COURSE CURRICULUM

The BA in Animation and Illustration develops students’ artistic, technical, and storytelling abilities through a combination of animation, illustration, drawing, and visual communication studies over three years. In Year 1, students build core creative foundations through modules in hand-drawn animation, illustration techniques, life drawing, environmental design, sequential art, and visual culture studies. They learn principles of animation, perspective drawing, storytelling, colour theory, and experimental illustration methods while strengthening observational and digital art skills. In Year 2, students advance into more specialised areas such as character animation, concept art, production design, storyboarding, scriptwriting, and advanced illustration practices. Emphasis is placed on developing creative problem-solving, visual storytelling, acting for animation, and analytical thinking, while also preparing students for professional work placement through interview and communication training. Year 3 focuses on professional-level production and independent creative development. Students refine advanced animation and illustration techniques, environment design, life drawing, and academic research skills while preparing studio projects and pitching original concepts. A major feature of the final year is the studio production module, where learners collaborate on industry-style projects in a simulated studio environment, working from script to final production. Students also complete a professional work placement within the animation or illustration industry, gaining practical experience and insight into studio workflows and team-based creative production. Overall, the program combines artistic development, industry practice, and critical research to prepare graduates for careers in animation, illustration, publishing, games, and digital media industries.