Illustration BA Honours

In this module you will expand your image making skills, developing greater appreciation of illustration as a tool to document, observe, inform, provoke, educate in responses that originate in real world situations and events. You will take the role of a visual journalist, a commentator or even an activist, exploring various approaches to recording and visually interpreting political events, social issues and action, and lived experience.

This module is designed to open up speculative enquiry and creative exploring of drawing approaches. Learning on this module is transferable and interdisciplinary offering a range of practical workshops and projects to widen the potential of possibilities in drawing practice and deepen your understanding of visual design and image-making.

Through this module you will develop your industry skills in conversation with critical studies, preparing you to transform and lead the creative industries. It will build your industry knowledge, develop practical and digital skills, and explore creative production technologies within your specific discipline. With guidance, and your own study and experimentation, this module aims to strengthen your creative confidence by developing your expertise and knowledge in your discipline area. You will also learn to deconstruct and interpret client-led instructions, as well as an introduction to the basics of researching and presenting information as a group.

In this module you will gain a good understanding of the changing contexts and cultures of illustration and visual communication. You will consider different forms of media, the social sectors you aim to address, the ways you are distributed, and how such factors have an impact on the kinds of images and messages that are produced. In the studio you will develop your own lines of visual inquiry to apply and explore selected contexts and cultures of image-making.

This module invites exploration of a range of methods of creating imagery and visual meaning. The module supports you to gain an understanding in visual communication and develop your skills in drawing and image-making. Projects are designed to set simple constraints and creative challenges that ask you to test your image-making ability and aptitudes as well as develop your knowledge of visual literacies. You will have the freedom to choose to work with a range of processes that may include mixed media, analogue and digital, time-based and still images.

This module is an introduction to working with 2D animation software. It will give you an overview of the various applications of 2D modelling and animation, as well as an understanding of 2D aesthetics. A series of workshops will introduce you to the skills needed to create your own 2D assets, and you will practice animating a 2D rig. These workshops will be the building blocks you need to develop your own concept for a 2D asset or animation. 

This module introduces you to the practice and production of 2-dimensional (2D) game development. You will consider some of the principles used to develop 2D games. Look at the concepts and methods used to create 2D assets to match a games design brief, including those used to create retro styles such as pixel art.

This module introduces you to the creative and professional practice of concept art across games, film, and related creative industries. You will develop your ability to communicate visual ideas through a range of traditional and digital techniques while exploring the role of research, iteration, and presentation in visual storytelling. You'll investigate how historical, cultural, and global perspectives shape visual languages and production contexts, and how awareness of inclusion, representation, and audience can inform creative choices. Through workshops, research-led visual studies, and iterative creative projects, you will produce original concept work that demonstrates both creative intent and contextual understanding.

This module aims to introduce you to the joy of typography. It introduces the concepts, approaches, cultural and technological developments relating to typography. You will explore issues including type as visual message, contemporary contexts and perspectives, and the role of typography in digital media. Workshops and projects give you an understanding of how to employ typographical structures to present the written word.

This module is designed to prepare you for life after graduation, which includes building a sustainable career in the creative industries. Through a combination of theoretical learning and practical application, you'll delve into the professional aspects of the creative industries, including industry standards, client relationships, project management, and ethical considerations. Engaging seminars, workshops, and lectures from industry experts will offer invaluable perspectives and real-world experiences. From developing CVs and career portfolios, this module equips you with the knowledge and professionalism required to thrive in your future career. This work may also be used as a springboard to work experience or a work placement (also possible to take as a sandwich year). You will be given guidance and support in finding and applying for an appropriate work placement.

This module explores the impact of illustration practice as image and meaning production. As a future illustrator, you will engage with diverse, evolving cultures and visual practices, so you need to understand multifaceted contexts and impacts. With guidance and support, you will produce illustration work while examining its impact within broader visual and cultural frameworks. Through documented practice and research, you’ll develop your passions and inquiries, ultimately creating meaningful and informed illustration outcomes.

