Communication design focuses on developing and visually communicating ideas and messages.
Study communication design at AUT and examine historical and modern concepts of visual langage and design. You work on a diverse range of projects that respond to societal, environmental, design industry and commercially relevant issues.
Within this major you can focus on an area of communication design by selecting a specialised studio programme in your second year.
This is part of the Bachelor of Design.
Start date: 2022
If you're a full-time student, you normally complete 120 points each year (360 points for the entire degree). You study core courses each year that cover design solutions, critical thinking, research practices, user experience, creative processes, information management, prototyping, market/cultural/industry case studies.
Throughout the major you’re supported by lecturers and professional designers, as you work independently and collaboratively on speculative and real-life design projects.
All students are offered a choice of a minor in Semester 2.
You also study one course from your chosen minor.
You also study two courses from your chosen minor.
You also study one course from your chosen minor.
Detailed programme structure and course outlines (Blackboard)
Search for a course (Arion)
Email artbox@aut.ac.nz
Enrolment in courses is subject to meeting all requirements and availability of courses.
In Year 2 you choose a specialised studio pathway - a specific area of communication design you want to focus on. Some studio programmes may have a limited number of places.
In this studio pathway, you’re involved in idea generation, campaign design, strategy, social media marketing, identity and systems design. Our advertising and branding students are known for their fresh creative minds and strong affinity for new media technologies.
Employing design thinking methodologies and user experience research, you initiate projects and create solutions for diverse markets and audiences.
You’ll work across print and digital media processes to develop individual projects, including commercial contexts, social/environmental concerns and speculative design.
You’ll learn to work alongside your classmates, expand your design thinking and vocabulary, develop and refine your presentation skills to pitch ideas, give and take constructive critique, and refine, test and adjust your work.
In the age of the image, illustration, photography and hand-authored, mechanical and digital media are at the centre of communication arts.
You’ll work across print and digital media processes to create individual projects guided by research practice. Design projects are driven by a desire to connect with audiences to inform, persuade and entertain, and include commercial contexts, social/ environmental concerns and speculative design.
The work will be included in a context or specific and varied formats, rather than just a standalone image within a single visible rectangle. The projects enable you to develop your individual skills as well as collaborate with your peers.
Projects may include:
Decisions around appropriate outputs will depend on the project brief.
In this studio pathway you’ll work with The Draft Studio at AUT and partner with external creative studios, design researchers, individual designers and other industry stakeholders.
There’s an emphasis on conceptual thinking, design processes, materiality, experimental attitudes and new ideas.
Workshops, presentations, live or shadow briefs, masterclasses, strategies, tips and tactics, methods and philosophies are all key parts of this studio pathway.
This studio pathway introduces you to contemporary lens-based image making practices, and professional image management systems used by commercial photographers and in-house designers.
You’ll learn how to translate ideas and advance concepts by producing high-quality photographic images, working with available light on location and strobe lighting in the photographic studio.
The information on this page was correct at time of publication. For a comprehensive overview of AUT qualifications, please refer to the Academic Calendar.