Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication

Study Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication at UTS

Visual communication is a discipline led by creative practice and a deep understanding of the way communication design influences and informs the world around us. It studies how we can build communications using both design fundamentals and advanced technologies. The UTS Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication is your passport to a wide variety of sought-after careers in this ever-changing field.

You'll immerse yourself in studio-based practice, learning both traditional and cutting-edge techniques across a range of areas demanded by today's design industry. Learning from industry experts, you'll attain a complex array of advanced technical skills, preparing you for a vibrant future where you'll use art to help people make sense of the world.

Part of the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.

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Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication

CODE

UTS: C10308 (version 3)

CRICOS: 077339C

UAC: 602070 (Autumn Session)

LOWEST SELECTION RANK

75.00

Don't have the ATAR?

See pathways

DURATION

3 years full time
6 years part time

INTAKE

Autumn Session 2025
Spring Session 2025
Autumn Session 2026
Spring Session 2026

View important dates

COURSE FEES

Indicative total tuition fee for government-supported domestic students
$52,312.86

LOCATION

City campus

What you’ll study

You'll build extensive hands-on experience through a range of studio and project-based subjects. You'll learn practical design fundamentals, discover the history and future of this discipline and have the opportunity to specialise in one of the many paths Visual Communication Design has to offer.

You'll learn how visual design intersects with traditional and new media, from print-based publication design to interactive apps, and critically engage with new technologies like generative AI. Design and Transdisciplinary electives will see you broaden your creative understanding and develop career-ready collaborative competencies.

Subjects at a glance

Core subjects

Subject Code	Subject Name
87631	VC Design Studio: The Politics of Image and Text
87100	VC Design Theory: Critical Approaches to Visual Culture
87632	VC Design Studio: The Ethics of Image and Text
87222	VC Design Project: Symbols, Systems and Visual Play
87731	VC Design Studio: Narrative, Form and Time
87441	VC Project: Contexts of Visual Communication
87443	VC Project: Typography in Context
87009	VC Design Studio: Visualising Experience
87012	VC Project: Research Through Design
87010	VC Design Studio: Socially Responsive Design
87011	VC Project: Visual Communication and Emergent Practices
87832	VC Design Studio: Design Practice
85502	Researching Design Histories
85503	Thinking Through Design

See all subjects and majors in the UTS Handbook

Typical course program

The outline below shows an example program for the Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication based on a full-time study load. Please note that your exact program may differ based on your unique circumstances, such as your commencement date, subject selections and recognition of prior learning.

12

core Visual Communication subjects
3

Design Studies subjects
2

Design electives
1

Transdisciplinary subject

First year

You'll begin with a number of core units, where you'll examine political, ethical and critical approaches to visual culture via a series of studio-based briefs and tasks. You'll develop your fundamental design skills alongside competencies in research, writing and communication.
Second year

You'll deepen your design capabilities in areas like Visual Storytelling, User Experience Design and Typography and undertake practical projects to hone your skills. You’ll also engage with designers across broader disciplines and pursue a specialised elective of your choice.
Third year

In your final year, you’ll undertake advanced projects, completing an internship, taking on an optional Global Studio and working on live briefs with industry and the social and service sectors. You’ll also complete your remaining electives to enhance your specialisation.

First year

You'll begin with a number of core units, where you'll examine political, ethical and critical approaches to visual culture via a series of studio-based briefs and tasks. You'll develop your fundamental design skills alongside competencies in research, writing and communication.

Second year

You'll deepen your design capabilities in areas like Visual Storytelling, User Experience Design and Typography and undertake practical projects to hone your skills. You’ll also engage with designers across broader disciplines and pursue a specialised elective of your choice.

Third year

In your final year, you’ll undertake advanced projects, completing an internship, taking on an optional Global Studio and working on live briefs with industry and the social and service sectors. You’ll also complete your remaining electives to enhance your specialisation.

