Bachelor of Digital Design

This three-year bachelor degree is built around digital design, with a strong graphic design core. You'll spend your time on the things designers actually do: typography and layout, branding and identity systems, digital illustration, motion graphics, user interface and experience design, and the web and screen-based work that sits alongside print. Whitecliffe, The Fashion Institute delivers the programme, so expect a studio culture where you make work, present it, and get critiqued on it rather than sitting through lecture after lecture.

How the degree is structured

Australian bachelor degrees are normally three years of full-time study, and that's what this one is. The academic year usually runs across two semesters or three trimesters, and you enrol in units of study that each carry a set number of credit points. You need to pass the required number of credit points to graduate. Early units tend to cover design fundamentals and software skills, middle units push you into specialised graphic design and digital media, and the final year typically includes a capstone project where you build a body of work that becomes your portfolio. Some programmes also offer an honours year on top, which adds a fourth year and a research component, but check whether that's available here.

Work-integrated learning and industry

Design degrees in Australia often include industry projects, live briefs from real clients, studio internships or a professional placement unit. Where that exists, it's usually in the later part of the degree, and it's one of the most useful things you'll do because it puts your work in front of people who hire designers. Confirm the placement or internship requirements on the official course page before you apply, since not every programme structures it the same way.

Skills you build and who it suits

You come out with a portfolio, not just a transcript. Along the way you develop visual problem-solving, type and image craft, digital production skills across the usual design software, and the ability to explain your design decisions to a client or a creative director. The degree suits school leavers who already make things and want to do it properly, career changers moving into creative work, and anyone who wants a graphic design qualification that also covers the digital side of the job. International students should check the English requirement on the official page: IELTS Academic 6.0–6.5 overall is the common undergraduate standard, with TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic, Cambridge C1 Advanced and the university's own English programmes accepted as equivalents. The Department of Home Affairs sets a separate English threshold for the Student visa itself, and while you're studying on that visa you can work up to 48 hours per fortnight. After you finish, the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream is worth looking into if you want to stay and work in Australia.

• Graphic designer, studios, advertising and branding agencies, in-house marketing teams
• Digital designer, web and product teams, e-commerce, media companies
• UI/UX designer, tech companies, software firms, digital agencies
• Motion graphics designer, video production, broadcast, social content studios
• Brand and identity designer, design consultancies, packaging and retail
• Illustrator or visual content creator, publishing, freelance, content agencies
• Art director (junior/assistant), creative agencies and production houses
• Freelance designer, self-employed, contracting to Australian and overseas clients

Australian industries that hire from this pool include advertising and marketing, publishing, film and television, software and technology, retail and fashion, and the public sector's communications teams.