MA Illustration

This introductory unit is designed to orient you and your cohort. We’ll give you the core skills and knowledge required to deconstruct, build and expand on all aspects of your practice. By the end of this unit, you’ll also be capable of engaging meaningfully with the rest of the content on the course.

This unit will delve into the concept of self, and how it shapes the work of the illustrator. Together, we’ll explore how others identify socially and culturally. You’ll document your research and development in a process book and create an illustrative response to a prompt provided by your tutors.

Every mark we make on a (real or virtual) surface can add a different meaning to the overall work. By experimenting with and analysing this concept, we’ll explore ways of translating your ideas into your chosen medium. You’ll also delve into the enduring mythology of craftsmanship, and its context in today’s world.

Looking at both historical and contemporary resources, we’ll explore how images are sequenced to tell a story. This knowledge will feed into theories related to visual literacy, the reading of an image, and the ways in which you can engage with (or challenge) an author. You’ll then deliver a creative visual response to a set prompt.

Collaboration is a core aspect of the AUB experience, and it will always be an integral part of developing your creative career. Together with your peers, you’ll work collaboratively to solve a set brief. By connecting with a global ecosystem of fellow creatives, you’ll get first-hand experience developing viable collaboration methods across different time zones.

This unit will focus on building your entrepreneurial prowess and helping you thrive in the industry. We’ll examine the identity of the illustrator as both an artist and a design professional and consider your work within a business setting. By creating innovative visual solutions, you will explore both the practical and theoretical aspects of your practice.

Is it possible for someone to own an idea? Now more than ever, notions surrounding intellectual property are being challenged. Together with your cohort, you will deep dive into the impact that generative AI has on contemporary illustration and explore the ethical challenges of its use.

Illustrators often use their skills to document the world around them, and relay truths or opinions in visual form. Through medium and aesthetic, ideas can be repositioned and recreated – so what is the illustrator’s role in this process? Can the discipline ever be impartial, and what is the resulting effect of the agency you assert? Throughout this unit, you’ll investigate documented spaces, and reflect on how your perspectives influence your creative output.

We’ll help you develop and structure a final creative output for the course. What resonated most with you? What lines of enquiry would you like to pursue? What topics and methodologies do you want to expand on? Exploration is key here, and we’ll encourage you to research a diverse range of sources for inspiration.

In this final unit, you’ll work independently under supervision to follow through on your written and illustrated proposal delivered in Research Methods. We’ll guide you in producing a technically proficient, accomplished body of work that shines at the forefront of illustration practice.

The Online MA in illustration has been designed specifically for people who may have worked in illustration, they may have studied it or a similar degree at a earlier BA level, or they may work professionally in the industry and they want to expand their skills. 

It's also been designed for individuals with a passion who want to really explore their academic underpinnings of the discipline, and spend two years working on crafting a professional portfolio that they can take to market afterwards.

So, whilst it has its traditional master's project, which is the kind of substantial chunk at the back end of the your time on the course, as you lead up to that, you'll work your way through various shorter very specific themed modules, narrative illustration, sequential illustration, reportage, or they may also look at more kind of, social and cultural views, so things like identity, idea generation, and kind of who really owns ideas there. 

So the intention of these is that, throughout your time building up to your master's project, we're almost helping plant seeds throughout that that you can then choose to kind of cultivate and germinate within your own master's project.

So one thing that students will really learn is how to expand and reflect upon existing practice. Throughout various different modules they will like zoom in on different areas that they want to refine, perhaps discovering or rediscovering areas that they weren't aware of.

Alongside that they'll also be given the professional skills they'll need to succeed as a working professional illustrator with an understanding of intellectual property, how to promote themselves, and how to work with contracts with clients and such.

So even though you're studying online with AUB, we still want you to really be an AUB student and to really participate in the community of learning that we try and grow here on-site.

So part of that is having access to the same, digital resources, so that is library services, that is, like, digital learning materials, that is access to student support services for our well-being team and student advisers, but that's also being involved in many of the great online talks and online conferences that we have throughout your time on the course.

While students will gain skills in idea generation, idea development, and working towards various different set briefs, they'll also learn how to present their work in a professional manner and to talk about their work. They'll also learn about the more, industrial side of things, about how to actually gain representation and how to remain in control of their created artworks.