Wondering whether you should study design at WSU? Perhaps you’ve read our previous article about what it’s like studying a Bachelor Design (Visual Communication) at WSU and you’re hoping for a personalised opinion of the course.
Boy, do we have news for you! Meet Paige, a Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) graduate who told us everything there is to know about the course: the good and bad, the pros and cons and the highs and the lows. If this sounds like your cup of tea, keep reading.
Let’s get started!
Why should you study a Visual Communication degree at WSU?
Top 3 Pros of a Visual Communication Degree
Top 3 Cons of a Visual Communication Degree
Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make
Things to Know Before Starting WSU Visual Communication
What Makes this Degree Different
Motivations for Studying WSU Visual Communication
Potential Career Paths
Why should you study a Visual Communication degree at WSU?
The Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) is a 4-year undergraduate degree offered at WSU for students looking for a program that combines creative, technical and intellectual skills to get you set for the working world. You’re going to be at the top of your game with the Design degree that is taught in relation to globalisation, information and media technology.
As a Design student at WSU, you’ll be learning how to respond to design briefs, gaining loads of professional experience, engaging with advanced digital technologies and working on real community projects. So, you’ll be ready to go when it’s time to look for work.
Top 3 Pros of a Visual Communication degree
#1: Build a great foundational understanding of the design world
A great feature of the Bachelor of Design at WSU, according to Paige, is the wide variety of skills you’ll learn, which aren’t just limited to design. If you’re someone that loves to learn a bit of everything and longs to one day smash it at Trivia, this degree could totally be for you.
“You get to build your design skills in general. So, you will learn a little bit about form and colour but it’ll be more psychology centred depending on what topic it is.
“Branding, for example, it’ll be about how you market something and you’d get an idea of what you’ll need to be doing when you interact with a customer or a client,” Paige explained.
Paige told us that this would be a perfect degree for someone looking to commit to some postgraduate study to hone in on a particular area that they’ve discovered in the Bachelor’s degree, “You can see what you’d like to specialise in… and what you’d like to study further.”
#2: Say goodbye to exams!
After you’ve spent the last year of high school studying for what we’re told are the most important exams of our lives, even the word, ‘exam’ can send shivers down the spines of worked-to-death Year 12s.
If you find yourself filled with fear at the thought of another long written paper, worry no more, because the Bachelor of Design’s core units are void of exams! Though this does mean that you’ll have plenty of long-term assessments (which will be heavily weighted), so you’re not quite off the hook.
Paige told us, “The assessments are worth a lot because we don’t actually, in the core units, have any exams. I only had one exam the whole time and that was because of an elective subject. You’ll usually have to get an elective that has an exam at some point.”
You can expect your assessments to be very practical-based and will often involve responding to some sort of brief.
#3: Supportive learning environment
“Another pro would be the learning environment. I think it’s just enough pressure to push you but not so much that you just want to give up,” Paige said.
Not only is the learning environment great (thanks to the passionate staff and teachers) but your cohort is also a group of super friendly, welcoming students.
“You get to know people more. You might get grouped in the same class, if you’ve done a group project before you might purposely collaborate again if you can. You definitely get closer, especially in those core units,” Paige added.
The Bachelor of Design (Visual Communications) is a pretty structured degree. It’s prescriptive and you’ll only get a few chances to explore with electives or specialise with your major choices. Even so, you’re pretty much guaranteed to find a great group of friends since you’ll be amongst the same cohort for the 4 years of your degree.
Top 3 Cons of a Visual Communication degree
#1: It’s not overly design-y
Design-y? Design-ish? Design-focussed? You get the gist. As Paige told us earlier, despite its name, the Bachelor of Design at WSU is actually not that crazy about design.
You’ll be mainly focussing on the professional side of design, which is still great! But if you’re going to uni holding out hope that one day you’ll become a professional artist, Paige explained that perhaps this degree wouldn’t be overly necessary in your endeavours.
“If you want to be an artist, it may not be the path for you. I think you should study it if you want to get an idea of where you want to put yourself in the art world. You get an overview of all sorts of different areas and the learning environment feels positive,” Paige shared.
