Illustration [with Placement year] BA (Hons)

Anglia Ruskin University

Hone your illustration skills and learn how to succeed as a professional artist while studying in the creative powerhouse of Cambridge.

Join a course that scored 94% for Teaching on my Course and 91% for Learning Opportunities in the National Student Survey 2023. With its vibrant studio culture and small class sizes, combined with excellent printmaking, 3D, photography and life-drawing facilities, our illustration course has consistently high student satisfaction ratings.

We know that our students want to learn from the best, so all of our tutors are professional illustrators. They’ll help you find your visual style and kick-start your career. But they’ll never forget the reason you chose to study illustration in the first place. At Cambridge School of Art, you’ll find there’s always time to experiment, discover, discuss and create.

Our studios and workshops are second to none, and you’ll spend lots of time working there. As well as practising and experimenting with your drawing and observation skills, you’ll get the chance to explore related areas such as storytelling, editorials, animation, printmaking, text and image, and moving illustrations.

But you won’t be restricted to the studio: you’ll also go on gallery visits, local drawing trips, and our annual overseas visit to cities such as Porto and Seville, and take part in live briefs for partner organisations. Our students have recently worked with Cambridge University Botanic Garden, producing designs for their educational resources; Cambridge Gateway From India, researching and creating an information board to accompany the new Gateway Stones on Mill Road; and Cambridgeshire Constabulary, creating and exhibiting artworks for their KNOW Violence Against Women project.

We know that your future career is important and you want to build your CV. So we’ll encourage you to grab every opportunity for real-world experience – entering national and international competitions, working on live industry briefs, and taking up internships.

As an illustrator, a world of possibilities awaits you. You could illustrate books, become a graphic artist, design stage sets or product labels, and even work on animated films.

Let us show you where your talents can take you:

• graduating student Tabitha Wall won the ‘New Talent’ category at the hugely prestigious and international World Illustration Awards 2021.
• Bethan Woollvin was awarded the 2022 Book of the Year Prize by Books for Topics, as well as the 2014 Macmillan Prize, The New York Times’ Best Illustrated Children’s Book 2016, and the 2017 World Illustration Awards' 'new talent' category
• Melissa Castrillon is now a full-time freelance illustrator who has won the Society of Illustrators’ Gold Medal and designed covers for Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy
• Lizzie Knott was commissioned by TKMaxx to design a range of t-shirts for Comic Relief.

Industry-standard facilities

As well as our dedicated illustration studio, where you’ll have your own desk, you’ll have use of all our creative facilities, including:

• Life drawing studio
• Ruskin Gallery, a professional digital art gallery
• 3D workshops for physical media including wood, plastic, metal, and clay
• Specialist printmaking workshop including etching, screen-printing, and lithography
• Dedicated Mac and PC suites with latest software including Adobe Creative suite
• Photography and media facilities including darkrooms; studios; film processing; digital printing suite; video editing; and professional equipment loans.

Careers

The creative industries are booming in the UK, employing more than two million people. With a wealth of careers to choose from, our graduates have found success as book illustrators, graphic designers, luxury homeware designers and more.

There are plenty of opportunities to get your work seen. At the end of your final year, you’ll take part in our degree show and the New Designers exhibition in London.