The Student Room Group

BA Illustration - where's best?

What are people's opinions on where's best for illustration? I've been told Brighton and Camberwell are the big two, is there anywhere else I should consider?

I'm way ahead of myself by the way, this is for next year... I've just rejected the only place I applied to this year cos it was at an awful higher education college.. they only charge £1200 fees so it was all I could afford (dont qualify for tuition fee loan :frown: ) - the plan is to take a year out and work full time so I can save up to afford £3 grand and get my moneys worth on a decent course!

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I personally dun really like Birghton(maybe boz the rejected me without me even appied to them, but now I am at LCC). I lived there for a few years and heard that some art subjects in Brighton(dunno which ones), the students dun really have their own styles, they would be tod be ther tutors what exactly to do and end up with copy cats of their tutors, people say you can see these very easily form the degree shows... Camberwell is good and I supposed it's more famous than Brighton, but I doubt you would get a lot of teaching or support like any other unis, I mean the whole of the university of the Arts London is pretty much the same anyway... But the whole point of being at the UAL is that youo would have more better connections and possibly more chances to put yourself in a better position!
Reply 2
Falmouth!
Reply 3
I just had a look at the website for falmouth, it looks really good... Are you at falmouth? what do you like about it? do you get much one on one time with tutors?


Does anyone else have any opinions on illustration courses? I've also been looking at bath spa, the uni of west england in bristol, and gloucestershire uni as they'll be near where my boyfriend's moving (swindon) but I have no idea if these are any good! I'm willing to apply anywhere though, wherevers best!
Reply 4
I'm not at Falmouth, but I'm heading there for Graphic Design this September.. I hear you get loads of support there and student satisfaction is very high. For the illustration course, I read that in your final year, they even bring you to NYC to get assessment for your portfolio from professionals!
Reply 5
Im going to brighton next year to do the illustration course, but from what ive gathered, of course there are widely varying opinions on what place is the 'best'. I think it more depends on what you want in particular, as when I was visiting various good unis with illu courses, they seem to have more or less conventional approaches. I chose brighton because of the work that the students were producing accepting they are of experimentation in an interdisciplinary way, and the way i have lots of ideas and not much of a 'style'. Its also a fabulous place to live and it just gave me a feeling when i went there. I think you should choose where u go not just based on what everyone says is the best, but what u feel about the work that gets produced there and the feeling u get from ppl there:smile: (i personally didnt like bristol or edinburgh for eg. - seemed a bit narrow in approach, falmouth - v good however!)
i might be doing it at Falmouth in 2007! I love cornwall. if anyone goes to falmouth id love to hear more about it :smile:
Reply 7
yay an illustration thread
i really liked brighton but made the stupid mistake of applying to them route A and got rejected the other day think i would have had a much better chance at route B
have got into all my other choices bristol, kingston, middlesex, and northhampton

northhampton is **** dont bother in my opinion

middlesex; supposedly good i was unimpressed, personally i'd rather do my degree at my college

kingston ; ive accepted their offer, its with animation which is cool i guess dont really know much about it as wanted brighton, but oh well, good rep and wallace and gromitt guy went there lol

brighton; WELL GOOD really liked it up there, VERY VERY competitive though!!
thought they had a good progressive approach and a contemporary way of thinking which is what i was looking for

bristol; i love bristol as a place but didn't like the course

i also went to see camberwell and westminster, camberwell i think are relying on their rep too much like most london of arts, and i wasn't inspired by the tutors, westminster was nice but wasn't convinced about their course worth a look though
Reply 8
you gotta think of the location also i guess - falmouth - all very well and good but v. small if ur wanting more of a town/city experience
Reply 9
I dont really mind living in a small place so much as I've already done the big city thing (lived in Glasgow for a few years when I first moved out of my parents). I've heard Falmouth is in a gorgeous area, it's just so bloody far away from..well.. everything! I didn't quite realise until I looked at the map how out on a limb it is!

I guess I need to get out and see these unis next year before I can make a decision, most of them I've never even been to the area! I was just trying to get a general idea of the more respected ones etc. I get the feeling the better ones are down south though.
Falmouth Hands down.

I am currently nearing the end of my first year on the BA Illustration at Falmouth, and loving every minute of it. The course is brilliant - extremely good value for money as you get so much tutor time and so much time spent in college. It's not for the faint hearted though, this year my timetable has been 9.30-4.30 4 days a week, with lots of extra work on top of that.

This is a hard course to get into, and you have to be prepared to be very dedicated and work hard, but it is definately worth it.

