We ensure that all our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and practical skills necessary to enter an extremely competitive industry. Many of our graduates go on to develop rewarding careers as designers in many different settings.

Fashion Designer

As a fashion designer you will come up with and develop designs for clothing. The main areas that you can be involved in are high street fashion, designer ready-to-wear and haute couture. Typical tasks might include sourcing fabrics, sketching design ideas (either by hand or using computer-aided design), and working to develop products in line with the design brief that you have been given. Throughout your career you will need to keep up with current and emerging trends and fashions.

Typical starting salary: £17,500-£21,000

Interior and Spatial Designer

Using your understanding of aesthetics, you will be involved in the design or renovation of internal spaces, overseeing projects from the beginning to the end. As an interior and spatial designer you will work on furnishings, fixtures and fittings, lighting, colour schemes and structural alterations. You might work in a number of settings, including domestic and residential developments, museums, retail outlets and hotels. Typical daily tasks might include meeting with clients to understand their needs and requirements, considering materials and costs in order to set a budget, and preparing detailed work drawings and plans.

Typical starting salary: £18,000 - £21,500

Graphic Designer

As a Graphic designer you will produce and design solutions to communicate your clients' messages with high visual impact. Graphic design solutions are required for a huge variety of products and activities, such as websites, advertising, books, magazines, posters, computer games, product packaging, exhibitions and displays, corporate communications and corporate identity, e.g. giving organisations a visual 'brand'. A graphic designer's job may involve managing more than one design brief at a time, allocating the relevant amount of time according to the value of the job.

Typical starting salary: £18,000 - £23,000

Printmaker

We collaborate with Peacock Visual Arts, a large internationally recognised print workshop and gallery located in the centre of Aberdeen. As a result students have gained employment in Print workshops throughout Scotland and in roles within galleries and museums. This year for the first time we had a student placement at Pace Editions in New York for the summer period. 

Typical starting salary: £16,000. A large amount of your work may be freelance, and you can supplement your income with other work. 

Robert Gordon University Graduates

Some of our graduates have gone on to be:

• Design Manager
• Design Consultant
• Installation Artist
• Designer
• Digital Designer
• Multimedia Designer
• Web Designer/Developer
• Media Developer
• 3D Visualiser
• Lead Illustrator
• Design Applications Engineer
• Graphic Designer
• Promotions Executive
• Creative Designer
• Business Development Executive
• Design Draughtsman