MA Illustration with Graphic Novel

This course looks to offer an authorial, comprehensive and expansive understanding of contemporary illustration through an open, inquisitive and explorative programme of study. You will become confident to explore multidisciplinary methods of working which extend the concepts of communication, sequential narrative and visualisation through research, practice and discursive critique.

The course allows students a stimulating, open thinking space for speculation, collaboration and an opportunity to explore the boundaries of illustration and the graphic novel. It will offer the opportunity to explore the specialist mechanisms which relate to both authorial practice and graphic novel construction. These may include works of fiction and non-fiction, reportage and graphic journalism. The course will encourage you to explore co-designed and collaborative methods of narrative practice, as well as autobiographical, autofiction and other approaches derived from the ‘lived experience’.

You will be supported by a team with diverse research and practical interests from the fields of illustration, graphic novel and its broader visual cultures. Research and dissemination methods will be introduced and developed with the support of visiting industry professionals, workshops, lectures and seminars with opportunity to situate work in relevant professional contexts.

The course celebrates analogue approaches to working which complement contemporary and digital practice. You will be encouraged to undertake in-depth examination and experimentation of interdisciplinary practical and theoretical research methods through simple, hands-on and playful approaches.