Manchester, United Kingdom
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
Scholarships
Explore scholarship opportunities to help fund your studies
Introduction
Do you have a passion for relaying complex concepts in a way that people can easily understand? Are you interested in creating and applying your own graphical language across subject areas as diverse as type design, illustration, design for print and web, service design, and design for social impact? If so, our MA Visual Communication degree is for you.
In an age of information overload, visual communication professionals have never been more in demand. Designed to equip you with the skills you need for a professional career in the creative industries or digital marketing sector, this master’s in visual communication is focused on industry experience, interdisciplinary collaboration, and self-initiated research.
What's more, you will be studying at the heart of the campus in the New Adelphi building, home to all Art, Design, and Creative Technology subjects and facilities, one of the North West&rsquo's largest creative hubs, with easy access to creative networking opportunities and world-class technical workshops.
You'll also be involved in working on live projects throughout your course, working with key cultural organizations across the cities of Salford and Greater Manchester, which could include, amongst others, Hotbed Press, Islington Mill, Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Textbook Studios & Salford Art Collection, Dr. Me and Magma Books.
This course is part of our suite of MA Art and Design programs, which means you also get the opportunity to work collaboratively on a few modules with students from Socially Engaged Art, Socially Engaged Photography, Contemporary Fine Art, and Creative Technology. We welcome and support you to work in a cross-disciplinary with your peers, echoing the way professionals work within the creative industries today.
You will:
- Develop your professional skills in visual communication by combining theory with practical experience
- Gain real-world experience through industry placements, interdisciplinary collaborative practice, and freelance projects with a range of cultural organizations
- Build a strong portfolio of applied practical and theoretical work
Ideal Students
This is for You if...
- You want to develop a range of transferable skill sets that can be used in a variety of visual communication roles
- You want to launch a professional career in the arts, media, or marketing sector
- You want to graduate with a strong portfolio of work that can be used to demonstrate your skills and experience to future employers.
Curriculum
This MA Visual Communication degree is designed to give you the support and inspiration you need to develop your creative ideas in a safe space. You’ll collaborate with talented creatives across a variety of arts organizations and subject areas, tackling issues that are central to contemporary design practice, whether they relate to design authorship, social engagement, or visual language.
As part of your course, you'll be encouraged to work on projects that will help to improve your ability to think independently, creatively, and professionally, mirroring the professional practice of visual communicator artists. With modules focused on applied practice, you’ll examine how your work can be applied to external contexts such as live projects, collaborative projects, commissions, and external sites.
What’s more, in your final semester throughout the program you’ll have the chance to design, develop, and realize your own project in the area of visual communication that interests you most, building a strong portfolio of work that can be used to enhance your future employability.
Want to find out more? Read about what each module involves in our course breakdown below.
Full-Time: Semester One
- Creative Research Methods
- Exploring Theory and Practice
Full-Time: Semester Two
- Real World Context
- Applied Practice
Semester three
- Definitive Practice
Part-Time: Year One, Semester One and Two
- Creative Research Methods
- Applied Practice
- Real World Context
Part-Time: Year Two, Semester One, Two and Three
- Exploring Theory and Practice
Career Opportunities
As a postgraduate student at Salford, you’ll be studying for one of the only visual communication masters in the UK that focuses on equipping you with the hands-on experience you need to take your career to the next level. Throughout your course you’ll have established professional links with art and design networks across the region, meaning you’ll already have a place in the creative community.
Many of our recent graduates have gone on to secure professional roles in animating, graphic designing, and advertising. Others have pursued careers in teaching, art directing, web programming, and photography. So as a master of arts in visual communication design, the possibilities are endless.
Further Study
Graduates showing strong academic and research skills can pursue a further academic research path through our doctoral (PhD) programs on a full-time or part-time basis subject to a satisfactory proposal.