Illustration & Animation

Illustration and animation are two of the most powerful tools in visual communication, each with its own history, craft traditions, and contemporary applications, and the combination of the two in a single degree produces graduates with an unusually versatile creative profile. Illustration encompasses the art of creating images that tell stories, convey information, or express ideas, from editorial and book illustration to graphic narrative and visual journalism. Animation extends that into time, bringing drawn, modelled, or digitally created worlds to life through movement and sound.

At Leeds Beckett University, this three-year full-time BA includes a sandwich placement year, a year abroad, and a work placement, giving you professional and international experience alongside your studio-based studies. You will develop your own creative voice and distinctive visual identity while building technical skills across drawing, digital illustration, motion graphics, character design, and animation techniques. The programme situates this practical development within a dynamic creative studio environment, encouraging experiment and risk-taking as well as craft.

The year abroad gives you exposure to different visual cultures and creative communities, and the sandwich placement year places you in a professional setting where you can test and develop your practice in an industry context.

You will build a strong portfolio over the course of the degree, which is the primary currency of the creative industries. The combination of illustration and animation skills means you can pursue a wider range of briefs and roles than a single-discipline graduate, and the placement experience gives you professional contacts and insight that are invaluable when entering the job market.

Graduates work in animation studios, games companies, advertising agencies, editorial and publishing contexts, film and television production, digital media, and as independent illustrators. Some develop careers in education, arts administration, or the interactive arts. Others use their combined skills in motion graphics, UX design, or immersive media.