Illustration (Swansea College of Art)

Our Illustration course at Swansea College of Art UWTSD will teach you real-world illustration skills and design sensibilities. It also provides knowledge and experience of the creative industries, helping you pursue a successful, sustainable career path. We encourage you to use both divergent and convergent thinking in your work, both independently and collaboratively, in a practice-based learning environment. This industry-focused course provides transferable skills and excellent employment prospects.

Entrepreneurial skills and enterprise are integrated into lectures and coursework to prepare you for industry. The course covers a range of industry-informed projects that tackle social, environmental, and political issues, addressing topics you will likely encounter professionally.

Links with business and industry are an essential ingredient to our programme and are maintained through ‘live’ projects, work placements, visiting professionals, and educational visits. These connections ensure our graduates are highly employable and well-prepared for work in the creative industries. Many of our graduates find success in freelance careers, while others secure jobs with design studios, publishing houses, advertising agencies, magazines, and newspapers. Some of our notable clients include Usborne Children’s Books, Moonpig, Lego, NHS Trust, Marks & Spencer, Tigerprint, The British Museum, and Lush cosmetics.

Throughout your creative journey, you will explore illustration practice using traditional and digital media. The course offers a dedicated studio space where you can experiment and refine your visual language. You will have opportunities to showcase your work in a final-year exhibition, giving you the experience needed to enter the professional world.

Our facilities are designed to support a broad range of materials and processes for both traditional and digital works. We have lively Illustration Studios, a Printmaking studio for Lino, Screenprint, Etching, and Collagraph, and a Letterpress studio with Adana letterpress machines and bookmaking equipment. We also offer Risograph Printing and a laser cutter. Our dedicated digital illustration suite includes iMacs, Wacom tablets, and Cintiq screens, equipped with key software packages such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and After Effects.

Our course aims to develop your professional practice through experimentation and exposure to both traditional and contemporary illustration techniques. You will work on children’s book illustration and other projects, developing skills that are vital for a successful career in illustration.