Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography Programme

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES

BACHELOR OF ARTS HONOURS IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION

1 YEAR – FULL TIME – NQF 8

This year-long Bachelors of Arts Honours in Visual Communication presented by the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography aims to produce industry-ready innovative critical thinkers who are able to make meaningful and professional contributions and challenge conventional visual communication thinking.

This degree is built on three interrelated components, Creative Practice (practice-led research), Visual Studies (critical theory), and Contextual Studies (contextual theory).

Students work with a team of highly qualified lecturers and the programme as a whole will be conducted in an open-plan studio environment, which will enable students across disciplines and specialisations to work alongside each other.

In this co-creating learning environment shared experience is encouraged by means of personal interaction and engagement with learning activities such as presentations, seminars, group discussions, and the like. Students will receive feedback from individual lecturers as well as from an interdisciplinary panel of lecturing staff.

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION

3 YEARS – FULL TIME – NQF 7

At the Stellenbosch Academy, we understand how difficult it can be to choose a career path that is both rewarding and aligned with one’s natural skills and interests. That is why we have designed a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication curriculum that moves from general to specific. It allows our students to get a taste of the five major disciplines we offer (Applied Illustration, Art Direction, Graphic Design, Multimedia, Photography) before deciding on a specialisation.

In the first six months of the first year, students get a taste of all five major disciplines. In the second six months of the first year, students choose two of these disciplines to explore further. At the beginning of the second year, they then choose one major from the previous two – taking it through to completion at the end of the third year. This ensures a solid grounding in visual communication and a major that plays to individual students’ skills and interests.

HIGHER CERTIFICATE IN COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

1 YEAR – FULL TIME – NQF 5

Our Higher Certificate programme in Commercial Photography gives students everything they need for entry-level photographic practice. This means our graduates leave with a solid grounding in photography that allows them to hit the ground running.

The programme covers a range of styles including Advertising, portraiture, landscape and documentary photography.

HIGHER CERTIFICATE IN DRAWING

1 YEAR – FULL TIME – NQF 5