Illustration and Graphics

Taught by artists and current practitioners whose experience ranges from illustration, design, print, animation, fine art, music, performance, moving image and CGI, this studio-based course focuses on image and object making. It includes drawing, printmaking, animation, photography and digital – encouraging you to push boundaries to create new and exciting forms of visual communication combining a mixture of approaches.

Experimentation is a key focus of the course and you will experiment across print, 3D and moving image formats. You’ll have access to a wide range of technologies, studios and workshop facilities, including Adobe Creative Suite software, 3D software, screen printing facilities, 3D clay modelling, laser cutting, stop motion animation studio, photography and video resources and digital print bureau.

Our emphasis on industry readiness is one of the course’s core strengths; from the outset, we aim to focus on your own professional development so that you can graduate with the know-how, skills and confidence to find your place in the creative world. There will be opportunities to gain practical experience through a mix of in-house assignments, self-initiated tasks, national and international competition opportunities, project briefs and concept visualisation briefs.

We have strong links with many regional arts organisations, for example, the Mead Gallery at the Warwick Arts Centre, New Art West Midlands, Coventry Art space, the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Birmingham Open Media, Flatpack Festival and Eye Candy Festival. These industry relationships provide opportunities to collaborate on a wide range of professional creative briefs, set by practitioners in the field. Past projects have included: student commissions for Coventry City Council’s Swanswell Health Centre; editorial illustrations for the Camping and Caravaning club magazine; video animations for the ‘Specials’; illustrated hoardings for the University’s Engineering and Computing building; and creative briefs set by B-Hive and Glenn Howells Architects.

You have the option of spending a sandwich year studying abroad or on professional placement. In the past, students have worked at the following places: Venice Printmaking Studio, Silverback Studios; Nucleo Design Studios-Italy, Ash Gaming, Rawww Design Agency, Christian Aid and have undertaken Erasmus study placements at Accademia di Belle Arti Bologna and Universidad Europea de Madrid. Additionally, our FACETS talks provide an opportunity to hear direct from some of the most innovative contemporary artists and creative practitioners from the UK and beyond – recent topics have explored current changes in cultural opportunities across Eastern and Western Europe, post-object art practices in the context of digital media and the impact that artists can have on their environments.

**Key Course Benefits:**
- Optional study trips at home and abroad, in the past to China, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague and New York.

- Technical workshops and demonstrations in specialist software such as The Adobe Creative Suite, Maya, Rhino 3D and MuseWork alongside our staff who continue to work as professional artists, designers, illustrators and animators on external research projects.

- Access to specialist photographic and media resources, including digital audio recorders and manual/digital still/video cameras via our dedicated Media Loan Shop.

- Impressive guest lecture programme, which in the past has featured talks from: Paul Davis, Gemma Correll, Ian Francis, Bob and Roberta Smith, Fig Talor and John Stezaker.

- Opportunities to show your work – past students have exhibited nationally and internationally at D&AD New Blood, Free Range and New Designers exhibitions in London, as well as the Hangzhou Animation Festival, China.