Illustration
Illustration is a distinct discipline with its own history, methods, and professional culture, concerned with the creation of images that interpret, communicate, and enrich ideas in the service of stories, information, and human experience. From the pages of novels and picture books to editorial commentary, scientific visualisation, social messaging, and commercial design, illustration spans an enormous range of contexts and purposes while retaining a commitment to the image as the primary vehicle of expression.
At Arts University Plymouth this three-year, full-time programme takes an industry-informed approach, exploring and defining what it means to be an illustrator today. You will combine authentic image-making with an engagement with real-world commercial practices, developing not only your artistic voice but your ability to work professionally within the contexts where illustration is commissioned and valued. A sandwich placement year is built into the programme, and work placement opportunities are available throughout, giving you sustained experience working in creative industry environments before you graduate and equipping you to build a robust and fulfilling career from the moment you finish.
Graduates of illustration work across an exceptionally wide range of creative contexts. Many go into publishing, working on children's books, fiction covers, educational materials, and non-fiction illustration. Others find careers in editorial illustration for newspapers and magazines, in animation and visual development for film and games, in advertising and brand identity, in fashion illustration, in medical and scientific visualisation, or in mural and public art.
Many graduates develop portfolio careers that combine several of these areas, working across client commissions, personal projects, exhibitions, and teaching. The combination of artistic skill and commercial awareness the degree develops is central to building a sustainable creative practice. Further study at postgraduate level in illustration or an adjacent creative discipline is an option for those who want to develop their practice or move into research or education.