Illustration

As an illustrator, a world of possibilities awaits you. You could illustrate books or editorial, design stage sets or product labels, work on animated films, and much more besides.If you’re interested in a career in character design such as comic books, graphic novels, or animation, our BA (Hons) Animation and Illustration may be the course for you.

Graduation doesn’t have to be the end of your time with us. You might decide to stay at ARU and study for a Masters, such as our world-leading MA Children’s Book Illustration. Take advantage of our Alumni Scholarship and get 20% off your fees.

• Student Scarlett Thomas made the longlist of the AOI's prestigious World Illustration Awards 2024.
• 2024 graduate Amy Hann won the Cheltenham Illustration Awards student section.
• Tess Duffin now works for a children's book publisher. As a student she made the longlist of the AOI World Illustration Awards 2023 in the Exploration category for her book Ewe Lamb.
• Graduating student Klara Gryglicka has secured an agent and has been doing editorial work for Breathe magazine. She picked up the Association of Illustrators Spotlight Award 2023 for her work at New Designers 2023, winning a one-year complimentary Illustrator + Folio Membership with the AOI. Klara was also featured in the AOI’s 10 UK Illustration Graduates to Watch in 2023 list.
• Student Leah Risby won the 2023 Stratford Literary Festival Design a Book Jacket Competition with her cover for the festival’s Young Poets Collection, earning a cash prize and a commission with publisher Little Toller Press.
• 2021 Illustration graduate Olivia Daw's first book was published by the Folio Society in 2023. The first ever illustrated edition of Agatha Christie classic The Pale Horse, the book includes seven of Olivia's illustrations.
• Catherine Rowe runs her own high-end homeware and accessories design business, Catherine Rowe Designs.
• Freelance illustrator Max Machen was invited by Threads to design a new icon to mark its first birthday.
• Graduating student Tabitha Wall won the New Talent category at the hugely prestigious and international World Illustration Awards 2021.
• Children’s book author and illustrator 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.

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.

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.

In your first year you can take part in our illustration reportage project, enhancing your life-drawing and observation skills while making new connections with places and people.

We want you to be a step ahead when you graduate, so we offer:

• courses designed with employers
• tutors with professional industry knowledge
• hands-on learning through Live Briefs, internships and placements
• Ruskin Modules that help develop the skills employers value.

Alongside your course, there are lots of other opportunities to build your skills and experience:

• add value to your CV with an ARU Certificate of Professional Development
• get involved in a thriving volunteering programme
• develop your brilliant business ideas
• work with businesses to make a social impact.

We’re here to help you develop your CV and find that all-important role after graduation. Our Employability Service offers tailored career appointments, advice on writing your CV, help to complete job applications, and much more. You’ll have 24/7 access to an online Careers Centre too, which is packed with useful resources.

The support continues after you graduate, with lifelong access to our Alumni Career Centre.

Find out more about careers support at ARU.

A foundation year prepares you for the rest of your course, and focuses on general skills such as researching and referencing, numeracy and ICT, and communication. We'll also start to look at some more subject-specific topics.

Your placement year is a chance to put everything you’ve learnt in Years 1 and 2 into practice. Spend up to nine months working for an organisation, developing your skills and gaining valuable work experience. Our Placements Team is here to help you secure a placement.

This is a hands-on, practical course and our assessment is based on the coursework you complete for each of your modules. This includes completed project work as well as accompanying material such as sketchbooks. We’re looking to see how you research, analyse and develop your work – in other words, how you think as an illustrator.

You’ll also attend lectures and produce written material including essays. We’ll look at these when we’re reviewing your progress.

Assessment is ongoing and includes one-to-one feedback, group crits and class presentations, so you can be sure you’re receiving structured, insightful feedback throughout your degree course.

See our recommended materials and things you can do to prepare for the course.