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Advanced Diploma of Graphic Design CUA60320
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Overview

The Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design provides a study pathway that supports the workforce development of Graphic Designer professionals for a career in digital, technical and creative concepts to create designs that meet client requirements and solve a range of visual communication challenges.

This qualification will refine and extend your abilities at developing design concepts and also work on more complex design projects covering the continuing application of skills and knowledge required to interpret, design solutions for a range of designs and client briefs that include typography, illustration, photography and layouts.

Projects may include corporate branding, packaging design, publication design, web graphics, websites, 2D animations and a public exhibition of your work. Real industry experience (placements) is encouraged and supported with local industry.

This is a full-time course, based on assignments, industry visits and deadlines to replicate the working environment.

Qualification:

 Advanced Diploma of Graphic Design CUA60320

Next Intake:

 Semester 1 2025

Course No:

 AD-BD70

Campus:

 CIT Reid*


*From Semester 2 2025, the location of this course will transition from CIT Reid to the new CIT Woden campus. CIT will provide support for students who will be making the move to Woden. Learn more.

Duration:

 This qualification is delivered over one semester, full time 20 hrs approx. per week. After the completion of the Diploma in Graphic Design.
Alternatively, if you have not completed the Diploma in Graphic Design, it will be completed in two semesters, full time 20 hrs approx. per week.
Independent study additional (approx. 15 hours per week).
You will be required to complete additional activities outside of these scheduled classes as part of the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN).

Cost Info:

Further information about fees is available at Course fees and assistance

Indicative Cost:

 $4,600 ($2,345 if following on from Diploma of Graphic Design CUA50720)

Likely Job Outcome:

 This qualification will provide you with the skills and knowledge enabling employment opportunities as a Professional Graphic Design Practitioner, you may work in many different commercial and community contexts across both print and digital media.

Application Type:

 Portfolio - Standard
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Additional Information

To complete this course, you will be provided an account to Adobe Suite but will be required to provide the following:

  • Notebook
  • Visual arts diary (A3)
  • Drawing tools
  • Headphones
  • Image capture devices i.e., scanner, camera

Entry Requirements

Individuals must have completed the Diploma in Graphic Design prior to entering the Advanced Diploma or demonstrate the equivalent industry experience and knowledge.
Individuals must provide evidence of their technical skills and ability to:

  • produce multiple examples of graphic design work that meets different design requirements
  • produce typography that supports the overall design solution
  • use graphic design industry software

Skills Recognition

To study any course at CIT (excluding non-accredited training) you must have a Unique Student Identifier (USI).

Further Study

University of Canberra - 48 credit points (2 years)

Literacy Skills Information

We suggest that you will need Australian Core Skills Framework literacy levels of at least 4 across reading, writing, learning, oral communication and, depending on your course of study, numeracy skills to successfully complete this course. If you do not have this level, you can still enrol and seek support to improve your skills or you may prefer to begin with the lower level course. Please visit Foundation Skills.

Transition Information

Qualifications at CIT are regularly updated or replaced to meet current industry needs and maximise your employment opportunities. If this occurs while you are part way through a qualification, you may need to vary your learning to meet the new national requirements. CIT will aim to make this as smooth as possible for you.

Subject Cancellations/Changes

To ensure positive outcomes for all students, CIT may need to cancel or change classes at short notice. CIT will make every effort to inform students as soon as changes are made and will also make every effort to offer alternative arrangements for students to meet the requirements of the subject and complete their qualification. In an unfortunate instance when this cannot be met, you will receive a full refund. Please ensure you maintain current contact details via CIT Self Service or by contacting CIT Student Services at infoline@cit.edu.au.


Subject Information

Complete 15 subjects

Core: Complete all 6

  • CUAPPR612   Collaborate in professional creative projects
    • CIT Code: ARTS400
      Cost: Standard $210.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to collaborate with other creative practitioners to establish, realise and evaluate a creative project.The unit applies to those who are independent creative practitioners working together in a collaborative team on commercial or community creative projects in physical or virtual environments. They may work on individual pieces of creative work or on thematically connected works in the broader context of a work brief, exhibition, competition or themed event. The unit applies to self-generated projects as well as those developed in response to opportunities presented by others.No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUADES512   Establish, negotiate and refine a design brief
    • CIT Code: GRPH243
      Cost: Standard $180.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to work proactively with a client or commissioning organisation to develop and negotiate a design brief. It involves determining design requirements with stakeholders, developing and refining the design brief and finalising the terms and conditions of the brief.It applies to individuals working in any industry or design context where the designer plays a key role in determining the scope and nature of work required. Establishment, negotiation and refinement of a design brief requires the integration of highly-developed creative thinking, communication and planning skills in a process that may not be linear. Adaptability and effective responses to change and new ideas are crucial.No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUADES611   Manage design realisation
    • CIT Code: GRPH244
      Cost: Standard $280.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to manage the process of taking a design from concept to final realisation or production. It involves planning the realisation of designs, managing the implementation of the design and managing different stakeholders throughout the completion of the realisation process. It applies to individuals working in any industry context or design discipline who take responsibility for turning design concept into reality a product or service of value to the end-user. This person could be an individual designer-maker or a designer working as part of a larger design/production team. No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUAGRD612   Originate graphic designs for complex briefs
    • CIT Code: GRPH250
      Cost: Standard $290.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to independently conceive, plan and realise professional graphic design work to meet the demands of complex communication challenges and graphic design briefs. It involves creating and applying graphic design concepts that adhere to creative and technical requirements.The unit applies to those who work as designers in many different contexts including studios, commercial printing, advertising, publishing, television or marketing. They possess highly developed planning and analytical thinking and technical and creative capabilities. No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUAGRD611   Engage in the business of graphic design
    • CIT Code: GRPH249
      Cost: Standard $265.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to adopt a professional, commercial approach to graphic design practice. It involves evaluating the skills and knowledge needed to work as a professional in the graphic design industry.The unit applies to those who work autonomously across a diverse range of industry and community contexts. They could be employed by others in small or large organisations, operate as freelancers or set up their own studios.No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUAGRD603   Extend typographic design expertise
    • CIT Code: GRPH220
      Cost: Standard $335.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to exploit the potential of typography to solve complex design challenges through research and exploration of advanced and specialised applications. It applies to individuals with a highly developed conceptual and technical understanding of type. They work in many different industry contexts including design studios, commercial printing, advertising, publishing, television and marketing. They work with two-dimensional (2-D), three-dimensional (3-D) and virtual applications. At this level, the designer is working independently, though is usually a member of a collaborative creative team. No licensing, legislative or certification conditions apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil

