MA Illustration

Why choose Herts?

Teaching Excellence: You will be taught by highly experienced academics all of whom are practicing illustrators.
Employment Prospects: Graduates work for publishing, design, and creative agencies as well as international organisations including ASOS.
Industry-Related Learning: Previous students have gained experience following briefs from organisations including Disney, Clintons, and Centrica.

An honours degree (2:2 or above) in a field relevant to the award you want to study. If you do not have a degree, you will need to show you have appropriate professional experience and skills to benefit from the course. We may also be able to take into account accredited prior learning (APL) or accredited prior experiential learning (APEL). If your degree is in a different field, you will need appropriate knowledge, skills or experience in the field you wish to study, or be able to show that you are prepared for intensive new learning. In all cases you will need to demonstrate through a portfolio or interview your preparedness for study at postgraduate level.

If English is not your first language, you will need a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent.

If you do not have the required level of English for entry, our academic English courses can help you to achieve this level.


Institution code	H36
School of study	School of Creative Arts
Course length	Full Time, 1 Years Part Time, 2 Years
Location	University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

Employability

Careers

Particular emphasis is given to providing you with the skills necessary to further your career an illustrator. The course is designed to help you understand and work within the contemporary industrial environment and particular attention is given to helping you acquire entrepreneurial skills.

About the course

On the MA Illustration degree you will develop your professional skills as an Illustrator.
You will work with design professionals of international standing.
This masters degree gives you the opportunity to work in professional and industrial contexts.

Why choose this course?

MA Illustration is a Masters award within the PG Design programme at the School of Creative Arts. Within the programme there is strong emphasis on professional practice and the real-world applications of design. You will develop key research skills and gain a good understanding of the work of other practitioners in your field.

The aim of the postgraduate programme is to equip you with the skills, knowledge and understanding required to practice at an advanced level, to foster your creativity and enhance your employment opportunities. You will work alongside artists and designers who are involved with a wide variety of media and forms. Induction, seminars and social events for students and staff mean that you will be part of a friendly and supportive postgraduate community, which also includes film makers, musicians and professionals working in new media. Senior research staff and internationally renowned artists work with postgraduate students, helping you to develop original and challenging work.

The MA Illustration degree is designed to develop your imaginative, creative and technical potential as an illustrator. It provides an opportunity for you to examine a range of media in the fields of illustration, including the role of image-making in new and traditional media, and illustration's relationships with fine art and digital media.

This masters degree gives you an opportunity to develop advanced knowledge and skills in the use of narrative storytelling and its relationship to illustration, as well as illustrative conventions in children's and adult literature, comics and other media. We encourage you to develop the entrepreneurial and commercial skills necessary to help develop your work to its full potential and to equip you with the practical and intellectual skills to thrive as a practicing artist. Through working alongside artists and designers on other postgraduate courses you will explore the possibilities for the illustrator today, questioning conventions and refining the direction of your practice.

Our staff are experienced in research and professional practice, and you will also benefit from contributions from visiting designers and professionals, as well as from involvement with our international exhibitions programme. The course also has close links with a wide range of industry partners.

What will I study?

This course is designed to help you develop your practice and give you the skills recovery to further your career in industry both in the UK and abroad. The course includes practice based modules where you will explore and develop your work as an illustrator. It also contains course or research skills, entrepreneurialism and professional practice. The final part of the course enables you to complete a major project.

