Illustration with Integrated Foundation Year

Develop your skills by entering the creative industries on an Integrated Foundation Year degree.

If you’re interested in taking on a new subject that you’ve not had the opportunity to study in depth before, or have been out of education for a while, then our Integrated Foundation Year courses might be for you. These four-year courses include an introductory year to help you build the core skills needed for specialist degree-level study.

This is a chance for you to let your imagination run wild and explore your creativity, expand your professional skills and develop enhanced subject knowledge in the domain you want to study. We’ll help nurture your expertise in problem solving, risk-taking, designing and making as you develop your abilities through five core modules.

After your foundation year, you’ll have a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, a developed practical and technical skill set and the confidence to excel in your chosen degree subject when you join other students for the rest of your course.

Follow in the footsteps of award-winning alumni on this renowned Illustration degree. Illustration is a powerful means of expressing ideas, eliciting emotion and sparking imagination. By enhancing your traditional craft skills and experimenting with new technologies, tools and techniques, you’ll develop your own unique visual language as you master the art of making images come to life. You’ll become an original, critical thinker, an adept visual problem solver and, through interactions with clients, art directors and designers, you’ll gain the skills needed to create a standout portfolio and the professional experience required to succeed in your career.

You will:
Develop technical, design thinking and production skills in your chosen specialism.
Learn teamwork, leadership and project management skills through a variety of learning environments.
Develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills through the development of unique and innovative projects.
Complete your chosen degree over a four-year period.
Be part of a thriving and immersive studio culture that embraces innovation, champions risk-taking and encourages creative collaboration
Create your own digital portfolio and marketing campaign using digital platforms to reach global audiences
Get your work seen by art directors, editors and designers around the world by engaging with a range of professional platforms
Attend guest lectures from alumni and industry leaders that have previously included Dave McKean, Owen Davey, Harriett Lee Merrion and Edel Rodriguez
Learn vital professional practice skills by working on engaging industry briefs
Participate in our industry feedback week, gaining personalised portfolio feedback from agencies, publishers and design houses
Explore illustration as a tool for positive change, in response to environmental, ethical and moral challenges

During your Illustration course, you’ll develop an authentic visual language by experimenting with a broad range of media and processes, as well as established and emerging technologies. You’ll learn to communicate conceptually using visual problem-solving strategies and techniques combined with ongoing reflective analysis and research.

You’ll also build strong project management and collaboration skills, learning to translate briefs and see a project through from ideation to research and development to final output. Further industry insights and experience will be gained through our programme of internationally renowned guest speakers.

Foundation Year:
In your foundation year, you'll study five core modules: three short modules in the first study block and two in the second (one short, one long). These are all designed to help you explore the foundational elements of both creative practice and your chosen specialism. You'll gain relevant technical skills, learn to experiment and take risks, develop an understanding of professional practice, have opportunities to work across disciplines and collaborate with other students on live project briefs.

After your foundation year, you'll have a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, a developed practical and technical skillset and the confidence to excel in your chosen degree subject when you join other students for the rest of your course.

Modules:
Explore
Technique
Apply
Industry
Launch

Year one
In your first year, you’ll be supported to explore, question and disrupt new processes and practices. Through project briefs, workshops, collaborative projects, lectures and presentations, you’ll be introduced to a range of creative processes: from critical thinking to practical hands-on skills across different mediums. You also begin to engage with a wider industry context, connecting with art directors, publishers, designers, advertising agencies, illustration agencies and freelance illustrators.

Modules
Visual Problem Solving
Practice & Purpose
Media & Methods
Context & Audience

Year two
Exciting briefs, workshops, lectures and presentations will introduce you to in-depth learning that includes a growing awareness of audience, refining practical skills, critical research, project management, history and theory and collaborative practice. Working both independently and in groups, you’ll also embrace challenging subjects and explore the environment around us to investigate how illustration can be used to inform and implement change.

As you progress through this stage, you’ll begin to develop your own self-initiated projects as well as a range of collaborations. As more industry facing experiences begin to be introduced through live briefs and lectures, you’ll be challenged to question convention, disrupt, innovate and maintain risk and courageous thinking throughout.

Modules
Refine & Apply
Challenging Subjects
Introduce & Negotiate
Collaboration

Year three
The final year allows you to refine your approach and to test and challenge your emerging fields of interest, culminating in a final digital portfolio of work and an industry feedback contextual report.

The modules are designed to help you define your creative future beyond the course. You’ll continue to build core skills while reflecting critically on your strengths and exploring alternative models of practice.

Modules
Define & Realise
Research & Extend
Connect & Transition
Professional Practice

As part of our process of continuous improvement, we routinely review course content to ensure that all our students benefit from a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be some changes made to your course which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Any students affected will be informed of any changes made directly.

Foundation Year:
Foundation Year assessments are 100% coursework based.

Assessment will take place at the end of each module, and you'll get feedback and evaluation throughout the year. You'll be assessed through visual, verbal and written assignments, including your portfolio and a reflective journal. In your foundation year all assessments are pass/fail to encourage students to take risks and engage with the feedback provided.

Progressing in your specialism
Students studying on courses with an Integrated Foundation Year must successfully complete and pass all foundation modules before they can progress to the next stage of their course.

Your specialism
Assessment will take place at the end of each semester, and you'll get feedback and evaluation throughout the year. You'll be assessed through visual, verbal and written assignments, including your portfolio, as well as a research proposal.