#2: You’ll get lots of homework
Disclaimer alert: this only just counts as a con because homework is really important to get your head around all the content that you’ll be working through. Okay, disclaimer over.
Didn’t we all hope that the idea of homework would permanently remove itself from the face of the earth when we got out of high school and went into uni? Well, unfortunately that’s not quite the case.
In fact, Paige told us that a Bachelor of Design at WSU depends on the work that you’re expected to do in your own time, “A lot of the tutorials are feedback based so you’d have to go off and do your own thing and then we’d build on it during class. It really did feel like homework.”
#3: Limited design societies to join
While WSU has over 130 student-led clubs and societies on offer, Paige explained that there weren’t too many that stood out to her.
“I didn’t join any while I was there. So, I’m not too knowledgeable on it but there was never too much info given out about the societies. You weren’t really provided with anything.”
Still, don’t let this deter you. If you’re hoping to become a society-fanatic, there’s still a world of options out there, and if nothing piques your interest, you could always make your own!
Once you’re enrolled you can check out WSU’s societies right here!
Any regrets?
“Personally, no. I think even if you ended up not wanting to go into the design world, you’ve gotten enough skills to apply to other areas, especially if you still want to go into a creative area,” Paige said.
So, if you’re tossing up the possibility of studying a Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) at WSU, this may just be your sign. Despite the cons that Paige listed above, she’s still thoroughly enjoyed the degree.
What do you wish you had known before starting WSU Visual Communication?
It would be understandable to see the title of this degree and think, ‘Yes, this is my path to becoming the greatest designer artist hybrid of all time’, however, as Paige continues to remind us, the degree is super valuable in the business and professional side of design.
“It would’ve been nice to know what particular paths they encourage. Like I said, you do get prepared for the world of design, but it’s more so in a business way, in a more corporate world.
“They don’t give you much knowledge about going freelance for example which I think a lot of people like to do. Although like I said, I don’t regret anything, it just would’ve been nice to know to look at other avenues for learning about freelance work,” Paige said.
What makes this degree different from the ones offered at other universities?
Paige lives close to WSU and said, “Honestly, the location was a big part, so that made it easy.” Between the convenient location and the broad subject material, WSU seemed like the perfect place for Paige.
“I think by reading over the degree I found that I liked how general it was. You don’t really know what you want to specialise in straight out of high school. The Bachelor of Design gives you an overall look at everything,” Paige said.
The business side of the Bachelor of Design at WSU will put you ahead of Design students from other unis who may not have a full grasp on the professional world yet. You’ll also have plenty of assignments that you can add to your portfolio for future employers to look at.
What inspired you to choose this WSU Visual Communication?
Paige told us that, like many other fresh-out-of-high-school students, it can be hard to figure out what you’d really like to do. Often, it feels like there are too many options when it comes to choosing university courses.
With this in mind, Paige was searching for a degree that wasn’t too far away and offered a course that covered a wide range of subjects. The Bachelor of Design (Visual Communications) happened to be just that.
What are the possible career paths?
You are going to be set when it comes to securing that dream degree once you come to the end of your Bachelor of Design course. As we’ve mentioned countless times, this degree focuses a lot on the business side of the design world — how to get a job, how to interact with clients, how to market products — so it’s no wonder that by the end of it, you’ll have no trouble landing a gig.
You’ll be developing valuable, transferable skills that will be in-demand in almost any industry. You’ll also be eligible to become a member of the Design Institute of Australia and the Australian Graphic Design Association once you graduate!
These associations will enable you to network with other designers and potential clients, and you’ll get access to informative design-focused events!
Gemma Billington is a Content Writer at Art of Smart and an undergraduate student at the University of Technology Sydney. While studying Journalism and Social and Political Sciences, Gemma enjoys spending her time at the gym or reading about Britain’s medieval monarchy – ideally not at the same time. She currently creates and administers social media posts for Central News and writes for the student publication, The Comma. After completing her undergraduate degree, she hopes to study a Masters of Medieval History and is very excited about the prospect!
