Illustration and Animation (including foundation year)

Why study this course?

Our Illustration and Animation (including foundation year) BA (Hons) degree is a four-year degree with an in-built foundation year that will provide you with the opportunity to explore a range of creative directions before embarking on more focused study in your subsequent three years of studying illustration and animation.

This course is an excellent choice if you don’t have the necessary qualifications to apply for our a traditional three-year degree in illustration and animation.

More about this course

In your foundation year you’ll undertake a wide range of projects to help you develop the skills, techniques and work ethic you’ll need to study illustration and animation at undergraduate level. During this year you will work alongside students on our other foundation year degrees, giving you a broad range of knowledge across multiple specialisms from drawing and painting to making, performance, textiles and more.

Your tutors will encourage you to be open-minded in your approach to each of your projects in order to help you establish a strong sense of direction for your work. You will then be able to explore what you’ve learnt through longer projects towards the end of the year.

You’ll also attend lectures and seminars that look at artistic practice in historical, contemporary, conceptual and cultural contexts.

You’ll have a number of opportunities to present and exhibit your work throughout the course. In order to gain feedback and receive guidance in your creative approach, you’ll regularly be encouraged to talk about your work in front of your classmates and lecturers. Your work will also be on show at the public exhibition, which showcases work from across the School of Art, Architecture and Design, at the end of your foundation year.

Following your foundation year you will study the same course content as those who study our Illustration and Animation BA (Hons) degree.

Course Modules

Example Year 0 modules include:

Critical & Contextual Studies: Foundation
Formats
Project
Techniques

Example Year 1 modules include:

Critical and Contextual Studies 1 (Visual Communication)
Design Principles
Graphic Authorship
Visual Research and Communication

Example Year 2 modules include:

Critical and Contextual Studies 2 (Visual Communication)
Exploring Design Practice
Narrative
Work Ready 1

Example Year 3 modules include:

Critical and Contextual Studies 3: Dissertation (Visual Communication)
Final Project Realisation: Graphic Design
Project Design and Development
Work Ready 2