Illustration

BA (Hons)

Intermediate award(s): CertHE, DipHE
Full-Time

This course is available in Clearing, call us on 0845 271 3333 for more information

In the most recent National Student Survey (2012), our BA (Hons) Illustration course achieved a score of 92% for 'overall student satisfaction', 95% for 'the teaching on my course' and 91% for 'academic support'.
Recent student success in competitions includes: Winner, Puffin Children's prize and joint 2nd, Penguin Adult's prize, Penguin Design Awards 2012; Highly commended, Macmillan Children's Book Competition 2012; Folio Society Awards runner-up 2012.

Course overview

Our BA (Hons) Illustration is highly respected with a growing national and international reputation and a long tradition of drawing. This tradition goes back 150 years to the founding of Cambridge School of Art. Notable alumni include designer and war artist Edward Bawden; acclaimed graphic satirist Ronald Searle, and the founders of the TV phenomenon Spitting Image, Roger Law and Peter Fluck.

With its strong emphasis on visual communication and a vibrant studio culture, combined with access to excellent printmaking, digital, animation and life drawing facilities, our course has consistently high student satisfaction (NSS) ratings.

With an awareness of the tradition on which the modern day Cambridge School of Art is founded , staff work to engage with current discussions around the present and future of Illustration as a discipline, and graduating students go on to work in a variety of areas within the creative industries.

Students are encouraged through discussion, critiques, tutorials and set briefs, to discover their own personal visual language as opposed to a style, and as part of Level 3 studies all students attend Professional Practice talks and discussions, which develop an awareness of current developments within the industry and how to make a living in this increasingly competitive and exciting field.

As well as working with the key members of staff, Chris Draper, Pam Smy and Jim Butler, you will also be working with a number of nationally recognised and highly talented, practising visiting lecturers who bring different perspectives and richness to the course.


Additional course information

The aim of this course is to develop your creative talents and to equip you with a range of skills that will help you to succeed in a professional environment. Of course, it is also about enjoying the experience of learning and growing within the dynamic and stimulating environment of Cambridge School of Art.

Methods of teaching and learning include lectures, seminars and project and student-managed learning.

Tim Parker, BA (Hons) Illustration

Puffin Children's Prize winner at the Penguin Design Awards 2012

“
Winning the Puffin Prize at the Penguin Design Award is incredibly exciting and hopefully a great step for my future career. The competition was pretty fierce, so I'm flattered to have been selected from so many great entries.

The best fairy tales tend to be about things being more than they seem. The wolf reeks of inherent threat, and not wanting to treat a young audience as too immature to deal with fear, I thought it the perfect primary visual element.

I wanted the wolf's head large, to make it part of the landscape, and the idea of the path arose, fitting perfectly with the tongue. I decided to link the breadcrumbs from 'Hansel and Gretel' with the sense of being eaten, and the minimal colour palette was designed to stand out when surrounded by bright covers.”

Module guide

Year one core modules
  • Illustration Contextual Studies

    The module is designed to introduce you to a general history of illustration during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The module will trace the history of illustration in a broadly chronological way but certain significant movements and the work of selected individual illustrators will be looked at in more detail. Artists considered will include: Blake, Calvert, Palmer, Gillray, Cruikshank, Dore, Manet, Crane, Greenaway, Caldecott, Beardsley and Morris. The module will include a study skills element, intended to help you understand the ways in which the history of images can be researched and how images can be analysed and interpreted. There will incorporate museum/art gallery studies. The module is also designed to support you in your writing skills, which will be assessed by means of an essay. The module will be taught by way of lectures and seminars.

  • Illustration Practice 1

    This module introduces and examines approaches, media and processes specific to illustrative image making. Drawing is the fundamental language of the animator and the illustrator. You will be encouraged to look closely at the visual world through studio and location based observational drawing, using sketchbooks and notebooks to develop and explore a personal, individual visual vocabulary. In the early stages of the module, numerous location based drawing trips take place in a variety of destinations, such as museums, markets and town centres. The module will include life-drawing classes in the drawing studio. From a basis in observational drawing, you will begin to explore imaginative drawing, sequential and interpretative drawing through a range of project briefs. Processes of graphic reproduction are introduced including printmaking and letterpress.

  • Modern and Contemporary Illustration

    The module will make a detailed examination of the various practitioners and movements in modern and contemporary Illustration and design from the early Twentieth Century to the present day. The module will undertake a relatively chronological approach to the subject. Themes will include: war reportage as seen in the work of Otto Dix, Paul Nash, Ravilious and Searle, etc, French artists' books, magazine illustration, the underground press, recent and contemporary adult and children's book and magazine illustration and their relationship to the moving image will all be examined and discussed. The module will close with a discussion of current debates in this area of rapid development and change.

Year two core modules
  • Debates and Practices
  • Illustration Practice 2
Year three core modules
  • Illustration Practice 3
  • Major Project
  • Research Project

Assessment

Assessment is through a combination of written and practical work.

Facilities

As with all our courses Illustration have dedicated studio spaces just off the Ruskin Gallery.

Libraries

Our campus libraries offer a wide range of publications and a variety of study facilities, including open-access computers, areas for quiet or group study and bookable rooms. We also have an extensive Digital Library providing on and off-site access to e-books, e-journals and databases.

We endeavour to make our libraries as accessible as possible for all our students. During Semester time, they open 24 hours a day from Monday to Thursday, until midnight on Friday and Saturday and for 12 hours on Sunday.


