Course guide - Malaysia
A publication, a package, a sign system and a moving image ask different things of a designer. Compare how Raffles University’s diploma connects those formats, then check portfolio entry, international English and the actual internship calendar.
Raffles University’s Diploma in Visual Communication is MQA/FA4739, an MQF Level 4 diploma with 90 credits. The programme describes studio-based learning combining design knowledge, critical thinking, conceptualisation and software skills. It is a different award from RU’s graphic-design or multimedia bachelor’s degrees.
MQR records accreditation starting 27 October 2016. Its duration history shows an older two-year structure and a two-year-four-month structure for new cohorts from 5 February 2020. The current university header matches the longer route. Use the current intake’s actual calendar rather than an older two-year description.
Fundamentals of Typography and Publication Design connect text, hierarchy, layout and a reading sequence.
Ask to compare spreads, type choices and revisions. A striking cover is not the same as a readable publication.
Identity System Design and Packaging Design connect a mark and visual language with physical applications.
Ask how the identity behaves across a label, package and supporting materials, and how production decisions are explained.
Wayfinding System Design connects information, visual consistency and movement through a place.
Ask for route logic, sign hierarchy and legibility tests. A single sign mock-up does not explain a whole system.
Storyboard & Art Direction, Video & Motion Graphic and Web Design extend communication through time or interaction.
Ask for the storyboard, timing decisions, screen states and iteration. Confirm the depth of web implementation rather than assuming a software-engineering course.
Year 1 names Foundation Sketching and Drawing for Designers, History of 20th Century Design and Culture, Design Principles, Digital Image Processing, Fundamentals of Typography and Digital Photography. Academic writing, reading and communication also appear. The published curriculum is more than a list of software tools.
Year 2 adds Digital and Applied Illustration, Creative Techniques, Creative Portfolio Design and Final Project alongside the applied design subjects. Ask how research, idea generation, critique and revision contribute to marks, and how much assessed work is individual.
Gen-AI for Design Exploration is a named module. Ask about attribution, ownership, documenting human decisions and how generated assets are checked. The title is not evidence of RU’s detailed assessment rules.
The page does not name software packages or promise vendor certificates. Confirm licences, lab access, suitable computer specifications, print facilities and practical contact hours before making purchases.
The official SHAN HAI - Mystic Beast Tale Incarnation page credits Chin Ming Jun, Diploma in Visual Communication, supervised by Ms Sylvia Tan. It describes combining the Classic of Mountains and Seas with MBTI themes to introduce audiences to another cultural interest. It is a specific credited concept, not a psychological assessment qualification.
Read the official SHAN HAI project and designer creditThe official project page credits Samuel Hong Wei Loon and Lim Jia Qi, Diploma in Visual Communication, supervised by Ms Sylvia Tan. The campaign uses childhood nostalgia, activities and products as a response to everyday adult pressure. Ask to see how research and design choices connect with an intended audience, and how a team identifies each person’s contribution.
Read the official Back to Memories project and team creditThe diploma course page’s featured Noon Tea Festival link credits Yeo Xin Ying on its own portfolio page as a Bachelor of Multimedia Design (Honours) designer. It reports a Silver Award in Branding - Corporate/Brand Identity at Crownbar Awards Singapore 2024. It is not diploma work simply because it is linked from the diploma page.
Check Noon Tea Festival’s award-level attributionPortfolio publication and a competition result are evidence of those named projects, not guarantees of an award, employment or a particular final-project brief for every student.
The university lists SPM credits in three subjects, O-Level credits in three subjects, or UEC B grades in three subjects. Other equivalent qualifications recognised by the Malaysian Government are considered case by case. Passing RU’s Portfolio Assessment and Interview is an additional requirement.
Indian applicants should provide their actual board, qualification and subject marks for an equivalence assessment. Do not translate three SPM/O-Level credits into a universal Indian Class 10 or Class 12 percentage. Academic eligibility does not remove the portfolio and interview check.
The page also describes APEL.A admission for applicants at least 20 in the application year with relevant work experience who pass the diploma-level assessment. It does not establish that every international applicant can use this route. Confirm eligibility and immigration compatibility before relying on it.
