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In the UK for Art and Design in Complete University Guide 2024

Illustration BA (Hons)

Start date

  • Level(s) of Study: Undergraduate
  • Typical Offer: 104 - 112 UCAS tariff points
  • UCAS Code(s): W220
  • Start Date(s): September 2024
  • Duration: 3 / 4 year(s)
  • Study Mode(s): Full-time / Sandwich
  • Campus: City Campus
Information for 2024

Introduction:

Enter the world of illustrative practice, embarking on a transformative journey to unearth your unique artistic voice as an illustrator. Graduating from this course means emerging as a highly refined visual communicator, adept at seamlessly blending craftsmanship and aesthetic prowess across various digital and analogue platforms, mediums, and projects. Your work will balance creativity with commercial acumen, incorporate sustainability, and be informed by a rich understanding of illustration's historical and cultural context.

In an ever-evolving industry, our mission is to equip you with the skills for a lifelong learning journey, ensuring you remain adaptable and prepared for the dynamic landscape of professional illustrative practice.

  • You’ll have the opportunity to complete a work experience placement of up to a year in length. Dependent on the duration of your placement, you could gain an additional Diploma or Certificate in Professional Practice.
  • During your time here, you will be given the opportunity to showcase your work to members of the creative industries and develop a professional portfolio tailored to your own career aspirations.
  • Develop your professional skills through self-initiated work experience placements, industry competitions, collaborations with organisations and guest lectures.
  • You will work with industry on live briefs and hear from visiting speakers.

What you’ll study

You will develop a professional portfolio of work through independent, collaborative and industry-led briefs and projects and develop a range of professional skills that will serve you throughout your career.

These two year-long modules run side by side.

Exploring Illustration

(100 credit points)

This module provides you with a dynamic exploration of the fundamentals of illustrative practice. During the first year you will explore observational and imaginative drawing and how they are applied to image making. You will be given opportunities to investigate methods and materials relating specifically to digital and analogue illustrative and graphic techniques. We will promote experimentation, playful approaches, reflection and critical evaluation in a studio setting.

You will also work collaboratively on projects to produce inspiring and creative outcomes and be introduced to how illustration is used in industry: how it is applied and how it appears in different contexts.

Ultimately, you will learn how to communicate your ideas visually using line, shape, texture, colour, form, type and image through a range of exciting projects, tutorials and workshops.

Illustration in Context

(20 credit points)

Explore key developments in the history of illustration, and examine illustration’s historical and cultural role in communicating and challenging ideas. You’ll study breakthroughs including print technology, the cultural significance of illustration in relation to protest, and key concepts including text/image relations, narrative sequence, visual storytelling, and modes of illustration.

Professional Context and Personal Direction

(60 credit points, full year)

In Year Two you will focus on industry and developing a personal direction and visual identity which truly represents you as an illustrator. You will engage in a mixture of staff and live industry briefs which will introduce you to the professional world of illustration.. Technical workshops and seminars will develop your digital and analogue skills further alongside sessions focused on illustrative thinking, process and development that will sharpen your research and evaluation skills, allowing you to become confident in discussing a broad range of illustrative issues.

Contemporary Issues in Illustration

(20 credit points, full year)

Examine key issues in contemporary illustration, including illustration as communication; illustration as storytelling; and illustration and authenticity. These issues will be explored from the point of view of both narrative illustration (children’s books; comics; graphic novels; non-fiction) and applied illustration practices (editorial illustration; reportage illustration; scientific illustration; fashion illustration; environmental illustration; maker illustration eg. surface pattern and interiors). This module will also explore contemporary issues such as sustainability and ethical practice in illustration.

Co Lab: Research, Exploration and Risk-taking

(20 credit points, second half of the year)

Through active participation with team-based problem-solving, you will work together in mixed teams on a project where you will use your creative ideas to generate solutions to the challenge or brief. Your project will allow you to explore how creativity can make an impact in society, as you choose a theme of sustainability, social justice, enterprise and innovation or community. This collaborative learning experience will expose you to a range of new processes and approaches that will develop your creative thinking.

