Judging from the favorable policies constantly introduced by the British government, the application of British art schools must be particularly popular this year. Recently, we have received many inquiries from students applying for the major of illustration design in the UK. In addition to the above policy reasons, the reason why British illustration majors are so popular for studying abroad is that illustration, as the most common form of art in our lives, is widely used in books, posters, clothing, packaging and other categories. However, the wide range of employment has formed a very unbalanced supply and demand relationship with few specialized colleges in China. There are many famous illustration schools with different styles in Britain, and their training directions and investigation requirements are somewhat different. In order to help you clarify your thinking and make a better choice of colleges, today we have selected five of the most popular British illustration colleges and universities to make a horizontal comparison and analysis from three aspects: professional settings, style focus, and work collection requirements!
Camberwell Art Camberwell College of Arts
When it comes to British illustration schools, the first thing that comes to mind is the Camberville Academy of Arts, which belongs to the UAL. Two days ago, we explained Camberwell's five pure arts majors. Today, we will carefully analyze another most popular major - illustration design/MA Illustrations.
Student works of Camberwell illustrator
Source: Camberwell official website
MA Illustrationis a one-year postgraduate discipline. The official website uses three key words for the explanation of the course: extensive, inclusive and experimental, which actually reflects that the curriculum of Camberwell's illustration major focuses on cultivating contemporary practitioners of illustration, hoping that students can use creativity to develop novel and influential creative models.
The one-year course is divided into three units: the first unit is to teach students to expand visual language by exploring various materials and media, and to establish a systematic cognition from theoretical research and critical thinking;
Student works of Camberwell illustrator
Source: Camberwell official website
The purpose of the second module is to teach students how to build sustainable topics and abilities in practice through seminars, practical courses and workshops; The last module will focus on students' personal projects and preparation for potential professional backgrounds.
Student works of Camberwell illustrator
Source: Camberwell official website
Secondly, we can also find from the teaching methods that workshops, seminars, critiques and other forms are the main forms, and there are many student led seminar courses. It can be seen that Camberwell attaches particular importance to the process of students' independent and open learning. In addition, students are also provided with optional courses and professional teachers in different directions, including printmaking, photography, film, digital media, plastics, ceramics, wood and metal products and other materials.
Camberwell also hopes that students can think about how to develop any new direction they may take in the business field or practice, such as through printing, painting, 3D works and breakthrough image production, through the learning process of more dimensional techniques and theories.
Collection requirements:
1. The content includes 10 to 30 work images and a brief overview of the creative process;
2. Demonstrate past professional studies or work practices related to illustration. It can include works completed in the process and research direction.
3. If invited to the interview, it is possible to request more original works.
＊ About 500 personal statements
＊ IELTS 6.5 and above 5.5
London College of Communication
Another British illustration school also belonging to the UAL is London School of Communication /LCC。 From the name of the major, we can find that the emphasis of illustration and visual media in the professional direction is the involvement of visual media in illustration.
This course lasts for one year and three months (45 weeks in total divided into four semesters). The focus of the course is to explore how to combine different communication methods to promote the development of illustration and expand the possibility of the future under modern visual culture.
Works of students majoring in LCC illustration
Source: LCC official website
In the first semester, students will conduct different practical and theoretical research by learning the combination of illustration techniques and visual media; In the second semester, the school will provide help for students to use the key skills acquired in the first semester to practice their own personal projects.
The focus of the third semester and the fourth semester is to develop personal projects through continuous supplementary learning, and also to complete a project related to the field of contemporary image creation and a paper of no less than 5000 words.
In this learning process, students will receive intensive experimental oriented research support. For example, students will choose a wide range of visual media such as photography, creative coding, VR, 3D printing (LCC has world-class facilities), performance and animation for experimental exploration.
It is worth mentioning that because this is a typical interdisciplinary major, LCC also hopes to attract image oriented art and design students to apply, such as visual communication, graphic design, photography, etc. We can also see from the above student cases that the exploration direction of students also borrows many forms of works from these majors.
Works of students majoring in LCC illustration
Source: LCC official website
Collection requirements:
1. The portfolio should contain at least 5 projects, including image oriented work examples.
2. For each project, please attach a brief written reflection and a visual proof of the work process.
3. The portfolio can also include conceptual and research oriented projects, but it must show its own thinking and production process, and be innovative.
＊ About 200 personal statements
＊ IELTS 6.5 and above 5.5
＊ Research proposal/project proposal
An overview of the areas of concern, the direction of ongoing research and the focus of the expected project should also include an overview of how we intend to carry out the project and methods.
Kingston University
Kingston University is a famous comprehensive college in the UK. Arts and design majors are rated as the top level in various rankings all the year round. In the latest "2020 Guardian University Ranking" this year, Kingston's courses in communication design and graphic arts were rated as the first in the UK. The illustration major also located in the School of Communication has also attracted many applicants.
Works by students majoring in Kingston Illustration
Source: Kingston official website
Compared with the combination of innovation and new media technology in the illustration majors of the two UALs, Kingston, a British illustration college, also has more advantages of a comprehensive university, relatively emphasizes academic exploration, and is more inclusive.