See typical course program in the UTS Handbook

Course highlights

You’ll study Motion Graphics, Web Media, User Experience Design, Interaction Design, Typography, Print Media, Photography, Image Making, Illustration, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Creative Code and AI and Machine Learning. You’ll learn to respond to industry briefs, enhance your knowledge with design studies and choose specialised electives to hone your skills.

Admissions information

This course is tailored for aspiring visual communication professionals seeking to master the interplay of design, culture, and media. Choose this course to gain a comprehensive understanding of visual communication's history, practice, and significance, equipping you with the skills to navigate the evolving landscape of visual technology and media.
What sets this course apart is its socially responsible practice-oriented approach within a studio-based environment, offering interdisciplinary studies in typography, interaction, and image-making. You'll benefit from a dedicated studio space and instruction from industry experts, covering a broad spectrum from visual culture theory to advanced creative digital work.
You will develop a robust skill set, including digital media, interaction design, photography, editorial design, and more, using both traditional and experimental research methods. The course emphasizes real-world problem-solving, collaboration, and industry engagement, preparing you to articulate and apply design practices effectively.
Learning occurs through hands-on studio work, theoretical exploration, and collaborative projects with industry clients, ensuring you graduate with relevant experience and the ability to work across various disciplines. This prepares you for careers in digital media, graphic design, user experience design, web design, visual identity, motion graphics, and beyond, as well as roles in research, editing, and design thinking in various sectors.
Students immerse themselves in a practice-oriented, studio-based culture, studying a range of interdisciplinary subjects encompassing typography, interaction and image-making. With access to a dedicated, fully-equipped studio space that brings the learning experience even closer to the realities of commercial practice. Taught by experts in visual communication, students learn everything from the history and theory of visual culture and technology to producing cutting edge creative work in digital media, interaction design, photography, editorial design, information visualisation, web design, wayfinding, mobile apps, code, machine learning, motion graphics, the internet of things and 3D technologies such as VR/AR and 3D printing. Exploring both traditional and experimental research methods students learn to produce conceptually rigorous and socially responsive work. They graduate with the capacity to work across and between disciplines, to articulate design practices and processes, and to apply them to complex problems. Graduates develop industry experience through the degree's emphasis on addressing real-world issues in collaborative and team-based work.
Your Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is a score between 0.00 and 99.95. It shows you how you rank compared to all the students in your year group in New South Wales. A selection rank combines your ATAR with any other adjustment points that make up your overall university entrance score. Your selection rank may differ from university to university, depending on the adjustment points granted to you at each institution.
Employers tell us the skills our graduates acquire from undertaking a Transdisciplinary Elective sets them apart from the crowd. That’s why we have embedded this program into every undergraduate degree.

All you need to do is choose the Elective that inspires you the most.

Transdisciplinary Electives integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines, allowing you to approach complex problems from a range of perspectives.

By combining methods and insights from various disciplines, transdisciplinary learning often leads to breakthrough ideas and creative innovations that may not be possible within the confines of a single discipline.

If you find yourself rapt by the world of innovation – you can pair your core degree with a Diploma in Innovation, graduating with two qualifications in the same timeframe.

In both instances, you’ll work on a real-world challenge presented by an industry partner organisation – partners who often create career pathways for our graduates.

* Excludes students concurrently enrolled in the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation.
Applicants must have completed an Australian Year 12 qualification, Australian Qualifications Framework Diploma, or equivalent Australian or overseas qualification at the required level.

UTS: Design, Architecture and Building may consider applications based on the results of the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) if students lack academic qualifications but have extensive professional experience. The STAT is conducted through the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).

Students must refer to the inherent requirements for all degrees offered by Design and Architecture in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.

Non-current school leavers are selected on the basis of academic merit or on the basis of portfolio and interview rank.

Students must refer to the portfolio eligibility for the faculty’s consideration in order to get a place.

Eligibility for admission does not guarantee offer of a place.
2025 Indicative tuition fees for government-supported domestic students

All offers for domestic undergraduate students are for Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP).This means the Australian Government contributes to your education costs, and you pay the remaining tuition fees, known as the student contribution. If eligible, you can defer payment through HECS-HELP, or you can choose to pay your fees upfront each session.