On the nightlife and social side of things Falmouth is obviously very different to going to one of the big cities, we have 2 nightclubs neither of which are that appealing, so evenings out consist of going to the pub normally or going to see bands. It's great in summer because you can go to the beach and the weather is lovely. All in all, theres a very chilled out vibe here, and everyone is really friendly - but if you want the city lights this is probably not where to go.
Ceri327
yay an illustration thread
i really liked brighton but made the stupid mistake of applying to them route A and got rejected the other day think i would have had a much better chance at route B
have got into all my other choices bristol, kingston, middlesex, and northhampton

northhampton is **** dont bother in my opinion

middlesex; supposedly good i was unimpressed, personally i'd rather do my degree at my college

kingston ; ive accepted their offer, its with animation which is cool i guess dont really know much about it as wanted brighton, but oh well, good rep and wallace and gromitt guy went there lol

brighton; WELL GOOD really liked it up there, VERY VERY competitive though!!
thought they had a good progressive approach and a contemporary way of thinking which is what i was looking for

bristol; i love bristol as a place but didn't like the course

i also went to see camberwell and westminster, camberwell i think are relying on their rep too much like most london of arts, and i wasn't inspired by the tutors, westminster was nice but wasn't convinced about their course worth a look though


I'm looking to do illustration with animation at Bristol, went to an open day and it looked really cool, just interested as to what you didn't like about the course?

Have you seen Bush House, where the illustration students work? It looked quite cool to me, especially with the third year students each getting little rooms with their assigned spaces to work.
LCC and bristol UWE is good i think. also bournemouth is good for illustration and it is even better for animation! come here, the arts institute at bournemouth! great location too!!
Reply 13
walk_the_llama_llama
Falmouth Hands down.

I am currently nearing the end of my first year on the BA Illustration at Falmouth, and loving every minute of it. The course is brilliant - extremely good value for money as you get so much tutor time and so much time spent in college. It's not for the faint hearted though, this year my timetable has been 9.30-4.30 4 days a week, with lots of extra work on top of that.


See that just sounds perfect to me! The thing I've loved most about foundation this year is that we've been in tiny groups and have spent loads of time with our tutors, which I thought would be something that would stop at University. :smile:

Do you know anything about Falmouth's links with industry? Do they have decent placement opportunities? I guess if you're only first year you might not know that yet, but I though I might aswell ask :smile:
Hello again,

here's a link to the course page, and there is a link on there to download a course leaflet with some extra info which hopefully might help.

http://www.falmouth.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=174&Itemid=201

All my tutors are successful professional illustrators who regularly have work published in the national and international press and their experience is really useful.

When you said you were used to working in small groups with tutors - there are about 60 of us on the course, so not that small - but we have 9.30-4.30 4 days a week, normally with 2 tutors per day.

The first year of the course is based on one day and one week projects, with a longer illustrated book project which lasts most of the year (the deadline is friday ouch!) and we do 'back to basics' kind of workshops such as Colour and Composition, Visual Studies (drawing from life, drawing outside, painting etc), Life drawing (all day so pretty gruelling), Composition, The Figure, Location drawing (in your own time but you have one location project per term), Conceptual thinking - which is finding ways of illustrating more abstract concepts (for example if you were commissioned to design an illustration for a magazine article on finances or something tthat can't be directly illustrated)

Erm.. what else - that may sound pretty boring and rigourous but it takes you back to basics and helps equip you with the skills you will need for when the projects get freer later in the year.The way I think about it is that all the skills that you learn gradually help you to manage to create an image which is more like the idea you have in your mind.

If you have any more questions about the course, Falmouth in general or anything that would help you then let me know as I'm very happy on the course so very happy to talk about it!

Just one thing, if you're thinking of applying here, start working very hard;-)
Reply 15
Dundee's art college, the Duncan of Jordan stone rocks, its really well respected, and they are really pushing rich, conceptual work at the moment, that combines with free-thinking staff and student, I think we might just be about to explode into a firework of the the imaginative, th e interesting and the creative.
Reply 16
yeah, I'm from Scotland originally so I'd love to go back, and I went to an open day at Dundee 4 years ago when I was just finishing highschool but I decided against artschool in the end, only to reconsider now! From what I remember it's a really nice place... the cheaper tuition fees would certainly make life easier too!
The London College of Communication part of University of the Arts London has a brilliant illustration program.
Reply 18
My girlfriend is starting Illustration at Camberwell this September and from what I have heard and seen; Camberwell, Brighton and Falmouth seem to be the most commonly talked about courses. Falmouth is supposed to be really nice but I can't help feeling that it's location might be a slighty disadvantage when it comes to employment. In that respect, I don't think you can really beat London.

My girlfriend also applied to;

Farnham - apparently this is really horrible and she couldn't understand why anybody would want to go there

Kent - slightly better than Farnham but still a bit rubbish

Bristol (UWE) - I went with her to the Open Day and the campus seemed a bit grotty and unpleasant. I think that the course is supposed to be quite good though.

Bournemouth - Again, nothing awful, nothing spectacular

Middlesex - This seemed really nice when I went and the tutors all seemed really friendly. Seems to be quite respected.

I personally feel that one of the major aspects of doing an art degree is the building up of contacts within the industry. Most places are going to have a reasonable standards of teaching and you are going to be allowed quite a bit of freedom in what you do. Based on that, pretty much any university in London would be good.

P.S. Ceri, I think I might know (know of) you. Alton College Foundation course, per chance?
TommehR


Bristol (UWE) - I went with her to the Open Day and the campus seemed a bit grotty and unpleasant. I think that the course is supposed to be quite good though.


The campus is rank yeah, but the illustration and graphic design students are based in the city centre in a gorgeous really modern building, they're rarely at the main Art/Des campus (which is getting a £10m facelift over the next few years.)