Illustration BA(Hons)

Tate Partnership Commences with Peer Leader Training

11 February 2019

First year Fine Art, Drawing and Illustration students have just spent four days working with...

Street Draw Raises Awareness of Homelessness

1 October 2018

Work created by Illustration students and staff during #streetdraw24...

Riko's Reflections

23 May 2018

We sat down with this year's Carmelite Picture Book Prize winner, third-year ...

Students Shortlisted for Illustration Awards

21 May 2018

Third-year Illustration students have been shortlisted in several...

Student Creates Illustration for Charity Auction

6 April 2017

Last week Illustration student Olivia Healy saw her work up for auction at BBH London's She...

Colourful illustration of women and a dog lying on beach towels at the beach.

Green furry pig like creature puppet and illustrations of long haired girl with leaf crown.

Two women puppets fighting with one pulling hair of the other on a red rocking horse.

Illustration of large woman with a small head sitting with knees bent and holding a flower.

Illustration of large people riding uphill on bicycles in a New York city scene.

Illustration of girl and woodland animals curled up and sleeping among leaves and toadstools.

Underwater illustration. blue coloured plants and egg with multiple eyes, full moon.

Illustration creatures in clothing and with umbrella, pink trees.

Book cover, brown line drawings of figures overlaid with red text Naked Lunch.

Illustration of various London based characters, guards, police, business men with bowler hats.

Black silhouette on red and black background.

Barbie doll with cut out face from magazine, markings on body for surgery and scalpel next to it.

Masked characters in robes, psychedelic colours, trees behind.

Folklore style illustration, creatures and fire in red, black and yellow.

Illustration of outdoor cinema next to the Thames, London skyline in the distance.

Pop art illustration of Fab style lolly.

Illustration of feet walking on coloured tiled floor.

Tablet with miniature people and coloured lollipops.

Illustration of barber cutting hair in front of yellow striped background. Man sleeping in bicycle trailer, feet in the air.

Giant fish in the sea, the section immersed in water is skeleton. Small boat on horizon.

Illustration of seagulls flying around a house.

Magazine cover, illustration of boy on yellow background.

Illustration of two inuits holding hands with animals and fish surrounding them.

Illustration of woman with small men and ladders around her torso.

Detailed illustration of woman her face disappearing into the air in front of her and small people crawling on her head.

What our graduates do

Our graduates have won awards like the Kate Greenaway Gold Medal, the Guardian Clearing Cover Illustration, and the Pushkin Press Student Illustration Award. They’ve also gone on to work in areas like graphic design, branding and packaging, tactile imagery, and book design.

Illustration Graduate Commissioned by VOGUE

11 December 2018

Sophie Melissa, 2017 BA(Hons) Illustration graduate, has been commissioned by British VOGUE...

Illustration Graduates Listed at Blue Peter Book Awards

14 November 2018

Two Illustration graduates, Lauren Humphrey and Joe Lillington, have been recognised at the...

Advertising Award for Illustration Graduate

21 August 2018

Illustration graduate Charlotte Jones has...

Illustration Graduate Publishes First Book

31 July 2018

Illustration graduate Ella Kasperowicz has written and illustrated...

Award-winning Illustrator goes Global

23 May 2018

Every artist has a dream. For actors, it's their name in lights on Broadway, for writers, it's...

Alumni Illustrate Winning Talent

22 February 2017

Illustration talent has again been recognised by the country's most prestigious children's book...

Alumni Win Prestigious Publishing Prizes

17 February 2017

Two Illustration graduates are amongst this year's Bologna Ragazzi Award winners for their...

Course details

What you'll learn

You’ll cover everything from drawing and visual studies to historical and cultural studies - developing peer and self-evaluation skills for the professional world. We’ll teach you core business skills in licenses, copyright and tax, and essential technical skills in Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver. You’ll learn to analyse a text, come up with strong ideas, compose an image, and properly market yourself when you enter the industry.