This module highlights the importance of mastering digital techniques while also engaging you in ranging methods to foster creativity towards producing distinctive images as an expert Illustrator. After initial practical workshops and lectures you will plan and direct your own critical themes for study and image-making production with tutor guidance.

In this module, you will explore key principles and theories of narrative. You will be invited to discuss a range of traditional and contemporary applications for visual narrative. Through practical projects, you will examine basic narrative structure, the role of character, environment, action, time, technology, culture and audience interaction in the storytelling process.

Visual Identity and branding are key areas of engagement for visual designers. Branding employs design solutions to bring recognition to a wide range of companies, organisations, products, services and causes - providing users with meaningful ways to access and interact with them. In this module, you will consider some of the principles and methods behind visual Identity and branding. The module will introduce design research methods towards the construction of a brand identity and will look at branding from historical and contemporary positions. Through a combination of research, academic writing and design processes, you'll explore the dual sides of branding as both a generator of potent narratives and the impetus behind problematic consumerism, evoking related social contexts and the responsibility of the designer's role in this. As technologies and new user experiences are increasingly embedded within branding and visual identities, the module opens areas of creative exploration to complement physical, spatial and conceptual outcomes.

This module develops your creative and technical understanding of character and creature design within the context of games and related creative industries. You'll explore how anatomy, form, silhouette, and visual style contribute to personality, narrative, and gameplay. Through research, sketching, and iterative design, you'll generate ideas that can be taken from concept art to a resolved visual piece. Working with both traditional and digital techniques, you will develop awareness of cultural influences, representation, and inclusivity in design practice. The module encourages critical reflection on how different artistic and cultural traditions inform the design of characters and creatures, and how concept artists contribute to visual world-building across genres and media.

This module enables you to create a modern piece of interactive media in the form of a website, while also expanding your knowledge of the theories and practices common to the production of interactive media. Through definition and research, you will develop an exciting and unique website project concept, using creative technologies to produce a final professional product. The final prototype website will be developed using current industry digital tools.

Through immersive technologies, creatives have new opportunities to create interactive and immersive experiences, exhibit work at any scale and bridge distances between audiences and artistic experiences. This module will focus on the different aspects of designing for extended reality, while learning about the development of immersive arts as a medium and exploring the ways in which emerging technologies are being utilised by contemporary artists for the exploration of new digital realms. Within this module, you'll be provided with an academic space to creatively explore a range of emerging technologies suited for producing immersive VR and AR experiences.

You'll be exposed to software and hardware relevant for VR and AR, and a selection of workshops will form the framework for creative enquiry and exploration. You'll have the option to explore either AR or VR-based production approaches in your final project, depending on individual interests, with both pathways supported in the workshop course. Within the assessment, there is scope to be experimental, speculative, or applied within the exploration of immersive technology.

This module introduces students to the narrative traditions of the video game industry, with a focus on the use of interactive stories and text-based games to give players a sense of agency. It compares the nature of these works with more traditional narrative forms, and introduces concepts of narrative mechanics, narrative choice and consequence, and audience agency. Students will learn to develop ideas and designs in response to gameplay and narrative requirements, and then develop them from the concept stage through to full digital artefacts.

This module provides you with the opportunity to explore stop-motion animation practices, including puppet animation, sand or paint on glass, pixilation, cut-outs, time-lapse etc. You'll complete a self-negotiated animation, working either individually or in a group, through a process of negotiation with tutors and peers.

This module gives you an introduction to the use of visual effects (VFX) for film and games. The module will explore digital aesthetics and creating digital workflows, and the software used to create VFX. Technical support will be available through live demonstrations and online support. When possible, external lectures by industry professionals will enhance your learning on this module. You'll have a varied set of digital experiences when you start the module, so teaching and learning activities will be adapted to suit both those who require extra support, and those who are already familiar with the core software and wish to improve their knowledge and experience.

