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.

All applicants are individually assessed via a portfolio review.

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

Foundation Year Core: Creative Project: Materials, Methods & Meaning; Exploring Context & Culture; Fundamentals of Creative Practice; Personal Project & Progression
Year One: The Fundamentals of Drawing Comics, Comics in Context, Creative Cultures: Making, Research & Reflection; Sustainability, Society and Impact
Year Two: Audiences And Narrative in Comics, Professional Comic Production, Collaborative Creative Industries Project
Year Two Optional: Art Trail; Colour + Surface: Print, Texture & Material Exploration; Creative Heritage; Digital Journeys: UX & UI Design; Experimental Formats; Experimental Music and Sound Art; Marketing, Branding and Cultural Production; Still Life Through the Lens; Surround Sound and Multichannel Audio; Visual Effects & Motion Graphics; Hybrid Production Methods
Year Three Core: Final Major Project of Cartoon and Comic Arts; Contextual and Critical Investigation; Professional Practice

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.