Visual Communication Design is distinct in its study of visual language and the role it plays in communicating ideas, solving problems and influencing behaviours. Students learn how to manipulate type and imagery when designing for specific contexts, purposes and audiences. They choose and combine manual and digital methods, media and materials with design elements and principles. In doing so, students learn how aesthetic considerations contribute to the effective communication and resolution of design ideas, and how an understanding of visual language, its role and potential is the foundation of effective design practice.
Students explore how designers visually communicate concepts when designing messages, objects, environments and interactive experiences. They work both together and independently to find and address design problems, making improvements to services, systems, spaces and places experienced by stakeholders, both in person and online. Students employ a design process together with convergent and divergent thinking strategies to discover, define, develop and deliver design solutions. Drawings are used to visually represent relationships, ideas and appearances, while models and prototypes are produced for the purposes of testing and presentation. Students participate in critiques, both delivering and receiving constructive feedback and expanding their design terminology.
During this study, students consider various factors that impact design decisions, including conceptions of good design, aesthetic impact, and economic, technological, environmental, cultural and social influences. Students also consider how best to accommodate the varied needs of people and our planet, both now and in the future, using human-centred design principles, together with ethical, legal, sustainable and culturally appropriate design practices. Students learn about the relationships between design, place and time, acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander design knowledges, histories, traditions and practices.
VCE Visual Communication Design enables students to:
work independently and in collaboration to find, reframe and address human-centred design problems and opportunities
apply a design process to discover, define, develop and deliver design solutions
develop divergent and convergent thinking strategies
understand conceptions of good design
develop and apply skills in drawing and making, using a range of media, materials, methods and techniques
manipulate the design elements and principles to communicate ideas and information
apply ethical, legal, sustainable and culturally appropriate design practices
understand design’s influence, and the influences of design in past, present and future contexts, including economic, technological, cultural, environmental and social factors
deliver and receive critical feedback using appropriate design terminology.
The structure of the study is made up of four units.
Unit 2: Design contexts and connections
Unit 3: Visual communication in design practice
Unit 4: Delivering design solutions
In this unit students explore and experience the ways in which designers work, while also analysing the work that they design. Through a study of contemporary designers practising in one or more fields of design practice, students gain deep insights into the processes used to design messages, objects, environments and/or interactive experiences. They compare the contexts in which designers work, together with their relationships, responsibilities and the role of visual language when communicating and resolving design ideas. Students also identify the obligations and factors that influence the changing nature of professional design practice, while developing their own practical skills in relevant visual communication practices.
Students study not only how designers work but how their work responds to both design problems and conceptions of good design. They interrogate design examples from one or more fields of design practice, focusing their analysis on the purposes, functions and impacts of aesthetic qualities. This exposure to how, why and where designers work, what they make and the integral role of visual language in design practice provides the foundation for students’ own investigation of the VCD design process.
Students explore the Discover, Define and Develop phases of the VCD design process to address a selected design problem. In the Discover and Define phases, research methods are used to gather insights about stakeholders and a design problem, before preparing a single brief for a real or fictional client that defines two distinct communication needs. Students then embark on the Develop phase of the VCD design process, once for each communication need. They generate, test and evaluate design ideas and share these with others for critique. These design ideas are further developed in Unit 4, before refinement and resolution of design solutions.
Area of Study 1: Professional design practice
On completion of this unit the student should be able to compare the ways in which visual communication practices are used by contemporary designers, using research methods and practical exploration.
Area of Study 2: Design analysis
On completion of this unit the student should be able to compare and analyse design examples from selected field(s) of design practice, describing how aesthetic considerations contribute to the effective communication of information or ideas.
Area of Study 3: Design process: defining problems and developing ideas
On completion of this unit the student should be able to identify two communication needs for a client, prepare a brief and develop design ideas, while applying the VCD design process and design thinking strategies.
In this unit students continue to explore the VCD design process, resolving design concepts and presenting solutions for two distinct communication needs. Ideas developed in Unit 3, Outcome 3 are evaluated, selected, refined and shared with others for further review. An iterative cycle is undertaken as students rework ideas, revisit research and review design criteria defined in the brief. Manual and digital methods, media and materials are explored together with design elements and principles, and concepts tested using models, mock-ups or low-fidelity prototypes.
When design concepts are resolved, students devise a pitch to communicate and justify their design decisions, before responding to feedback through a series of final refinements. Students choose how best to present design solutions, considering aesthetic impact and the communication of ideas. They select materials, methods and media appropriate for the presentation of final design solutions distinct from one another in purpose and presentation format, and that address design criteria specified in the brief.
Area of Study 1: Design process: refining and resolving design concepts
On completion of this unit the student should be able to refine and resolve distinct design concepts for each communication need, and devise and deliver a pitch to communicate concepts to an audience or users, evaluating the extent to which these meet the requirements of the brief.
Area of Study 2: Presenting design solutions
On completion of this unit the student should be able to produce a design solution for each communication need defined in the brief, satisfying the specified design criteria.
The student’s level of achievement in Units 3 and 4 will be determined by School-assessed Coursework (SACs) and a School-assessed Task (SAT) as specified in the VCE study design, and external assessment.
Units 3 and 4 School-assessed Task SAT: 50 per cent
Unit 3 and 4 School-assessed Coursework: 20 per cent
End-of-year examination: 30 per cent.
For more detailed information, please click on the link/s below:
Please see the booklist for required textbook. (Viscomm: Guide to Visual Communication Design VCE Units 1-4 3rd Edition. Jacinta Patterson)
A3 4Ring Binder PVC 38mm Upright Black
A3 Visual Journal (spiral bound, blank pages)
Grey lead and coloured pencils
Black Fine liners (0.2 - 0.8)