Master of Arts - Illustration (Professional Placement)

Kingston School of Art offers a stimulating environment for the postgraduate study of Illustration. Kingston University has some of the best fabrication and visual process workshops in the UK. This enables the most exciting innovations in 'thinking through making'.

The Illustration MA course, offered through the highly-regarded Department of Illustration Animation, aims to develop creative professional understanding of illustration in the context of communication design.

The course is structured to challenge students and their preconceptions about both illustration and design. It places an emphasis on the patterns of research students develop and the visual methods they employ to explore and unravel briefs. Students will be expected to demonstrate how they research and develop their ideas. In this context, research is not only a working process it can also be considered an outcome in its own right.

This course encourages students to explore and understand the methods and processes at work in contemporary illustration. It challenges preconceptions about illustration and design.

There is a focus on the patterns of research students develop and the visual methods they employ to explore and unravel briefs. Students will be expected to demonstrate how they research and develop their ideas, culminating in an independent project.

This course has been designed to enhance students long-term employment possibilities through an appreciation of the changing global, technological and social context of illustration and design. It includes the option of a one-year UK work placement, enhancing students' experience and connections in industry. This type of assessed placement is not available on any other postgraduate courses.