This module is the culmination of your creative practice. It gives you space and support to build upon your strengths and interests and develop a body of visual material that will enhance application for employment, professional commissions or further study. You may work individually or as part of a team. The work produced is self-defined and may extend personal lines of enquiry or professional, client-led application explored in other modules.

This module gives you the opportunity to apply and extend the skills and knowledge gained in the previous years of your degree by developing and working on a collaborative group project. You will work together across courses and disciplines to design and develop responses that engage with UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development initiative, displaying your understanding of the role your discipline plays in achieving sustainable development.

This module supports the development of your research, critical thinking, and project planning skills through visual experimentation and conceptual exploration. You will investigate a range of ideas, themes, and media to help identify potential directions for your future practice in Illustration. Working towards the completion of a self-directed Sustainable Illustration Project, you will test approaches to image-making, narrative, and visual communication. This project offers a focused opportunity to develop and refine creative processes, explore production methods, and assess how your ideas may evolve into larger-scale or professional outcomes. Sustainable and ethical considerations are embedded throughout the module. You will reflect on your responsibilities as a cultural image-maker, addressing the social, political, and environmental impact of your work. This includes developing an awareness of how visual choices and production methods contribute to a more responsible and thoughtful creative practice. You will receive regular guidance and feedback through seminars, tutorials, and specialist workshops. These sessions will introduce contemporary case studies from across the field of Illustration to help you contextualise your project within wider industry practices and critical debates. By the end of the module, you will have produced a resolved Minor Project that tests creative and conceptual ideas, demonstrates technical understanding, and provides a foundation for future development in your practice.

This module gives you the opportunity to plan and produce a complete character performance (animated or sequential) to industry standards. The module puts a strong emphasis on self‐directed processes and developing your individual and personal creative approach to the visualisation of your character's performance. You are expected to expand your aesthetic range, make imaginative use of software/tools, and produce a character performance that will be a great asset for a showreel and/or portfolio.

This module offers the space for a research-led critical enquiry into a topic connected to your area of creative practice. Including a research presentation and a short academic essay, you will undertake a self-directed investigation into a key aspect of the discourse specific context that surrounds your visual output. Researching and writing about contemporary concerns that frame visual culture will provide a path to a more critical approach to studio practice. This module will be of particular interest to students who may be considering a postgraduate degree.

The module focuses on collaboration with others from different disciplines, to research, explore and experiment with possibilities for expanding storytelling. Through hands-on workshops and critical provocations, you will explore multi-sensory approaches to interactive storytelling, spatial narratives and installation design. Playfulness, speculation and experimentation are encouraged as you work individually or collaboratively to develop proposals and prototypes for a narrative experience.

This module will support you in researching and planning your postgraduate employment journey, whether as a freelancer or by starting a small business in the media, creative, and related digital industries. Through the module, you will develop an awareness of commercial opportunities and learn how to focus your entrepreneurial skills on a chosen field – learning how to develop business ideas and how to present and pitch them effectively. You'll develop a plan to create a start-up business or become a freelancer, learning about personal branding, marketing, project management, budgeting, sustainability, and building an online presence along the way.

This module encourages you to engage with experimental practice as a form of inquiry and research. You will explore creative processes that push beyond traditional subject-disciplined techniques and methods, embracing risk-taking, innovation, and interdisciplinary approaches. Through practice-based investigation, you'll be challenged to develop work that questions boundaries, explores new territories, and opens alternative ways of thinking about your subject discipline and its role in contemporary culture.

In this module, you will explore the opportunities and creative challenges of publishing in various printed formats, ranging from low-fi to luxury, including zines, booklets, magazines, art books, and books. You will be required to pitch, design, and publish an outcome that incorporates writing, illustration, photography, design, typography, and layout, expressed across a range of possible materials and processes. Working in multidisciplinary groups, you will fill all roles needed to conceive, develop, populate, and produce a publication that channels your personal voice, complemented by an appropriate design and format for a specific audience. Skills covering technical, project management, writing, and creative branding components will be supported. The final publication will be an excellent addition to any portfolio.