Visual Design
The content endorsed course of visual design provides opportunities for students to use frames to explore visual design, its development and history. Students develop their knowledge and skills in a broad range of art making techniques and use a process diary as they develop their ideas. The HSC course involves both a written exam and submitted artworks, all marked internally.
Designing and making
Students will develop knowledge and skills in designing and making when:
- using judgement when making artistic visual design decisions for varying contexts, audience purposes, and situations
- making artworks exploring content through the frames
- using research to guide artistic visual design practice
- experimenting with various processes, techniques and skills adapted from various artistic design styles
- considering, interpreting and influencing meaning when constructing layers of their visual design works.
Critical and historical studies
Students will learn about critical and historical studies when:
- assessing and describing particular artists, artworks, audience responses and representations of the world through visual design and designers
- investigating points of view expressed through art by artists/designers in various styles and interpretations of the world
- using judgment to justify and argue qualities and meaning of an artwork/art design or an event as represented through art history
- studying representations of history in artworks as portrayed by an artist/ designer’s ideas, issues, events, circumstances, beliefs and technologies
- reading, viewing and criticising critical and historical interpretations and evaluations of artworks/ designs, exhibitions, personal and written accounts.
Teaching and learning resources
The HSC visual design unit 'Brand it' provides students with opportunities to design and make logos and associated publications. It is informed by a critical and historical study of key graphic designers that link to the units theme. It addresses the NSW stage 6 visual design syllabus module GD1: Publications and Information. This unit encourages students to use a variety of expressive forms in their art making practice and develops students’ knowledge and understanding of visual design in their critical and historical accounts.
This unit can be used as one of the three modules taught in year 12 visual design. Provided is the HSC visual design program, yearly assessment schedule, scope and sequence, practical assessment task and stage 6 visual arts life skills modified assessment tasks for practical work.
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) visual design CEC page contains the syllabus and helpful materials including a sample assessment schedule, HSC advice, specimen exams, marking guidelines for practical tasks, standards materials, past papers additional support information.
If you need further assistance with accessibility for any of these resources, please get in touch with us at SecondaryEducationUnit@det.nsw.edu.au