This course is divided into three modes for students to choose from. Full time is divided into one year system and two years system, but includes one year of internship. The third is two-year part-time (the specific course arrangement will also change according to the tutor's course).
The curriculum is divided into four stages. The first stage is to learn the basic techniques in illustration design and the key skills related to visual thinking; The second stage of learning will encourage students to study the role of illustration in communication design practice in a critical spirit, especially using visual techniques to show the balance between narrative and creative thinking.
The third and fourth stages of learning mainly focus on students' personal projects and elective courses. Students in this stage will lay the foundation for future career planning and development.
Works by students majoring in Kingston Illustration
Source: Kingston official website
In addition, Kingston strongly encourages students' interdisciplinary thinking mode. All elective courses and studio courses, students majoring in illustration will share with students of MA in product and furniture design and sustainable design.
Help students explore their personal interests in illustration in a more diversified learning environment, so as to fully understand the value and role of interdisciplinary methods and business cooperation.
Collection requirements:
1. Up to 20 artwork images;
2. The works shall include the works of the applicant's major, the applicant's original professional works and creative painting works;
3. The 300 word personal statement is placed on the last page of the collection.
* Applicants should obtain a bachelor's degree or equivalent degree in illustration related majors.
＊ IELTS 6.5 and above 5.5
＊ All finalists will be invited to interview
The University of Edinburgh
British illustration schools University of Edinburgh It is an old famous school in Britain, and has always been among the top 20 famous schools in the world, and enjoys a high reputation in the field of art design. Edinburgh's illustration major pays more attention to cultivating students' comprehensive qualities, such as creativity, practical ability and strength in the corresponding commercial market.
Edinburgh's illustration courses also reflect the diversity of the subject. The school provides students with learning and job opportunities in publishing, advertising, graphics, web design, theater, film, museum and other fields.
It is precisely because the courses involved are more extensive, so the class hours are 21 months in total. Students will also have a fixed number of projects and collaborative tasks at each stage of the school year, and have their own independent workspace to regularly carry out painting courses, collaborative work and professional practice.
The curriculum is based on the intersection of studio practice and theoretical research. Students can also use Edinburgh's world-class infrastructure and research labs, including print workshops and digital art computing facilities.
Edinburgh's future plans for students are mainly book illustrators, illustration designers and freelance illustrators. So it also provides many opportunities for students to cooperate with famous British writers, designers and publishers, and there are some fixed projects every year to help students publish their works.
Collection requirements:
1. The project needs to include the complete development process of inspiration sources, colors, lines, materials, etc;
2. It needs to include narrative image works and serial works;
3. Summarize the understanding of printing and digital media application in words;
4. Describe the practice process of contemporary illustration and the cultural and historical background of illustration.
＊ IELTS 7.0 and above 6.0
University for the Creative Arts
The University of Creative Arts, a British illustration school, is one of the top art schools in the UK, covering almost all art disciplines, and is also known as one of the universities with the highest income of graduates from all British art schools. Therefore, the cultivation direction of UCA's illustration major returns to the essence of illustration, emphasizing artists' creativity, hand painting skills, and the combination with commodities.
The curriculum is also divided into one-year full-time or two-year part-time. UCA believes that in this era of rapid digital development, traditional image production has had a certain impact, but the market still needs flexible and adaptable practitioners, which provides many opportunities for commercial illustrators.
Works of UCA students majoring in illustration
Source: UCA official website
The curriculum is divided into three semesters. The first semester includes a seminar to help students understand the history, practice, skills and theory of illustration, which is the basis of all subsequent research.
The second semester is mainly an exploratory illustration exercise, focusing on allowing students to develop personal work projects under the guidance of professional teachers. In the last semester, students will use the knowledge gained from research to create the final work.
It can be seen that UCA's curriculum follows the long tradition of original narration and story telling through images for illustration majors, focusing on cultivating students' professional skills and practice in the business field. And in the course plan, UCA also invited many practitioners to carry out systematic practical teaching.
The school also encourages students to demand themselves as business designers, so as to cultivate more theoretical research basis for subsequent opportunities and choices. The school will also support this spirit of designers by teaching professional courses such as digital media software, photography, printmaking and book making.
Collection requirements:
1. The project works can show the applicant's skills, materials, creativity and forms, including painting, sketch, photography, digital works, storyboards, animated images or written works.
2. Including the complete creation process, divergent thinking and personalized expression;
3. It needs to include the hand drawn evolution process of sketchbook.
＊ About 500 personal statements
＊ IELTS 6.0 above 5.5
Like pure art, it is often difficult to give a very clear standard for the assessment of illustration works collection. Each college has its own training direction and focus. Today, we list five British illustration schools, some of which focus on techniques, creativity, narrative, business or the combination with new media. Therefore, each student can find a suitable college with different styles and hobbies. I hope that students can make more targeted preparations when choosing colleges, or try more forms and techniques of expression in their own works to express their creativity.
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