2025 Tuition Fees

Indicative first-year tuition fee: $16,992.00

Indicative total tuition fee: $52,312.86

Additional Costs

Your tuition fees do not include:
- The Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF), which supports student services and activities. If eligible, you can defer this fee using SA-HELP.
- Textbooks, materials, and other course-related costs.
- Any applicable payment processing fees (e.g., credit card surcharges).
Important Information
- Fees are shown in Australian Dollars (AUD).
- The indicative tuition fees above are based on full-time study (1 year = 48 credit points).
- Your actual fees depend on the year you enrol, your study load and the subjects you choose. Some subjects fall into different student contribution bands.
- You can calculate your student contribution based on the amounts listed in the student contribution table.

Find more Design, Architecture and Building courses

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Entry schemes and pathways

Learn more

UTS Early Entry program

If you've excelled in Year 11, our Early Entry program rewards the hard work you've put into your studies. Successful applicants receive a provisional offer before their HSC/IB exams.

Elite athletes and performers

If you're an elite athlete or performer who has represented your school or state at a national level, and your studies have been affected, this scheme is for you.

InpUTS

If you've experienced long-term disadvantages that have affected your education, you may be eligible for selection rank adjustments through inpUTS.

Completing a recognised TAFE or VET provider qualification

With a VET qualification, you're eligible to apply for certain courses. Take the next step in your education.

Jumbunna Admissions Program

If you're Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, Jumbunna is an alternative application process for our courses that emphasises diverse pathways to success.

Changing from another undergraduate course

You can apply for our courses using your previous study. You may even be eligible for recognition of prior learning, so you won’t need to repeat subjects.

Learn more

Careers

Your future career

This program will equip you with a thorough and up-to-date toolkit of visual communication and design capabilities, putting you in the perfect position to launch a rewarding and diverse career.

With your comprehensive suite of practical skills, you'll have what it takes to interpret, plan and deliver outstanding visual designs for any purpose, audience or setting. You’ll be an in-demand professional, ready to work in media production, graphic design, research and many more fields, or apply your creative thinking to reach new heights of success in non-design roles.

Career options

“By the time I graduated, I felt prepared not only as a designer but as a creative thinker ready to tackle complex projects and bring fresh, innovative ideas to the table.”

Maria Esquivel, Ree Creative

Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication

“It's an expansive territory for a designer; where you could discover and adopt a multitude of different design skills – from print design, media production, photography, visual culture, etc.”

Josh Obliga

Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication

“UTS has a lot of studios; you can explore a lot of different areas. Some people might think it’s just making posters or books, but the Visual Communication course also goes into web design, it goes into coding, it goes into motion. You’re not just stuck in one area; you’re going to learn about all these other things.”

Stella Li

Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication Bachelor of Design (Honours)

“I participated in two global studios: one in Greece and one in Japan. Both definitely gave me new insights to my own design practice. It doesn’t matter what field of study you’re in, immersing yourself in different cultures is invaluable.”

Susan Le

Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication Bachelor of Design (Honours)

Where you’ll study

Our world-class facilities support your future-focused learning and high-impact research. They enable effective partnerships with industry and provide services to our community.

See more facilities

Students using equipment in a fabrication and digital workshops. — Bring your designs to life through model making or 3D printing.

Design students collaborating and working on projects in a studio space in DAB Building 6, — Our professional studios are your dedicated spaces to work solo or collaborate with your peers.

Design students collaborating and working on projects in DAB Building 6. — Design your dream project in our workshops.

Why UTS?

Why study Design, Architecture and Building at UTS

With a Design, Architecture and Building degree from UTS, you'll build connections with industry from the moment you start your studies, and learn the skills to respond to social, cultural, environmental and economic challenges.

Study in purpose-built facilities and access the latest technologies shaping your field, from 3D printing to AI, drones and seamless knitting machines. Our commitment to hands-on practice and professional accreditation means our courses are highly respected by the industry – and our students are too.