Optional module

You will also choose one optional 20-credit module from:

  • Telling Stories
  • Storyboarding
  • Experimental Animation
  • Publishing: Experimental Formats
  • Typography: Use and Expression
  • Motion Graphics
  • Exploring Creative Coding

Optional Placement Year (Sandwich)

We have an option for all of our students to undertake a placement year (Sandwich) and allow you to decide whether this is right for you once you have completed years 1 and 2 of your course. This time spent working in industry provides our students with crucial work experience, which is highly prized and much sought after by employers upon graduation. If you are successful in securing a placement you will have the chance to gain an additional Certificate or Diploma in Professional Practice, dependent on duration.

These two year-long modules run side by side.

Developing a Distinctive Professional Portfolio

(100 credit points)

By the end of this module you will have a bespoke personal portfolio that is aligned to your personal and professional goals. Your work will include briefs, both set and self-initiated, and may include competition briefs that have been set by established professional bodies, as well as ‘live’ client’ briefs set by partners and practitioners. Through research, reflection and analysis of your working process and others you will evidence intellectual, and connected, visual responses, and you will be confident with your own visual language, identity and aesthetic.

These areas of study combined will bring together your knowledge of the subject and industry, with your own creative vision to produce a highly considered professional body of illustrative work.

Independent Journal

(20 credit points)

The Independent Journal is a written and visual project that allows you to document and develop an understanding of your own creative practice in relation to the wider context of illustration theory, history, techniques, and ideas you have explored in previous modules.

Don’t just take our word for it, hear from our students themselves

Student Profiles

Amaia Kurschinski

One of the most valuable things I have learnt is to always put your all into every project and really go for it! Be curious and think outside the box.

Discover Illustration at NTU

Video Icon
 

How you’re taught

Studio practice is a key element of this course, and you’ll spend a lot time in a creative studio environment. Teaching and learning experiences will include:

  • studio activities
  • peer groups
  • lectures
  • workshops
  • seminars
  • group tutorials.

You will also benefit from one-to-one surgeries, portfolio reviews, and self-initiated work experience.

Co Lab

Want real-world experience alongside your degree? Co Lab is your opportunity to work with peers from different disciplines on live projects set by industry partners. Embrace collaborative practice as you explore how creativity can make an impact in society and develop the skills employers want to see in the creative industries.

Find out more

Exchange opportunities

If you’re thinking about studying part of your degree abroad, the course has exchange agreements with a number of institutions around the world.

Exchanges take place in Year Two of the course. You’ll receive guidance from the University about where you can study, and help in completing your application and arranging your exchange.

Showcase

You will be given the opportunity to exhibit your work during your time at NTU to members of the creative industries. Visit our ‘We Are Creatives’ showcase to take a look at the work of this year's graduating students’.

Contact hours

  • Year 1 lectures/seminars/workshops (21%), independent study (79%).
  • Year 2 lectures/seminars/workshops (20%), independent study (80%).
  • Year 3 lectures/seminars/workshops (20%), independent study (80%).

Staff Profiles

Eleanor Wild - Senior Lecturer

Nottingham School of Art & Design

Ellie is currently the module Leader for Year 1 Graphic Design at Nottingham Trent University, where she is responsible for the management and delivery of the year. Ellie also teaches

Sarah McConnell - Senior Lecturer

Nottingham School of Art & Design

Sarah McConnell is Course Leader of MA Illustration in the School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University. She is a widely published Author/Illustrator of Children's books.

Helen Merrin - Senior Lecturer

Nottingham School of Art & Design

Helen Merrin is a Senior Lecturer on the BA(Hons) Graphic Design course where she primarily teaches the year one design studio module and is a personal tutor. She is also…

Isabel Story - Senior Lecturer

Nottingham School of Art & Design

Isabel Story is a Senior Lecturer in Visual Communications in the School of Art and Design.

Kristian Jones - Lecturer

Design and Digital Arts

Kristian Jones is a Lecturer in Illustration. Teaching across all levels of the BA illustration degree.

Kathryn Coates - Principal Lecturer

Nottingham School of Art & Design

Kathryn is the Principal Lecturer in the Department of Design and Digital Arts and leads the subject area for Graphic Design, Illustration and Motion Graphics. She teaches on the final…

How you’re assessed

Assessment is predominantly through coursework. You’ll be assessed at the end of each module and awarded a grade, receiving feedback throughout.

