Are you passionate about bringing stories and messages to life through illustration? If you're a creative individual seeking a career in an imaginative and dynamic industry, where each day presents new artistic challenges, our BA (Hons) Illustration degree might be the perfect fit for you.
Taught by industry-experts you’ll master the fundamentals of illustration. From narrative to traditional and digital technologies, you’ll graduate with a stand-out portfolio that’ll blow employers away.
Why study BA (Hons) Illustration at BNU?
A diverse degree
As an illustrator, you have the opportunity to bring your own unique style to a range of briefs. From book publishing to advertising campaigns, you’ll use your artistic flair to influence the look and feel of products, campaigns and even brands.
Whether you end up in a studio, working as a freelance visual-artist or following one of the other many routes illustration offers, you can be sure that your designs and creations will help convey a message to consumers and artistically inspire the next generation of image makers.
Industry Connections
We aim to emerge students on this course within the industry from the get-go. During your time with us you’ll get direct access to industry-professionals and guest lecturers, often coming in to set live project briefs, hold master classes and talks on the industry.
We also have an extensive network of successful alumni now making waves in various areas of illustration, both nationally and internationally. We often call upon them to come back in for guest visits and to offer talks and workshops.
Led by our enthusiastic and dedicated team of design practitioners and experienced academics, you’ll benefit from their industry knowledge, as well as the network of professionals they bring to the course.
Facilities
Our Illustration course is situated in an open plan studio alongside the creative advertising and graphic design courses, meaning you get to experience how a working advertising and design agency would run in the real-world.
The course is located within the School of Art, Design and Performance, giving you access to a community of creative learners and diverse resources to help you achieve your creative outcomes. You’ll be encouraged to explore both traditional and current mediums to craft your design solutions, you can do this through our;
- silkscreen equipment
- plotter cutters
- letterpress equipment
- photography studios
- litho equipment
- laser cutting
- 3D printing technology
- iMac Suites with Adobe Creative Cloud
You also benefit from our specialist technicians and demonstrators on site, who can support you in bringing your ideas to life.
Study Options
This course is also offered as a four-year programme, including an initial Foundation Year. The Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate programme.
Location
As an illustration student, you are only 30 minutes from the hustle and bustle of one of the worlds’ most exciting city, London. With the course you’ll get the opportunity to visit design and illustration agencies, industry events and museums and galleries.
What will I study?
On this illustration course you are encouraged to solve visual problems with your own unique aesthetic solutions, experiment with image and type and explore appropriate digital technologies.
Through practical hands-on, project-based learning you will explore the fundamental core aspects of the subject such as narrative structure, hierarchy, composition and layout, typography, information design, image creation and conceptual thinking skills. Students are encouraged to take risks in their work and learn to challenge established languages and processes through questioning and individual experimentation.
Central to the ethos of the Illustration course is the development of two aims; the first is self-authorship, where your point of view and vision play the pivotal role in identifying and communicating images and messages that are central to your own personal interests, opinions, and core values, and secondly a multi-disciplinary confidence and ability to accomplish communication tasks across a range of media and client bases. These aims reflect the current contemporary vocabulary of a modern illustrator.
Through specialist modules in Editorial Applications and Narrative Illustration you’ll explore a range of media, techniques and theoretical ideas which build an understanding of the role of a professional illustrator. By investigating contexts and audiences through practical projects and live briefs, you’ll develop your personal visual language, consolidate critical and strategic thinking, complex problem-solving and presentation skills, to build an awareness of the wider contextual role of an Illustrator.
In your final year you’ll delve into personal exploration, application and developing personal voice through a Major Project module. We encourage you to investigate your own interests by writing a brief that challenges you to create innovative and imaginative solutions to problems in areas that are important to you.
Upon graduating from this course, you’ll leave with your own distinctive portfolio that demonstrates your unique strengths and interests to prospective work opportunities.
