Overview 2022
This course may not be available to international students. Please see the list of distance courses (i.e. online and taken outside Australia) that are offered to international students
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For years prior to 2015, please view the Course and Unit Handbook Archive
View the current year's course page
The Bachelor of Visual Communication degree prepares students to enter the communication design industry.
Students are introduced to a wide range of design approaches and processes, including theoretical and historical design contexts.
Students gain the technical, conceptual and research skills necessary to produce innovative and effective visual communications for print, digital, multi-media, film, video, television and user interfaces.
Course objectives
The Bachelor of Visual Communication will equip you with the necessary technical, conceptual and research skills to produce innovative and effective visual communications for an identified audience. You will focus on the design of communication and on developing communication strategies to solve particular communication problems. The BVC provides a pathway to enter all aspects of the communication design industry including advertising, graphic design, multimedia, publishing, film, theatre, music, video and television industries.
The program develops general abilities in the following areas:
- Developing effective Communication strategies
- Technical and conceptual problem solving skills
- Presentation skills both visual and verbal
- An appreciation for the historical and societal context of design
- An awareness of the ethical and responsible practice of design and the impact of design on society
- Research skills
Career outcomes
Career opportunities are available to graduates with a Bachelor of Visual Communication in the diverse communication design profession and industry including: multimedia, graphic design, visual communication, electronic transmission, image generation, art direction, interactive media, publishing, print based media, advertising design, marketing, exhibition and environmental graphics, illustration and electronic imaging, corporate design and mass communication, design management interpretation design, theatre design and event design.
Course structure
Years 2 and 3
Choice - Student Elective Units
Experience and Engagement/Student electives (advanced)
Experience and Engagement electives are your choice of units from any study area across the University, subject to meeting relevant prerequisites and quotas. You may choose to enrol in additional discipline/study area units or a study area from another degree.
Unit list
Experience and Engagement/Student electives (intermediate)
Experience and Engagement electives are your choice of units from any study area across the University, subject to meeting relevant prerequisites and quotas. You may choose to enrol in additional discipline/study area units or a study area from another degree.
Experience and Engagement - Intermediate level units
Choice - Breadth Units
Breadth electives (advanced)
Breadth - Advanced level units
The fast-paced development of new digital technologies provides powerful resources for addressing today's social and environmental challenges. Combining the perspectives of business entrepreneurship, regional science and information systems, this breadth unit will uncover the potential of digitally connected social entrepreneurship…
Credit Points: 12.5
This unit is currently unavailable.
View all details for XBR302 Social Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age
Breadth electives (intermediate)
Breadth - Intermediate level units
This second-year unit Working with Communities will give students in a range of conceptual and practical tools to understand the complex idea of community and skills to work effectively with diverse communities in their professional practice. The focus is on…
Credit Points: 12.5
This unit is currently unavailable.
Naturally hazardous events do not necessarily result in natural disasters, rather, natural disasters are measured by the impacts of the event on people. This unit will introduce the natural earth systems that create natural hazards, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami,…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
This unit introduces students to the world of social research. It answers questions about how to produce knowledge through empirical research, and discusses the methods used to solve practical problems. The unit covers a wide range of social research methodologies and approaches,…
Credit Points: 12.5
This unit is currently unavailable.
View all details for XBR212 Interdisciplinary Social Research
Breadth electives (introductory)
Breadth - Introductory level units
Do you want to make a difference to something in the world you care about? Would you like some time and space to consider, develop and test your approaches in a safe environment, supported by experts in the field? Following…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
View all details for XBR102 Developing your Creative and Entrepreneurial Potential
The challenge of ensuring adequate and sustainable food production and equitable access to food for a diverse human population in the 21st century is crucial and profoundly complex. This unit helps you contribute to meeting this challenge. The interdisciplinary skills…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
Ever thought of yourself as one in a million?Universities Australia notes that in 2017 Australia has more than one million students enrolled in Universities across the country. That is more than one million potential graduates entering the workforce over the…
Credit Points: 12.5
This unit is currently unavailable.