You will construct an in-depth portfolio of assessed work throughout the course. Further assessment consists of presentations, essays, seminars, group work and a professional journal.

Your final degree mark will be based 100% on your final year work.

  • Year 1 coursework (92%), practical exams (8%).
  • Year 2 coursework (92%), practical exams (8%).
  • Year 3 coursework (100%).

Careers and employability

From the very start of the course, you will be encouraged to identify with the world of work and your future beyond graduation. The course has a dedicated employability tutor and the School Employability team support Illustration students with drop-in session and advice.

This course will equip you with skills and experience needed to work as a professional illustrator, as well as a range of transferable skills that can be applied to a number of roles within the creative industries.

Connecting with industry

Our BA (Hons) Illustration course was created in consultation with leading industry bodies such as the Association of Illustrators (AOI), whose knowledge and expertise informs our approach and ensures that the course is aligned with the most current industry needs and expectations.

Some of our other industry connections, clients or partners include:

  • Hachette
  • Harper Collins
  • Penguin Random House
  • Usbourne
  • Scholastic
  • Folio Society
  • Carmelite
  • Nobrow Press

Throughout the course you will work with industry on live briefs and hear from visiting speakers. You will also be supported and encouraged to enter national and international illustration competitions such as The World Illustration Awards (AOI), The Batsford Prize, The Macmillan Prize, V&A Illustration Awards, and the YCN, Creative Conscience.

Creative Industries Federation

We are members of the Creative Industries Federation (CIF), which means students in the Nottingham School of Art & Design have the opportunity to sign up to free student membership. Creative Industries Federation are an organisation that represents, champions and supports the UK’s creative industries and membership grants students exclusive access to their selection of resources and events to help advance your career and connect with industry.

Showcase

You will be given the opportunity to exhibit your work during your time at NTU to members of the creative industries. Visit our ‘We Are Creatives’ showcase to take a look at the work of this year's graduating students’.

Campus and facilities

You’ll be based in our new Design & Digital Arts Building. Opening for 2024 admission, our new Design & Digital Arts Building will place Nottingham as a UK hub for film, television, animation, UX design, games design, graphic design and more.

You'll have access to industry-standard facilities which include a virtual production studio, an in-camera VFX studio and a black box studio, as well as collaborative studio spaces, future technology suites and exhibition spaces.

Find out more

Entry requirements

BA (Hons) Illustration

  • Standard offer: 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
  • Contextual offer: 104 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications

Other requirements

Contextual offers

A lower offer may be made based on a range of factors, including your background (such as where you live and the school or college you attended), your experiences and individual circumstances (you may have been in care, for example). This is called a contextual offer and we get data from UCAS to make these decisions. NTU offers a student experience like no other and this approach helps us to find students who have the potential to succeed here but who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university. Find out how we assess your application.

Other qualifications and experience

We may also consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or beyond the beginning of a course where applicable, for example, into year 2. Our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy outlines the process and options available for this route.

Getting in touch

If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form.

Meeting our entry requirements

Hundreds of qualifications in the UK have UCAS tariff points attached to specific grades, including A levels, BTECs, T Levels and many more. You can use your grades and points from up to four different qualifications to meet our criteria. Enter your predicted or achieved grades into our tariff calculator to find out how many points your qualifications are worth.

Getting in touch

If you need more help or information, get in touch through our enquiry form

BA (Hons) Illustration

  • 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications

Other requirements

International qualifications

We accept qualifications from all over the world – check yours here:

Undergraduate preparation courses (Foundation)

If you don’t yet meet our entry requirements, we offer Foundation courses through our partner Nottingham Trent International College (NTIC), based on our City Campus:

English language requirements

You can meet our language requirements by successfully completing our pre-sessional English course for an agreed length of time, or by submitting the required grade in one of our accepted English language tests, such as IELTS:

Advanced standing (starting your undergraduate degree in year 2 or 3

You may be able to start your undergraduate course in year 2 or 3 based on what you have studied before.  This decision would be made in accordance with our Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer Policy.

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

Fees and funding

Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there's no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.

Getting in touch

For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.

Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494

What's included in the course fees?

The School will cover the costs of any mandatory study trips.

