Illustration

Illustration is a discipline concerned with using visual images to communicate, interpret, and tell stories. It operates across a huge range of contexts, from children's books and editorial work to advertising, animation, graphic journalism, and sequential art. At its heart, illustration involves making deliberate choices about how an image can do work that words cannot, or can deepen and extend what words convey.

This three-year programme at York St John University places drawing, image-making and narrative construction at the centre of your studies, while grounding your practice in theory and contemporary contexts.

You will explore illustration through both traditional and digital techniques, using industry-standard software and equipment to develop a versatile and expressive visual language. Theory is woven into your practice, helping you understand the wider cultural, historical and commercial contexts in which illustration operates. The course includes a sandwich placement year, giving you extended experience working within the illustration or creative industries, and a year abroad broadens your perspective on international visual culture.

Work placement opportunities are embedded throughout the programme.

Graduates from illustration programmes work across an unusually wide range of contexts. Publishing, advertising, editorial media, animation, games, design agencies, and education are all common destinations. Many graduates build freelance practices, often combining several specialisms, while others move into staff roles within design, publishing, or media organisations.

The narrative and image-making skills the degree develops are also applicable to motion graphics, UI/UX design, textile design, and surface pattern. Further study at postgraduate level is an option for those wishing to develop a more specialist practice or move into research and teaching within the arts.