Year one

Beginning with visual problem solving, you’ll develop your conceptual skills as you explore a range of thinking strategies. You’ll also take part in life drawing and other themed visual studies sessions, and learn about critical theory and illustration’s historical contexts.
Travelling to London, you’ll learn about illustration in the design industry from influential art directors and illustration agents, and take part in a major illustration forum.
Modules
Visual Problem Solving
Visual Studies 1
Applied Illustration
Visual Studies 2

Year two

You’ll start with a series of applied illustration projects, covering advertising, book cover design, editorial illustration, children's book illustration and information illustration.
Putting your knowledge into practice, you’ll then manage and develop your own projects - finding a unique direction and focusing on a certain area of the industry.
Modules
Contextual
Visual Language 1
Negotiation 1 (Development)
Visual Language 2

Year three

You’ll develop a physical and digital portfolio of work, write a dissertation and produce a portfolio website. There’ll also be opportunities to participate in industry placements.
Finally, you’ll get the opportunity to show your portfolio abroad. This is your chance to get real feedback on your work from the best designers and art directors in the business.
Modules
Negotiation 2 (Consolidation)
Dissertation
Negotiation 3 (Completion)

The modules above are those being studied by our students, or proposed new ones. Programme structures and modules can change as part of our curriculum enhancement and review processes. If a certain module is important to you, please discuss it with the Course Leader.

How you'll learn

Balancing creativity with professional practice, you’ll gain hands-on knowledge and experience through project work, live briefs and client meetings. Supporting this will be lectures, seminars, tutorials and optional study trips.

Our visiting speaker series has seen our students learn from Dave McKean, Noma Bar, Laura Carlin, McFaul, Nobrow, Sue Coe, Paul Slater, Sara Fanelli, Russell Cobb, Graham Rawle, Matthew Richardson, Posy Simmonds, Jason Ford, Kai & Sunny, Owen Davey and John Vernon Lord.

How you'll spend your time

Year	Timetabled teaching and learning activity	Guided independent study	Placements
1	31%	69%	0%
2	36%	64%	0%
3	18%	82%	0%

How you'll be assessed

Year	Written exams	Practical exams	Coursework
1	0%	0%	100%
2	0%	0%	100%
3	0%	0%	100%

Assessment methods

Assessment will take place at the end of each semester, and you’ll get feedback and evaluation throughout the year. You'll be assessed through visual, verbal and written assignments, including your portfolio, as well as a dissertation or final-year project.

Staff

Our teachers are practising illustrators with experience working for the Wall Street Journal, the Lancet Medical Journal, United Airlines, and Varoom. They’re often key in helping our students find work connections and opportunities.

Some members of staff only teach on specific modules, and your course might not feature every member shown here.

Level 3 Co-ordinator, BA(Hons) Illustration

Keryn Bibby

Keryn Bibby is qualified with a BA(Hons) in Graphic Information Design from the Falmouth School...

Nicholas Mott

Nick Mott is a musician and founder member of the cult experimental music group Volcano The Bear...

Nigel Owen

Head of Illustration

My role as senior lecturer and head of Illustration at Falmouth University has always...

Senior Lecturer, Illustration

Sue Clarke

Graduating from St Martin's School of Art in 1989, Sue Clarke has been a highly successful...

Hugh Frost

Lecturer

Working mostly on the 2nd year of the illustration course as a studio-based tutor....

Rachel Dunn

Lecturer, Illustration

Rachel Dunn's background is as colourful and varied as her artwork and illustrations. She has...

Linda Scott

Linda joined Falmouth University in 2004, relocating from London where she worked as a freelance...

Dr Carolyn Shapiro

Dr Carolyn Shapiro received her MA and PhD in Performance Studies from New York University (2004...

Academic Lead, Quality Assurance & Enhancement

Dr Caroline Pullee

Caroline is currently academic lead for Quality Assurance and Enhancement and senior lecturer in...

Cally Gibson

Senior Technician

Cally Gibson works at Falmouth University as a senior technician, solving software queries and...

Laurence North

I have worked at Falmouth University for almost 25 years, during this time I have worked ...