Illustration

Illustration is a discipline that places image-making in the service of communication, working across editorial, narrative, commercial and social contexts to produce visual work that informs, interprets, persuades or moves its audience. From book covers and children's books to editorial cartoons, scientific diagrams, animated sequences and digital content, illustrators are visual problem-solvers who combine drawing ability with creative thinking and an understanding of the audiences and contexts for which they are making work.

At UWE Bristol, this four-year full-time programme develops your skills in a creative and supportive studio environment with professional-standard facilities. You will work across a range of illustration practices and techniques, from traditional mark-making and printmaking to digital tools and mixed media, developing the visual language and technical range that professional illustration demands. The programme focuses on helping you gain real-world skills for the workplace, which means engaging with briefs, clients and professional contexts as well as developing your personal creative practice.

Illustration at UWE benefits from Bristol's vibrant creative community, strong design and arts culture, and proximity to the animation and visual effects industry that has developed in the city. You will have opportunities to connect with practitioners and to understand how illustration operates professionally across different sectors and markets.

You will build a portfolio of work across the four years that demonstrates your creative development, technical range and professional capability. This portfolio is the primary currency of a career in illustration, and the programme is designed to help you develop one that reflects genuine creative ambition.

Graduates work as freelance illustrators across editorial, publishing, advertising and children's books, and as in-house illustrators, graphic designers, animators and visual content creators. Some move into art direction, games design or surface pattern design.