Prof. Alexander Tibus about BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication
Our Head of Program, Alexander Tibus, is talking about studying graphic design at Berlin International and answering the most frequently asked questions about our program. Check out the interview below.
About the BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication at BI
The BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication program provides students with the skills and specialized knowledge to develop creative, responsible solutions in the design context. Projects include a range of analog and digital media. Amongst others, our students design apps, animations, augmented and virtual reality scenarios, books and magazines, campaigns, brand identities, posters, and websites.
- Taught exclusively in English, in the heart of Berlin.
- Accredited by the Accreditation Council (Akkreditierungsrat) and The Standing Conference (Kultusministerkonferenz or KMZ).
- Network with Berlin’s vibrant creative industries to prepare our graduates for diverse and international work environments.
Interview with Prof. Alexander Tibus
Hi, I am Alexander Tibus and I am the BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication program head.
About Berlin International
We are a truly international university. Our students and staff are from all around the world. Those people make Berlin International special. We have a strong community here and there is a ratio of about one professor or lecturer for 18 students only. This provides immediate and personal contact between the students, professors and lecturers. Individuals from all over the world meet here on campus. BI offers that common ground to come together, exchange ideas and experience our joint development.
Studying at Berlin International
Studying with us provides an education that relates to the real life. We teach practice-driven, we work with a range of external partners in our course projects and we thoroughly prepare our students for their professional life after graduation. We offer a personalized education with passionate lecturers and professors and a great international student population.
We offer a thorough graphic design education and transfer those skills into digital design. Our students gain professional skills that reflect nowadays creative industries’ needs. Through personal tutoring and immediate contact, we are able to support our students’ individual interests, their individual creativity and foster their specific talents.
About the BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication
Our very international student population enables us to also look into visual communication from different perspectives and to get to know new approaches to design. The BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication program includes a unique course in which the students practice cross-cultural design. They apply different script systems such as Arabic or Chinese, as well as others, to create intercultural communication.
The bachelor program educates for the real life. Nearly all of our lecturers are practitioners who run their own design studios and work in agencies and as freelance designers. They bring their own professional practice into the classroom.
Our courses are practice-driven, and the students are working on applied design projects. We work with real clients starting in the second semester already, and students can connect with professionals from the creative industries.
Just recently, we introduced the new course, employability and entrepreneurship, to the last study semester. It prepares our students to successfully enter professional life. The course equips them with a personal strategy, a proper portfolio and their own professional website.
Career Perspectives After Graduation
For career perspectives after graduation, there are numerous options. Design studios and agencies, publishers, and start-ups, particularly in the area of app development, service design and web-related design. Graphic design graduates often work as art directors, brand designers and UX designers. Some go into editorial design in the book and magazine sector or go and work as information designers, motion designers and illustrators.
Berlin hosts a number of game design developers, a field which is now becoming increasingly popular with our graphic design students. Two of our recent graduates started to work in the film industry during their studies already and want to pursue that in the future. Some of our graduates also study master's programs after their bachelor's, in various fields such as brand management, fields of different design and marketing.
Partners of the Program
On the program, we work together with a range of corporation partners here in Berlin. These are smaller and mid-sized start-ups. We already work with a Berlin-based sneaker brand, a company that produces 3D printers, but we also regularly work with well-established partners, such as The Berliner magazine (formerly Exberliner), which is Berlin’s largest cultural magazine in the English language.
About the City of Berlin
Berlin is a city of graphic design and visual communication. It provides non-stop inspiration. You can see cultural posters on the streets, sometimes with outstanding design quality. You can see street art nearly everywhere. Besides numerous fine art galleries and museums, there are excellent exhibitions and conferences for graphic design and visual communication. For example, the Kunstbibliothek, which we work together with quite a lot, hosts one of the world’s largest graphic design collections and of course, also makes that accessible to the public.
As a UNESCO City of Design, Berlin demonstrates an enormous number of design studios, agencies, publishers, and other creative companies. Berlin is an international metropolis with many opportunities to meet new people and connect. It is worldwide famous for its cultural life and nightlife, which is very popular with students. Compared to other German cities, it is still quite an affordable place and there is this sense of freedom in Berlin that allows you to unfold yourself.
The bachelor’s program in Graphic Design & Visual Communication described in three words only would be prospering, motivating, and supportive. |
Thank you for reading our article about studying at Berlin International from our professor, Alexander Tibus. If you are interested in pursuing your studies in Berlin, take a look at the BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication program we offer.
Feel free to reach out to our Admissions Team at any time via application@berlin-international.de.
Study BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication at BI
The learning environment fostered at Berlin International is student-centered and hands-on. Our teaching concept focuses on project-based learning; students work individually and in groups in order to promote professional and personal growth and the development of team skills. All BA programs at Berlin International are taught in English. In combination with our diverse student and teaching body and our global network this enables us to offer a truly international academic experience.
Graphic designers have a wide variety of job opportunities. Our graduates can work in fields such as brand design, interaction design (including UX and UI design), information design, motion graphics, typography, book and magazine design as well as advertising and design consultancy. A graphic designer's work has the potential to impact and improve our daily environment on an economic, political, social, cultural, and personal level.