The international table lists IELTS 4.0, TOEFL Essentials (Online) 5, TOEFL iBT 30–31, PTE 36, MUET Band 3 and Cambridge English/Linguaskill 140. The TOEFL iBT range is retained as published. Confirm accepted test versions, validity and any component conditions with your offer.
Students below the requirement are told to take RU’s English Preparation Programme and achieve the required equivalent English qualification. The preparation course is not a waiver or evidence of direct entry. Confirm its length, cost, progression condition and effect on your start date.
The separate local-student no-minimum-English statement and local learning-assistance note are not the international entry conditions. The page does not establish an automatic exemption for an English-medium school letter.
The published module table puts Internship under Year 3 but gives the overall diploma length as two years four months. It does not specify internship weeks on this page. Do not copy a 14-week internship from the separate Interior Design diploma, or use MQR’s semester length as proof of the exact placement length.
Request the cohort calendar, placement start and end, assessed hours and how it fits into the seven-semester structure.
Ask who finds a placement, what roles qualify, who supervises and what happens if a host is unavailable.
Check employer confidentiality, ownership and permission to show work. A placement should not be assumed to provide public portfolio assets.
Confirm travel, accommodation, insurance, any allowance and approved international course-placement arrangements. It is not a paid-job or unrelated-work guarantee.
The current RU overview places the university in Medini, Iskandar, Johor. MQR retains a Menara Kota Raya address in Johor Bahru. Confirm the current teaching venue on your offer rather than treating a retained institutional address as a campus-arrival instruction.
This is Raffles University, not Raffles College of Higher Education in Kuala Lumpur. The programme diagram points toward a graphic-design bachelor’s route and mentions credit transfer. It does not establish an automatic offer, your exemption amount, remaining semesters or a guaranteed shorter degree. Get a written receiving-award and credit-mapping decision.
The official course image is illustrative design-process photography. It is not identified as a named diploma student, a verified RU classroom or evidence that the pictured materials are included in tuition.
The official page asks applicants to contact RU for current tuition. No verified intake-specific payable quote was established. This guide therefore gives no invented fee or INR equivalent. Obtain a dated itemised full-course FA4739 offer before comparing costs.
Ask about tuition, registration, compulsory resources, facilities, international admission and immigration items, tax, deposits, insurance and refund or deferral rules.
Budget for a suitable computer, software, storage, printing, publication mock-ups, packaging prototypes, photography, materials and any exhibition or final-project production.
Clarify repeat or resit charges, project extensions and the cost and duration of any English preparation. Avoid assuming a scholarship covers every compulsory item.
Include placement transport and living costs. Price any later degree only after individual credit assessment, remaining-duration confirmation and a new fee quote.
January, May and September are the published intake labels. Confirm the exact date, seats, academic and portfolio decisions, English evidence and international application deadline before paying or booking travel.
No. It is an MQF Level 4 diploma, FA4739, with 90 credits. RU’s graphic-design and multimedia bachelor’s awards are separate.
The current university and MQR records agree on two years four months. MQR lists seven 14-week long semesters; an older two-year structure should not be used as the current duration.
The course page names Internship but does not specify its week count. Ask for the cohort placement schedule rather than borrowing a figure from a different diploma.
Yes. Passing RU’s Portfolio Assessment and Interview is listed in addition to academic entry. Obtain the current brief and criteria.
Its own portfolio page credits a Bachelor of Multimedia Design (Honours) designer. It should not be called diploma work just because the diploma page links it.
The page lists age, work-experience and assessment conditions but does not establish availability for every international applicant. Confirm your eligibility and immigration conditions before relying on it.
“The entire admission process was handled in a clear and organized manner, which made everything feel much less overwhelming.”
Fathima Meharin
MBA in Business Analytics · APU Malaysia
“They supported me from the beginning and made sure I understood each step clearly. … Their support made the whole admission process smooth and much less stressful.”
Hamda Noushad
Heriot-Watt University Malaysia
Student experiences as published on Emir Overseas' website, each displayed with five stars. Quotes reproduced exactly as published; the ellipsis is retained. These are not testimonials about the institution on this page.
Checked 10 November 2026. Programme pages, fee schedules and general application instructions can differ. The scope of each source is stated below; written intake-specific confirmation takes priority over an estimate.
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