IT Resources

Our open access computer facilities provide free access to the internet, email, messaging services and the full Microsoft Office suite. A high speed wireless service is also available in all key areas on campus. If you are away from campus or a distant learner, our student desktop and its many applications can be accessed remotely using the internet. Your personal student email account provides free document storage, calendar facilities and social networking opportunities.

Throughout your studies you will have access to our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), providing course notes, reading materials and multi-media content to support your learning, while our e-vision system gives you instant access to your academic record and your timetable.


Special features

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for Art and Design, 70% of our research work was 'internationally recognised', 'internationally excellent' and, in some cases, 'world-leading'. As a result, our income from the RAE to support our research is double our 2002 allocation.


Course Leader

Chris Draper

Angus Greig

Graduated from Illustration BA 2009

“Cambridge School of Art provided a great, independent atmosphere, placing value on the creation of enduring, visual problem-solving skills, underpinned by sound draughtsmanship and observation. I hope I have taken these qualities on with me as I establish myself as a freelance illustrator, working for the Financial Times, Design Week, Wired and the Boston Globe and a host of far more obscure titles*.

Whilst the flexibility of the illustration course at Anglia Ruskin allowed us to explore our interests, the tutors ensured that we didn't get too comfortable, encouraging everyone to push the execution of their work, but more importantly the concepts and thinking behind it.

During the third year of the course we were asked to question where we wanted to go with our work, and to consider how we might make a living from it. Old hands in the world of illustration would give talks on their experiences, but the way illustrators are promoting themselves and securing commissions has changed and Anglia Ruskin is getting on top of that, inviting past students to share their teething problems and give advice.

I think there is everything you might need to start a career as an illustrator at Anglia Ruskin, but there are so many ways of doing it, and areas that you can go into, that it is up to you to ask the right questions and get the most from the tutors, fellow students and the course.”

Careers

Our graduates go on to have great success in a diverse range of creative industries . Following on from our 2012 Degree Show New Dynamics and the New Designers exhibition, students have found work with, been commissioned by, or approached by the following:

Katana (International Creative Media Design Agency), Sky TV, Oxford University Press, Eljo's Haberdashery, The Mill (Post production company), Wilkinson (for work on a luggage range), Hallmark cards.

In addition, our students' work has been reviewed in trade journals and design magazines including Blueprint and Creative Review.

Another measure of our students' success is their recognition in national and international competitions. A few recent highlights include:

Winner of Penguin Design Awards 2012, Puffin Children's prize - Tim Parker
Joint second place Penguin Design Awards 2012, Penguin Adult's prize - Alison King (graduate)
Highly commended Macmillan Children's Book Competition 2012 - Jason Hibbs and Max Machen
Folio Society Awards runner-up 2012 - Sidsel Sørensen
Show and Tell Students' Choice award - Anna Betts
YCN 2011 winners - Anna Betts and Dominic McKenzie
YCN Student of the Year 2011- Dominic McKenzie
Highly commended Macmillan Children's Book Competition 2010 - Dominic McKenzie

Recent graduate Angus Greig works for a variety of national and international clients, with an emphasis on editorial illustration.

Recent graduate Jana Diemberger had her book 'The Wish-Bringer' signed and published by Phoenix Yard Books.

As a course, we retain annual membership of The AOI (Association of Illustrators).










*Angus's clients have included: Financial Times; Design Week; Wired; The Big Issue; The Boston Globe; Diplomat; NUVO (Canada); Research World; Gym Class Magazine; The Ride Journal; McKinsey Quarterly; Spot The Tiger; Inside Housing. His work is available to view on his website.
UCAS Tariff points: 200 - 240
Additional Requirements: Required subject(s): Any Art, Design or Media A level grade C., OR ND in Art & Design. Preferred subject(s): BTEC Foundation diploma in Art & Design (level 3) is an advantage. Non-Academic Conditions: Art Portfolio, Interviews GCSE(s) Required: English at grade C (or equivalent)
Entry requirements listed are for September 2013 entry. Entry requirements for other intakes may differ.

Please note AS levels are acceptable only when combined with other qualifications.

Portfolio Requirements

Your portfolio should include the following:
  • all sketchbooks and preparatory/ research /supporting visual work, (this will give us a clearer idea of how you approach visual problems and your interests)
  • any life drawing that you have, (there is a strong emphasis on drawing in the first year of this course)
  • anything that gives us an insight into your passions, interests or sense of curiosity, even if this is not strictly 'illustration' - how you use various materials, making 3D objects and short animation sequences are all relevant.

If invited to interview you will receive a letter further detailing the requirements for submission of your portfolio.

International Applicants
International applicants are encouraged to host their portfolios online and provide us with the URL or submit in pdf format by email attached. CD or hardcopy formats submitted by post to our International Admissions Office are also acceptable but please note that these will not be returned to applicants.
Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements.

We welcome applications from International and EU students. Please select one of the links below for English language and country-specific entry requirement information.

If we have confirmed you do not meet our entry requirements you might want to consider a preparatory course at Cambridge Ruskin International College (CRIC), our partner college, based on our Cambridge campus, before coming to study with us.

How to apply

UCAS code

W225

Location

Duration

3 years

Available starts

September

Student finance

Open Day

Saturday 22 June
Undergraduate Open Day

Advice & support

Employability

Faculty

Arts, Law & Social Sciences

Department

Cambridge School of Art

Contact us

UK and EU applicants:International applicants:
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