View all details for XBR110 Discover your potential: Leadership, Service and Employability
Earth is a lively and dynamic planet that is undergoing rapid changes wrought by the activities of humans. In what ways are these changes impacting on us and other species? Are we precipitating another mass extinction; the 6th major mass…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
This unit is an elective of the Diploma of Sustainable Living course and explores the interlinked scientific, technical, environmental, economic, social and political factors that have shaped society's energy usage and which will impact on future energy policy and decision…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
Compulsory Units
BVC Support Studies
Year 2
Compulsory Units
Exhibitions are not only a way to present creative works. They are also a way to make meaning, generate ideas and communicate with an audience. This unit will present key contemporary, historical, philosophical and cultural debates and guide you through…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
| Launceston | Semester 1 | ||||
View all details for FSA221 Critical Practices in Art: Exhibitions
This unit will introduce you to writing as a mode of creative expression as well as critique. It will focus on the wide range of ways artists have used the written word as part of project development and cross-arts experimentation.…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
| Launceston | Semester 2 | ||||
View all details for FSA222 Critical Practices in Art: Writing
Major 1
Visual Communication
Year 1
Choose from the following units
Photography 1 will introduce you to the medium of photography. Directed by staff and technicians, in the context of a studio/workshop/tutorial curriculum, you will be introduced to traditional techniques, new technologies and approaches to contemporary practice. Study of this unit…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
| Launceston | Semester 2 | ||||
Painting is a vital and exciting medium that continues to fascinate artists and audiences. This unit is suited to students interested in contemporary art and who wish to learn the foundations of painting practice. By undertaking this unit, you will…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
| Launceston | Semester 2 | ||||
Year 3
Compulsory Units
In this unit you will develop and apply a contextual narrative for a body of resolved work suitable for public exhibition and display. You will engage in the processes and strategies of refinement, which can include iteration, material manipulation, reflection…
Credit Points: 25
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
| Launceston | Semester 2 | ||||
Major 2
Time Based Media
Year 1
Choose from the following units
Photography 1 will introduce you to the medium of photography. Directed by staff and technicians, in the context of a studio/workshop/tutorial curriculum, you will be introduced to traditional techniques, new technologies and approaches to contemporary practice. Study of this unit…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
| Launceston | Semester 2 | ||||
Painting is a vital and exciting medium that continues to fascinate artists and audiences. This unit is suited to students interested in contemporary art and who wish to learn the foundations of painting practice. By undertaking this unit, you will…
Credit Points: 12.5
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
| Launceston | Semester 2 | ||||
Year 3
Compulsory Units
In this unit you will develop and apply a contextual narrative for a body of resolved work suitable for public exhibition and display. You will engage in the processes and strategies of refinement, which can include iteration, material manipulation, reflection…
Credit Points: 25
| Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
| Launceston | Semester 2 | ||||
Entry requirements
Detailed Admissions Information
Detailed admissions information and advice for all undergraduate courses, including comprehensive, course-level student profiles, is available from UTAS Admissions.
Fees & scholarships
Domestic students
This is a full-fee course, which means you’ll need to pay the full amount for your studies. Commonwealth Supported Places are not available in this course. However, there are still support options available for eligible students to help you manage the cost of studying this course.
You may be able to fund all or part of your tuition fees by accessing a FEE-HELP loan from the Australian Government. FEE-HELP is a loan scheme that assists domestic full-fee students to pay for University, which is repaid through the Australian Tax System once you earn above a repayment threshold. This means you’ll only have to start repaying the loan once you start earning above a specific amount
Our scholarships and prizes program also offers more than 400 scholarships across all areas of study. You can even apply for multiple scholarships in one easy application.
Further informationDetailed fee information for domestic students is available at Scholarships, fees and costs, including additional information in relation to the compulsory Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF).
Scholarships
For information on general scholarships available at the University of Tasmania, please visit the scholarships website.
How can we help?
Do you have any questions about choosing a course or applying? Get in touch.
- Domestic
- 13 8827 (13 UTAS)
- International
- +61 3 6226 6200
- Course.Info@utas.edu.au
- Online
- Online enquiries