The MA in Children’s Book Illustration (with optional Professional Placement) is perfect for practicing professional illustrators, artists and designers wishing to develop new ideas and techniques aimed at the children’s market. This taught, studio course is also suitable for recent design graduates who wish to focus and refine their ideas at a more advanced level.
Although primarily a visual course for artists and illustrators, authorial control over content is also hugely important in the children's book?field, so the ability to write creatively and to fuse written and visual content is an important component in the practice of children’s book illustration.
The emphasis of the course is on the practice of illustration for children’s picture books and story books. At postgraduate level you will be encouraged to pursue an original line of enquiry within your chosen area of children’s book illustration and design.
Why study with us
- Learn to generate ideas and visually problem solve to a deadline whilst forging your own visual vocabulary.
- At the end of the course you will have a body of work produced to a professional and publishable standard.
- Our students have won several national children’s book awards and our alumni have illustrated over 70 published titles so far.
What you'll do
- You’ll benefit from a programme of guest practitioner lecturers, company and consultancy visits as well as exhibitions and extra workshops.?
- Project work will be exhibited in a final showcase that will be attended by industry and potential employers, as well as family, friends, students and the general public.
- You’ll have access to a wide range of staff expertise and extensive workshops and studio resources.
Module overview
Compulsory modules
• DE4401: Research Methodologies
• DE4402: Research in Context
• DE4403: Reflective Practice
• DE4404: Experimental Practice
• DE4405: Specialist Practice
• DE4407: Children's Book Illustration Advanced Practice
Course delivery
This course is taught face-to-face at one of our UK campuses.
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our published course information. However, our programmes are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may cause alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses. Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of accrediting bodies or revisions to subject benchmarks statements. As well as to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.
Future careers
Children’s Book Illustration graduates could enjoy a career as an author/illustrator for children’s books, working as a book designer, or working in the publishing industry.
Most children’s illustrators work as freelancers, often developing their own book ideas, or working as illustrators for hire for UK and International publishing houses.
Some specialise purely in children’s work whereas others work as character and toy designers, animators or as general illustrators working across design and advertising disciplines, as well as in the publishing industry.
Our students’ books have been awarded by Pan Macmillan and Hachette and our alumni have gone on to be published by Bloomsbury, Little Tiger Press, Orion, Pan Macmillan, Chronicle, Frances Lincoln and more.
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