Discover design fundamentals via workshop-based study that focus on expanding foundational understanding of design.

Workshop: Body (WRKB)

Focus on adorning the body. Explore the importance of identity in art and design. Play with the translation of 3D to 2D. Explore soft materials and form.

Workshop: Image (WRKI)

Learn the fundamentals of image capture via photography and film. These translate into contemporary digital display contexts, including popular social media applications.

Workshop: Message (WRKM)

Explore and play with digital software (e.g., Adobe Illustrator). Develop product and brand identity constructs using bold and confident ideas.

Workshop: Space (WRKS)

Focus on the environment and responsible innovation, learning to create and understand 3D spaces that connect, engage, challenge and disrupt.

Visual Foundations (ACC111)

Explore a range of design communication methods, from design concept through to ‘the pitch,’ including technical illustration, image manipulation, and layout.

Elective: Brand Strategy (ELE001)

Create a brand strategy for a new product, experience, or retail concept. Develop a Brand Tool Kit and explore promotional aspects that capture branding.

Elective: Design & Wellbeing (ELE002)

Further design and artistic processes. Study and apply wellbeing in creativity through the lens of people, place, and product.

Contextual Units

Explore the impact of context (e.g., historical, trends, visual thinking, technology, culture) on designers' and artists' work and realisation of vision. Experiment in a collaborative learning environment to articulate and understand key influences on art and design.

Design, History & Culture (AXC111)

Explore significant moments from the history of art and design, and interrogate the milestones and foundations that have shaped creative practice.

Social Trend Forecasting (AXC121)

Develop an understanding of how trends are forecast. Analyse, discuss, and develop concepts. Communicate insights by forecasting social and cultural impacts.

Design, Issues & Impact (AXC231)

Explore basic concepts important to critical thought and its visual application. Analyse storytelling and narrative aligned to key themes and concepts.

Global Design Culture (AXE241)

Challenge and reference cultural and sub-cultural shifts. Analyse and respond to social, cultural, and technological changes in modern design, from the industrial revolution to postmodernism.

Professional Practice

Practising artists and designers provide important insights into contemporary practice.

Hear from a range of local and overseas professionals about what is occurring in industry and how they are succeeding in their field. Engage in related personal reflection.

Business Principles (ACC241)

Undertake an entrepreneurial project that engages with the creative industries. Critically analyse business models, supply systems, and production methods. Develop ideas and opportunities to support design business growth.

Professional Practice & Systems (BPC351)

Gain specific insights into selected industry concentrations. Explore systems embedded into the industry relevant to their discipline from concept to consumer.

Professional Placement (APE241)

Further your practical design education in a professional practice placement.

Personal & Professional Practice (BPC361)

Position yourself within your industry, investigate appropriate career pathways, prepare applications for roles in design and art organisations.

Professional Communication (BCC351)

Participate in a capstone project that provides a platform to showcase a final body of work as a major digital or physical project installation.

Design Laboratories

Learn and practise knowledge and skills specific to your major in LCI Design Laboratories, the core of the Bachelor of Design Arts degree.

Engage with the full spectrum of the design and artistic process in studio-based labs. Respond to an industry brief, work on a global project, with a global brand, or generate ideas to solve contemporary issues.

Progress through a series of lab themes (foundational, issues, global, and industry) beginning in trimester 2. Put it all together in your final lab: produce and showcase an advanced body of work that expresses your creative ethos.

Design Laboratory: Foundation (LABG101)

Investigate various styles and aspects of typographic design and publication. Analyse key components and aspects for outcomes, including title and poster design, mastheads, layouts for independent zines and commercial magazines.

Design Technology (APG121)

Develop introductory technical skills required to perform professionally in your major area of study. Engage with interactive, 2D, and 3D technical design. Create design templates and digital models.

Design Laboratory: Issues (LABG102)

Experiment with brand identity and package design. Consider contemporary issues in socially responsible, ethical, and sustainable design. Identify current issues in given industries (e.g., packaging problems). Develop solutions.

Design Sub Major (ASG111)

Develop foundational knowledge in an alternate discipline. Acquire basic skills and understanding, conceptualise ideas, and contextualise work within an alternate industry practice.

Design Laboratory: Global (LABG203)

Consider effective visual communication in relation to client vision of service, goals, competitors, and target audience. Participate in multidisciplinary, problem-solving activities to promote a major international travelling exhibition.

Design Laboratory: Industry (LABG204)

Deliver a major project based on real-world briefs. Develop an original and exciting concept, strategy, and four design deliverables. Present as a pitch in the final week of the unit.

Design Laboratory: Capstone (LABG205)

Apply acquired lab concepts to develop major bodies of work for presentation. Emerge as a young professional through exploratory creative development and presentation of original ideas and viable concepts.