In Final Year, the Nottingham School of Art & Design will provide infrastructure costs for your Showcase.

If you’re selected to showcase your work at a graduate show in London, the School will cover the cost of the exhibition stand and of transporting your work to the show.

Additional costs

Print and copy costs

The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website.

We advise you to budget between £50 - £250 (minimum) per year for printing costs.

Material costs

Depending on the materials you choose to work with, you should budget a further minimum of £150 (Year One), £250 (Year Two), and £250 (Final Year) to cover the other production costs associated to your course. Of course, you may spend less or more than this depending on the nature of your studies.

Stationery and reading materials

Most study modules will recommend one or more core textbooks, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary between courses and further information is available in the University’s bookshop, Blackwell’s.

A good supply of these essential text books are available in the University libraries, which students can easily borrow or access on-line/directly whilst studying in the library.

You should budget between £50 - £100 per year (minimum) for stationery and reading materials.

Field trips

All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may also be an opportunity to take part in an optional field trip to a European destination that will be tailored to suit your course.

Placements

If you're undertaking a placement year, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst on placement. Many of our placement students do earn a salary whilst on placement which can help to cover these living costs.

If you undertake work experience or a longer placement, you will have the chance to gain an additional Certificate or Diploma in Professional Practice, dependent on duration.  The Diploma in Professional Practice incurs a fee for the additional placement year.

Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there's no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.

You might be able to get a scholarship to help fund your studies. We award scholarships to those international students who can demonstrate excellent achievement, passion, and dedication to their studies.

Please take a look at our International students page for information about fees, scholarships for international students, visas and much more.

Getting in touch

For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.

Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494

What's included in the course fees?

The School will cover the costs of any mandatory study trips.

In Final Year, the Nottingham School of Art & Design will provide infrastructure costs for your Showcase.

If you’re selected to showcase your work at a graduate show in London, the School will cover the cost of the exhibition stand and of transporting your work to the show.

Additional costs

Print and copy costs

The University allocates an annual printing and copying allowance of £20 depending on the course you are studying. For more details about costs for additional print and copying required over and above the annual allowance please see the Printing, photocopying and scanning information on the Library website.

We advise you to budget between £50 - £250 (minimum) per year for printing costs.

Material costs

Depending on the materials you choose to work with, you should budget a further minimum of £150 (Year One), £250 (Year Two), and £250 (Final Year) to cover the other production costs associated to your course. Of course, you may spend less or more than this depending on the nature of your studies.

Stationery and reading materials

Most study modules will recommend one or more core textbooks, which most students choose to purchase. Book costs vary between courses and further information is available in the University’s bookshop, Blackwell’s.

A good supply of these essential text books are available in the University libraries, which students can easily borrow or access on-line/directly whilst studying in the library.

You should budget between £50 - £100 per year (minimum) for stationery and reading materials.

Field trips

All essential field trip costs will be included in your course fees. There may also be an opportunity to take part in an optional field trip to a European destination that will be tailored to suit your course.

Placements

If you're undertaking a placement year, you'll need to budget for accommodation and any travel costs you may incur whilst on placement. Many of our placement students do earn a salary whilst on placement which can help to cover these living costs.

If you undertake work experience or a longer placement, you will have the chance to gain an additional Certificate or Diploma in Professional Practice, dependent on duration.  The Diploma in Professional Practice incurs a fee for the additional placement year.

How to apply

Apply through UCAS.

We will ask you to provide a digital portfolio. Visit our webpage which has some advice on what to include to help make your portfolio stand out. After you have submitted your portfolio, we may also invite you to an online interview to help us make our final decision.

You can apply for this course through UCAS. If you are not applying to any other UK universities, you can apply directly to us on our NTU applicant portal.

Application advice

Apply early so that you have enough time to prepare – processing times for Student visas can vary, for example.  After you've applied, we'll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.

Writing your personal statement

Be honest, thorough, and persuasive – we can only make a decision about your application based on what you tell us:

Your portfolio 

If your initial application is successful, you may be asked to upload a portfolio of your work and you may also be asked to attend an interview.

Portfolio advice

Would you like some advice on your study plans? 

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors.

The University's commitment to delivering the educational services advertised for your country.