Bachelor of Design - Visual Communication Design - Illustration

Enter the intersection of character design, narrative art, and visual storytelling. They bring worlds and characters to life across books, magazines, games, advertising, and more. They master techniques across media while developing their own unique style and voice. They learn the art of visual communication and create imagery that informs, entertains, and moves audiences.

Program Overview

AUArts’ Illustration stream empowers students to depict real and imagined worlds through powerful visuals. They gain the artistic and conceptual skills to create unforgettable characters, compelling content, concept art, and narratives for books, games, advertising, comics and more. From foundational studio work to advanced figure drawing, digital media, and portfolio building, they craft a distinctive visual voice and prepare for success in today’s fast-evolving illustration industry.

Program Highlights

• Master techniques: They develop drawing, digital painting and mixed-media skills across traditional and emerging platforms.
• Tell stories visually: They explore editorial, narrative, character and concept illustration.
• Grow through critique: They work closely with faculty mentors and peers to sharpen their personal style and voice.
• Build their portfolio: They build their portfolio by creating professional work that spans print, digital and cross-media applications.
• Learn industry tools: They gain hands-on experience with workflows from sketch to final illustration for publishing, advertising, film and games.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Illustration stream will:

• Develop original, compelling images using a full range of analog and digital media.
• Build expertise in character design, concept art, environmental and figure illustration, and sequential narrative.
• Communicate ideas clearly and powerfully for diverse audiences and industries.
• Critique, research and refine visual solutions in historical and contemporary contexts.
• Collaborate, present and market their work professionally.
• Create a distinctive, portfolio-ready body of work.

New! The Bachelor of Design program now offers emerging concentrations in Comic Studies and Game Design, available as additional areas of focus alongside the primary stream.