Level 7

Module	Credits	Compulsory/optional
Design Studio Practice 1	15 Credits	Compulsory
This module enables students to address and explore current themes including creative, social, ethical and/or commercial within the creative industries. Students focus on the impact of these themes on their own practice: IAD, Graphic Design and Illustration - and how it affects the end-user. Students are encouraged to progress through a series of experimental design investigations and the development of a theoretical framework to inform the development of their project proposal.
Research Methods	15 Credits	Compulsory
This module provides students with a range of research skills that enables them to analyse complex design issues, rigorously review existing works and formulate a project strategy based on findings. The module enables students to break down a design issue into smaller parts, analyse their relationships and generate a strategy to address it; to conduct a robust and rigorous research process by using established methods and documenting all the logic steps undertaken in their work. Students become aware of the importance of reproducibility of experiments, honesty and integrity in research, and the value of innovation and knowledge advancement, with specific focus on design. Key skills in this module include research strategy and management, research methods, data collection and analysis, the notions of result validation and limitations, academic conventions, and principles of research impact and dissemination
Advanced Design Skills Lab	30 Credits	Compulsory
Students develop their knowledge and understanding of current processes, techniques, and methods within their own discipline. Through seminars, lectures and demonstrations, students are encouraged to develop their independence and own critical stance as designers. Students are enabled to develop their own voice or style, exploring the particular issues, processes and ideas that interest them. Students are expected to document their creative work, reflect and become aware of their personal creative methodologies as a part of their design process.
Design Studio Practice 2	45 Credits	Compulsory
This module enables students to improve and expand their design skills (including working methods, design approaches and concepts) within the context of their specialism, while articulating their thinking to audiences outside of their discipline. This module encourages students to work on their communication skills, exploring new ways of approaching design. Students develop their project addressing a number of relevant and timely themes in response to external drivers, including budget constraints, regulatory framework, business-driven and strategic decision making, and cultural issues.
Professional design Practice	15 Credits	Compulsory
This module provides students with an opportunity to engage with professional aspects of their chosen field of specialization. The module consists of a series of lectures, workshops and seminars where students are enabled to develop the necessary critical and contextual skills required to pursue a self-initiated study of professional, entrepreneurial and ethical considerations central to their field of study. Students are encouraged to craft their own journey of exploration and investigation through discussions with their tutor to agree a suitable delivery method for their findings, whether practice-based or written.
Major Study: Illustration	60 Credits	Compulsory
This module enables students to develop a self-driven body of work that demonstrates professional awareness, expertise, professional skills together with creativity and originality. Students need to demonstrate to be able to produce design solutions where they apply the research methods and key skills acquired in the Programme to explore contemporary relevant issues, including sustainability, value engineering, and health and safety. Students will need to produce a final presentation on Illustration. They will build upon ideas established and explored in earlier parts of the Programme, bringing together practical, theoretical, commercial, social and ethical concerns into a sustained body of original and innovative practice. Their work should demonstrate autonomy, personal responsibility, originality and critical self-awareness. This module provides the students with an opportunity to evaluate and reflect upon personal strengths and independently identified goals for continuing their professional development.

Further course information

Course fact sheets
MA Illustration	Download

Programme specifications
MA Illustration	Download

Additional information
Sandwich placement or study abroad year	n/a
Applications open to international and EU students	No

Student experience

At the University of Hertfordshire, we want to make sure your time studying with us is as stress-free and rewarding as possible. We offer a range of support services including; student wellbeing, academic support, accommodation and childcare to ensure that you make the most of your time at Herts and can focus on studying and having fun.

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Funding and fees
Other financial support

Find out more about other financial support available to UK and EU students

Fees 2024
UK Students

Full time
- £9450 for the 2024/2025 academic year
Part time
- £790 per 15 credits for the 2024/2025 academic year
*Tuition fees are charged annually. The fees quoted above are for the specified year(s) only. Fees may be higher in future years, for both new and continuing students. Please see the University's Fees and Finance Policy (and in particular the section headed "When tuition fees change"), for further information about when and by how much the University may increase its fees for future years.

View detailed information about tuition fees

Living costs / accommodation

The University of Hertfordshire offers a great choice of student accommodation, on campus or nearby in the local area, to suit every student budget.

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Read more about additional fees in the course fact sheet

International/EU applicants without pre-settled status in the UK

Apply through our international/EU application portal

Home and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status in the UK

2024

Start Date	End Date	Link
25/09/2024	30/09/2025	Apply online (Full Time)
25/09/2024	30/09/2025	Apply online (Part Time)

2025

Start Date	End Date	Link
25/09/2025	30/09/2026	Apply online (Full Time)
25/09/2025	30/09/2026	Apply online (Part Time)

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MA Illustration

Why choose Herts?

Careers

About the course

Why choose this course?

What will I study?

Further course information

Student experience

Other financial support

Fees 2024

UK Students

Full time

Part time

Living costs / accommodation

International/EU applicants without pre-settled status in the UK

Home and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status in the UK

2024

2025