Why I chose to study Illustration online
03 June 2025
This article was written by Illustration BA(Hons) (Online) student Emily.
Hi, I’m Emily and I’m currently in my third year studying Illustration BA (Online), about to start my final module this summer! I’m excited and a little nervous at the same time – I feel like the last 3 years have gone by in a flash!
So, how did I end up here? Well, whilst I was studying my Art & Design Foundation Diploma I was going through a lot of tests and was finally diagnosed with a heart condition and chronic illness, after years of feeling something wasn’t right. I realised my future was probably going to look different than I’d imagined, and chances were my dreams of a future career or going to university were going to be a challenge for me, so whilst I adjusted to chronic illness life and learnt to better manage my condition I took a gap year working on local community arts projects.
I still remember the moment I found out Falmouth were going to be offering their Illustration BA Hons online; I was so excited – could I still have the opportunity to study my dream course? At the time one of my friends was studying the same course on campus and was loving it so I decided to go for it!
Studying online can be a great option for loads of people; there’s other students like me who are chronically ill and neurodivergent, people with caring responsibilities, people fitting studying around their day job or even travelling the world!
Being able to study online has opened up the world to me in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Yes, there have been challenges along the way and it’s tested my will power and strength to keep going. Being chronically ill isn’t fun, and I’ve found it’ll always throw a curve ball when you’re least expecting it! I’m very grateful for the ongoing support I’ve received from my amazing mentor, tutors and module leaders during my time at Falmouth.
Living with my chronic illness I’ve learnt that I need to be flexible with my time, things can change so quickly, and I can’t predict whether I’m going to have a good day or bad. The way the online course is structured has been perfect for me. We’re given full control of our schedules to choose when and where to study; all our content is pre-recorded and released weekly on Fridays, and all our live tutor groups and guest lectures are recorded too, so I never have to miss out on anything.
The community of our course has been amazing, and I feel really lucky to have made some really great friends who I chat to almost every day, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting studying online as from the outside it can seem really different to being physically together on campus!
Studying online can be a great option for loads of people; there’s other students like me who are chronically ill and neurodivergent, people with caring responsibilities, people fitting studying around their day job or even travelling the world!
When I started the course my dream was to become a children’s book illustrator, but over the last 3 years I have really enjoyed exploring all the different paths illustration could take me, and I think that’s one of the things I have loved most about the course.
At the start of the course each module focuses in on a particular segment of the industry like narrative or editorial, and we’re encouraged to push the boundaries of illustration and take the briefs in our own unique direction. One of my biggest highlights from first year was the 'Imagine an Island' brief, and being able to blend my love of textiles and illustration together into a hand sewn 3D felt model of my islands.
Towards the end of the second year and into the third, we started to get a lot more freedom with our briefs; we get to pitch our own projects and focus in on areas of illustration and topics that most interest us. My favourite project to date was getting to explore handmade stop motion animation and building a DIY multiplane out of an old set of drawers and acrylic sheets, and I would love to continue exploring how I can animate my illustrations in the future.
My advice for future students would be to be open to the unexpected and make the most of the opportunity to explore and experiment. You never know what might spark your passion, and while you might already have a set direction in mind – like I did with children’s book illustration – the biggest takeaway for me has been discovering how big the illustration industry truly is and that there are so many new paths I can’t wait to explore – like animation!
Studying illustration is like a journey of discovery; you’ll learn so much about how illustration works and the paths within the illustration industry, and what makes you tick as an illustrator.
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