Electives: Complete 9

  • CUAPPR514   Establish and maintain environmentally sustainable creative practice
    • CIT Code: ARTS408
      Cost: Standard $160.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to integrate environmentally sustainable approaches into creative art or design practice in order to reduce own ecological footprint across all areas of operation. It involves evaluating environmental sustainability of current practices, ensuring resources are used in a sustainable way and making sustainable decisions to ensure continuous sustainability in the practice.The unit applies to those who work as artists or designers. Sustainability considerations apply both to activities within the practice and to the design of products and services that might be made, operated or used by others. The practitioner applies a self-directed approach to ensuring the sustainability of own creative practice.No licensing, legislative or certification conditions apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUAACD531   Refine drawing and other visual representation tools
    • CIT Code: ARTS386
      Cost: Standard $325.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to use drawing and other visual representation tools to develop, refine and communicate ideas for creative work. It involves evaluating the role of drawing in communicating ideas, experimenting with drawing and visual representations and developing an individual approach to the use of drawing. The unit focus is on manual drawing development and refinement, and visual representation as cognitive tools in a professional practice, rather than a particular level of drawing technique. The unit applies to professional practitioners working in any area related to visual communication using drawing and other visual representation tools to support their practice.No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUAACD522   Work with photomedia in creative practice
    • CIT Code: GRPH241
      Cost: Standard $280.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to work with any type of photomedia professional creative practice. It involves exploring and experimenting with different ideas related to photomedia, creating own photomedia work and presenting and evaluating finished work.The unit applies to those who work in many media and disciplines and use photomedia for the creative presentation or documentation of work, or to create parts or the whole of a finished work. It may include still images, film, video, music or interactive content. This unit does not address the specialised skills needed by photo imaging professionals. No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUAPPR614   Publicly present a body of own creative work
    • CIT Code: GRPH252
      Cost: Standard $290.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to generate ideas for a public presentation of a coherent body of own professional creative work; then plan, prepare and promote the presentation, including own work; then present and evaluate it.The unit applies to those who are creative practitioners working in different sectors. The presentations may be physical or virtual, and may include exhibitions, shows, competitions and performances.No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUADES511   Implement design solutions
    • CIT Code: GRPH242
      Cost: Standard $360.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to take a design concept or solution to the implementation stage. It involves confirming the proposed solution, gathering resources required to implement the solution, testing the solution and developing a prototype, and presenting the prototype to required personnel. The unit applies to those who work as a designer, in any industry context, either independently or employed by an organisation. No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUAGRD617   Develop graphic designs for branding and identity
    • CIT Code: GRPH251
      Cost: Standard $335.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to create graphic designs for branding and identity that convey key messages about organisations or brands and their underpinning philosophies. The unit applies to those who work in a range of industry contexts that include design consultancy, commercial printing, advertising, publishing, television or marketing. Graphic designers also frequently offer their services on a freelance basis. It involves the creation of graphic designs using techniques and approaches that meet organisational brand strategy requirements.No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUADIG401   Author interactive media
    • CIT Code: MEDA217
      Cost: Standard $335.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to author a complete interactive media product, for example, an entire website. It applies to individuals who apply sound knowledge of mark-up and scripting languages to develop templates, themes styles sheets, forms and form objects for programmers and the technical support team. They may also use a variety of authoring software used to produce complex interactions such as digital simulations, games and puzzles. They work primarily on client-side technologies. No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUADIG413   Create user interfaces
    • CIT Code: GRPH245
      Cost: Standard $380.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to create a user interface for animation, gaming and/or visual effects products.The unit applies to those who respond to design briefs and produce user interfaces that incorporate user-centred design principles and comply with platform standards. They typically work in a team environment with some supervision or guidance. No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • BSBMKG551   Create multiplatform advertisements for mass media
    • CIT Code: BUSN440
      Cost: Standard $360.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to create multiplatform advertisements for the communication of a product, service or idea to consumers. The unit applies to individuals who work in supervisory management roles within an advertising team or media organisation and are primarily responsible for the development of advertisements. No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil
  • CUAPPR511   Realise a body of creative work
    • CIT Code: ARTS391
      Cost: Standard $375.00
      Description: This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to integrate conceptual, technical and organisational skills to create a coherent body of work in any creative form.The unit applies to individuals who are developing their professional practice, and who convey a well developed command of materials, process and technique, and strong conceptual and theoretical development in their completed work.No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
      Prerequisites: Nil

Related Courses

Diploma Graphic Design CUA50720
Statement Attainment Preparatory Skill Set for Professional Graphic Design Practice CUASS00105
Non-Accredited Training Adobe Photoshop Fundamentals

More Information

For more information about this course please contact CIT Student Services on (02) 6207 3188 or email infoline@cit.edu.au