Illustration BDes (Hons)

Illustration uses visual media to tell stories and communicate complex ideas. In this course, you will learn creative problem-solving skills. These will allow you to generate pictures as pieces of visual communication, with a clarity of purpose. There is an emphasis on developing ideas through research-led practical experimentation. This will enable you to develop a personal visual language as an agile and flexible graduate designer.

The course is delivered through lectures, practical workshops, group seminars and crits. This is underpinned by a lively studio environment. Projects are developed in collaboration with external partners. These will enhance the scope of your experience and will allow you to foster contacts for future employment.

Our staff are engaged in research and practice which complements and enhances the teaching. This will help you to learn about:

• the broad critical and contextual dimensions of Illustration.
• the issues that arise from the designer's relationships. This will include relationships with audiences, clients, markets, users, consumers, and/or participants
• major developments in current and emerging media and technologies within illustration
• technical knowledge and practical skills in illustration. This will cover the appropriate use of materials, media, techniques, methods and technologies. It will also cover tools associated with each pathway
• The value of the illustrator to culture, society, and the economy

All your teaching will be brief-led. Through these briefs, you will be taught strategies to tackle all kinds of design problems.

In level 2 you will explore the broad range of pictorial and technical skills. You will also cover the principles of visual communication. Project briefs will help you to develop your creativity. This will be done through research and problem-solving strategies.

In level 3, you will develop your personal voice. This level encourages experimentation and gives you time to explore ideas in depth. You’ll begin to generate increasingly sophisticated outcomes over longer projects. Using a wide variety of research materials you will lay the groundwork for your final year.

In level 4, you will begin to define your professional identity. You will respond to a mix of personal projects, competitions and/or live briefs. This will allow you to tailor your graduate portfolio to the area of the illustration industry that you want to work in.

You will produce a body of work that will show a mature understanding of materials, methods and processes required to transform complex ideas into a visual reality.