Cartoon and Comic Arts (with a Foundation Year)

Our Cartoon and Comic Arts degree is a unique course that will help you to develop and refine your skills in visual and narrative communication.

We will prepare you for an exciting career in a diverse range of areas such as comics, newspapers, graphic novels, editorial design and storyboarding, character design, concept art, animation, advertising and film.
You will have the opportunity to visit, network and sell your work at comic coms both nationally and internationally, as well as travel abroad. We have developed a close link with the Cartoon Museum in London and we display work at their institute and hold joint events nationally.

The University also boasts its own convention, Stoke Con Trent, which is attended by over 1500 people including industry professionals. The course has links with Erlangen in Germany, which holds its own comic festival, Comic Salon.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BA (Hons) Cartoon and Comic Arts

Course Modules

Foundation Year Core: Creative Project: Materials, Methods & Meaning; Exploring Context & Culture; Fundamentals of Creative Practice; Personal Project & Progression

Year 1 Core: The Fundamentals of Drawing Comics; Comics in Context; Creative Cultures: Making, Research and Reflection; Sustainability, Society and Impact

Year 2 Core: Audiences and Narrative in Comics; Professional Comic Production; Collaborative Creative Industries Project

Year 2 Optional Modules: Art Trail; Creative Heritage; Digital Journeys: UX and UI Design; Visual Effects and Motion Graphics; Colour and Surface: Print, Texture and Material Exploration; Experimental Formats; Experimental Music and Sound Art; Surround Sound and Multichannel Audio; Still Life through a Lens; Marketing, Branding and Cultural Production; Hybrid Production Methods

Year 3 Core: Negotiated Programme of Study: Cartoon and Comic Arts Part 1-Minor Project; Negotiated Programme of Study: Cartoon and Comic Arts Part 2-Major Project and Degree Show; Research, Analysis and Communication Assignment; Life After University

You are assessed in this course by a range of different types of coursework and practical activities. The assessment task for each module will vary dependent upon its content but may include:

• A portfolio of completed artwork, professionally presented in the format required by the assignment, project or brief.

• Workbooks, sketchbooks etc., documenting the process of generating, developing and resolving thoughts/ideas, and demonstrating the influence of research on practical work.

• Research books, folders, dossiers, etc. documenting the gathering, sorting and presentation of research material.

• Technical Exercises demonstrating your skills and competencies using particular equipment and/or techniques

• Written essays or reports, in which you are exploring the contextual or professional background to a specific project

• An individual or group seminar presentation and/or the accompanying material which you have used to create the presentation.