Potential professional environments include:
- Graphic design studios
- Branding and advertising agencies
- Interaction and web design agencies
- Publishers (digital and print media)
- Television and film industries
- Design departments of mid-sized and large companies
- Start-ups (various sectors including app and game design)
- Freelance work
In a practice-driven and supportive learning atmosphere, an internationally experienced and extensively trained team of lecturers and professors encourages our students to explore their individual talents and forge their own professional paths. In the first year, our students gain elementary design skills, creative foundations, and knowledge of photography, interaction design, editorial design, typography, as well as new media. Moreover, they acquire the relevant fundamentals of design theory.
The second year delivers strategic and intercultural skills through collaborative as well as individual projects. Our students create complex design systems and reflect on their studies from a practical and theoretical vantage point. Their project work presents creative responses toward current and future challenges within ecological, economic, social, and political contexts. Our assignments have a focus on benefitting human needs and the environment.
During the third year, our students collaborate with peers from other programs within an interdisciplinary project in order to develop tailored design solutions for a real-life client. In addition, they complete an internship and reinforce their research skills. Finally, our students prove their expertise in the bachelor thesis and the bachelor design project, for which they individually choose relevant topics that reflect the spirit and culture of the times. In addition, a customized course equips our students with the knowledge and strategies to enter professional life successfully.
Learn more about the BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication program and Berlin International. Below, you can download the study plan, the Berlin International brochure, and our current academic calendar in PDF format.
Apply for BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication
To meet our admission requirements for the Bachelor degree programs in Architecture and Design, one needs to hold the German Abitur / Fachabitur or equivalent. Any foreign qualification will need to meet the equivalence criteria to these German certificates, which is set by the German Central Office for Foreign Education.
The requirements for equivalence vary from country to country. We have summarized a few of the most frequently asked about education systems:
To confirm whether you meet the requirements to study in Germany, the German Academic Exchange Service provides an English language resource here.
For the original German source, please check the homepage of the Kulturministerkonferenz here.
There are four admission possibilities:
Direct general admission – you are qualified to start undergraduate studies into any subject area.
Direct subject-restricted admission – you are qualified to begin undergraduate studies in the subject area you have previously studied.
Subject restricted admission to a preparatory course/the Feststellungsprüfung (university qualification exam) – you require additional periods of study before you can begin undergraduate studies in Germany, see more information below.
Admission is not possible without additional proof of education – the qualification you hold is not equivalent to a university entrance qualification in Germany. You will need to complete further qualifications to meet the admission requirements.
Preparatory Course / Additional Studies
If you current educational qualficiations do not fully meet the Abitur/ Fachabitur-level in Germany, and you will need a Preparatory Course or additional studies, here are your 2 options:
Option 1: Study time
You can enroll at a university outside of Germany, and complete the first academic year of a bachelor´s degree successfully. In order to meet the admission requirements, the university and program must be fully accredited, you must choose the same or closely related subject you intend to apply for at BI, and you must complete the first academic year with all courses and credits successfully. For some countries, you may need to complete more than 1 academic year.
If you choose this route, you would be welcome to apply as a transfer student into a higher semester. Read more about this in the ‘Transfer students and course acknowledgments’ section.
Option 2: Studienkolleg
A 'Studienkolleg' is a university preparatory course to prepare your for German universities. There are different types of Studienkolleg programs, for architecture and design programs, you would need to choose the 'T' or 'G' course.
German language is required for anyone wanting to study at a Berlin-accredited university after completing the Studienkolleg.Therefore, it is not a typical route for our students.
For more information on Studienkolleg programs, click here.
Please note that Berlin International can only consider applicants who meet the admission requirements for the desired program.
All applicants who meet them will be subject to faculty selection and seat availability per program.
The application process for studying Graphic Design & Visual Communication at Berlin International is straightforward. You can simply and safely share your personal information through our online application platform. After receiving a confirmation email with a link, a copy of the following documents can be uploaded:
- Passport
- High school diploma certificate with transcript (German Abitur, Fachabitur, or equivalent). Please also submit an official translation of the diploma and transcript into English or German if they are in another language.
- University certificate with transcript (if applicable). Please also submit an official translation of the diploma and transcript into English or German if they are in another language.
- English language test certificate (CEFR level B2 or above)
- Portfolio PDF with a minimum of 10 works. See the guidelines here.
We are also offering webinars on the topic of ‘Portfolio Advice’ throughout the year. For information on upcoming dates and how to register, please visit our current dates page.
If you have missed a recent webinar, then simply email us, and we will be happy to send you the link to the recording.
For more information, including course acknowledgement and transfer applications, please use the menu item Admission.
Our BA Graphic Design & Visual Communication program is taught in English. We will require proof of your language skills. German knowledge is not required.
If your language skills are at CEFR Level B2 or above, one of the following currently valid language test certificates and scores can be accepted for your application:
- TOEFL ITP: 543
- TOEFL IBT: 74
- IELTS (Academic): 6.0 overall
- Cambridge FCE: B2
- PTE Academic: 59
- BI internal exam/ BAU 'English Language Proficiency Exam': 60/100
- IB Diploma: English A or B at HL or SL
- German Abitur
The score must be earned within the last two years.
If you have not completed high school in a predominantly English-speaking country (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) or a bachelor's degree fully in English, an approved language exam is required in order to qualify for admission.
You are welcome to attend the internal Berlin International language proficiency exam. It will be hosted online, participation is free of charge and can be offered once an application to one of our programs has been made and admission requirements have been met.
For the dates of our next language proficiency exam, see the Language Requirements tab on our Admissions Page.
Preparatory School:
If you do not yet have CEFR level B2 English and are eligible to study in a BA program at BI, you can sign up for our English Preparatory School.
