INTRODUCTION There has never been a better time to study Illustration! The subject has expanded from its traditional role as illuminating the printed word to transforming all forms of visual communication. Illustration can still make original publishing content such as children’s book, but now be just as valued as a process in itself, in spatial, VR or moving image applications, or for example in self published risograph narratives, or advertising campaigns. Its range of practices are increasingly diverse and are only limited by the scope of visual communication and its imaginative application. More essentially the process of visual interpretation and articulation offers one of the most open and dogma free creative spaces. The discipline presents one of the best opportunities to creatively realise individual identity and has a central place in contemporary visual practice. Kingston School of Art offers an ideal environment for the Postgraduate study of Illustration. Kingston benefits from all the advantages of being in London: we are within 30 minutes of central London and all major art galleries, museums, and cultural attractions. It has some of the best fabrication and visual process workshops anywhere, enabling the most exciting innovations in our fondly repeated mantra of ‘thinking through making’. This course aims to develop the creative professional understanding of Illustration in the context of Communication Design. You will benefit from being in a community of Masters disciplines that include: Sustainable Design, Graphics, Fashion and Product Design. The MA course is part of the highly regarded Department of Illustration and Animation that includes the undergraduate BA and a unique cluster of specialist PhD students exploring the potential and reach of the subject at the highest level anywhere. I hope that you choose to join us in the exploration of this wonderful subject and that we can help with your creative success! Geoff Grandfield Head of Department Illustration and Animation Kingston School of Art
ABOUT THE COURSE The MA Communication Design: Illustration course encourages the exploration and understanding of the methods and processes at work in contemporary visual communication. It aims to further develop the students’ personal practice and approach to the making of images. The course also provides a focus on individual research and inquiry and helps you to understand the significance of the wider cultural role of the visual designer and illustrator. In addition, it will introduce disciplinary and interdisciplinary models of thinking that will underpin your own focused study on the course.
DESIGNING RESEARCH Designing Research lectures and seminars are designed to enable students to rationalise and focus on thematic approaches to problem finding and problem solving. This module will teach you to make practical use of your ideas, perceptions and discoveries; and work effectively and creatively in a wider inter-disciplinary and cultural context.
CREATIVE FUTURES This module builds on the notion athat the best jobs and careers in the creative industries do not exist - and that they are created from individual creative ambitions and understranding. It explores how this can be approached in practicial terms. The programme of study encourages you to develop a personal and critical approah to your future career and its relationship to the development of their individual major project. You will learn about a range of practical methods that can help you create the foundations of a sustainable and sucessful design practice and career. This work will support and inform the development of your Major Project Proposal
VISUAL GRAMMAR, LITERACY AND INTELLIGENCE This module explores the fundamental and underpinning aspects of communication design and the key skills related to visual thinking and is intended to introduce you to the exprected ways of working whilst undertaking study on the course. The module places an emphasis on the nature of individual enquiry and the process of questioning. The focus during this first module is upon visual grammar and how the essential elements of visual communication are related to the relationships between objects, patterns and prcoesses: the manner in which things relate to eachother and the viewer/user.
VISUAL STORYTELLING NARRATIVE AND SEQUENCE This module encourages you to look critically at the role of storytelling within the practice of commuication design, in particular the relationship between narrative and sequential thinking using visual means. The module allows you to develop your indivisual practice wheter you are focused on the creation of content as a key aspect of your making or whether you situate your practice in rleation to the interpretation and adaptation of existing ‘texts’ and content in the act of storytelling. It is also the understanding of the history of visual storytelling and the diverse approaches to narrativity and seriality that are influences by culture, language and technology.
THE MAJOR PROJECT The Major Project - the capstone projectconsolidates the knowledge gained in earlier modules and is informed and supported by prior learning within both the Design School’s postgraduate interdisciplinary framework and course specific specialist study. The purpose of this module is to enable students to relate the work of the course to a practical solution and to demonstrate skills in defining, analysing and developing a substantial solution to an individually defined design related problem. It will demonstrate both in content and form the students advanced understanding of contemporary design practice. Three possible forms of Major Project submission are available to students: - The practical Project | Practical outcome (supported by research, testing and developmental materials) 70% and the Project Report (3-5,000 words) 30% - The Thesis | (12-15,000 words) 100% - The Design Management Project Report | (10,000 words) 100%
BELEN CAO “The field of study I have chosen encompasses the situation of spanish women since the end of the nineteeth century to the 1980’s. The change of century represented a huge step forward for women in Spain, as equality improved they were no longer conceived just as wives or daughters.”
Belen Cao
HAN BIT JEONG “How can I disseminate basic knowledge of addiction and educate the public on the best method to support recovery from addiction using visual and graphic illustration?�
Hanbit Jeong
KATE DELANEY “I feel this project has benefited my practice in terms of my time management as well as developing my unique visual style. It has also helped me reflect upon the content of my work which in turn has helped me define my voice as an illustrator. I hope to explore themes of alternative fashion, subcultures and androgyny in further work.�
Kate Delaney
MINJUNG KIM “The initial idea of this project started with my personal experience. The day I found a grey hair on my head, the fear of ageing had started to grow and this triggered me explore and develop the idea of ageing in different contexts. “
Minjung Kim
Minjung Kim
ON KIM “Urban Octagon is a street brand focussed on the skateboarder market. The number 8 became a point of interest within my research and acted as a starting point for the graphics applied to each product.�
On Kim
SIMON KIM “The field I researched was mostly surrounding social science, with a particular focus on articles related to self censorship. The theories and news articles related to recent social phenomenons which as a result became the basis of how the narrative of my project developed.�
Simon Kim
SIMON KIM “Graphic novels are very effective storytelling methods. During the module I became interested in non-dialogue comics, and how I could tell a story through pace and the order of images.�
Simon Kim
TI ER TSAN “I started to record my trips randomly with sketches and illustrations since I came to London. By doing this, I found that being an sketcher brought me so much fun that I had never expected before and also sharpened my observation.�
Ti Er Tsan
HARIM JEONG “Time is real and exists in our life. Even though we cannot see and touch it, we can feel it through everything that has changed as time passes. This sparked my curiosity to explore how people think about time and define the values of it.�
Harim Jeong
YU TING SU “How can I use illustration to communicate about the serious problem of overtime by exploring extreme utopic and dystopic worlds?�
Yu Ting Su
FEKRY HELAL “Above all, this module has heightened my love and ambitions for storytelling. Virtually nothing makes me happier than a good story told well. The fact that I could engage in a comprehensive process aiming for just that has undoubtedly advanced my desire to incorporate this passion as a key feature into my creative practice.�
Fekry Helal
JIEUN LEE “London is one of the major fashion capitals of world, and its streets are packed with shops, from the upmarket Bond Street, to everyday fashion on Oxford Street, and the quirky boutiques of Portobello Road. London has always been famous for starting trends.”
Jieun Lee
Pei-Wen Chan “How can visual design help people read - in particular, how can it help people with dyslexia and assist in educating those who do not?
Pei Wen Chan
CONTACT Paul Postle Course Leader p.postle@kingston.ac.uk http://www.kingston.ac.uk/postgraduate-course/ communication-design-illustration-ma/ https://issuu.com/kingstonillustrationma instagram @ma_illustration