MA Illustration

• On the MA Illustration degree you will develop your professional skills as an Illustrator.
• You will work with design professionals of international standing.
• This masters degree gives you the opportunity to work in professional and industrial contexts.

Why choose this course?

MA Illustration is a Masters award within the PG Design programme at the School of Creative Arts. Within the programme there is strong emphasis on professional practice and the real-world applications of design. You will develop key research skills and gain a good understanding of the work of other practitioners in your field.

The aim of the postgraduate programme is to equip you with the skills, knowledge and understanding required to practice at an advanced level, to foster your creativity and enhance your employment opportunities. You will work alongside artists and designers who are involved with a wide variety of media and forms. Induction, seminars and social events for students and staff mean that you will be part of a friendly and supportive postgraduate community, which also includes film makers, musicians and professionals working in new media. Senior research staff and internationally renowned artists work with postgraduate students, helping you to develop original and challenging work.

The MA Illustration degree is designed to develop your imaginative, creative and technical potential as an illustrator. It provides an opportunity for you to examine a range of media in the fields of illustration, including the role of image-making in new and traditional media, and illustration's relationships with fine art and digital media.

This masters degree gives you an opportunity to develop advanced knowledge and skills in the use of narrative storytelling and its relationship to illustration, as well as illustrative conventions in children's and adult literature, comics and other media. We encourage you to develop the entrepreneurial and commercial skills necessary to help develop your work to its full potential and to equip you with the practical and intellectual skills to thrive as a practicing artist. Through working alongside artists and designers on other postgraduate courses you will explore the possibilities for the illustrator today, questioning conventions and refining the direction of your practice.

Our staff are experienced in research and professional practice, and you will also benefit from contributions from visiting designers and professionals, as well as from involvement with our international exhibitions programme. The course also has close links with a wide range of industry partners.

An honours degree (2:2 or above) in a field relevant to the award you want to study. If you do not have a degree, you will need to show you have appropriate professional experience and skills to benefit from the course. We may also be able to take into account accredited prior learning (APL) or accredited prior experiential learning (APEL). If your degree is in a different field, you will need appropriate knowledge, skills or experience in the field you wish to study, or be able to show that you are prepared for intensive new learning. In all cases you will need to demonstrate through a portfolio or interview your preparedness for study at postgraduate level.

If English is not your first language, you will need a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent.

Particular emphasis is given to providing you with the skills necessary to further your career an illustrator. The course is designed to help you understand and work within the contemporary industrial environment and particular attention is given to helping you acquire entrepreneurial skills.