FEATURE OF THE MONTH: BA(Hons) Illustration 2022 Graduate Showcase; Wunderkammer, Our Cabinet of Curiosities
‘Falmouth students seem to have the closest idea of what being an illustrator is really going to be like. We work with students every year through our Startworks programme and Falmouth students are consistently some of the best in the country. They are talented, clued up and prepared for their future careers. I think this is because importance is placed on professional practice as well as developing the creative. This is why there are so many high profile alumni. The style of the course prepares students for what happens next after graduation, which is why I think so many of them ‘make it’. Their location makes them far from complacent about getting out there and seeing what’s going on in the industry. It’s a very special course. If you are thinking of going there DO IT!!’
Stephanie Alexander-Jinks – The Artworks Illustration Agency
HEAD OF ILLUSTRATION
Wunderkammer Online is twofold: it is a promotional platform for the Illustration subject at Falmouth University designed to attract new recruits by showcasing the diversity of our final years students work and highlighting distinguished alumni commissions, illuminating the breadth of career opportunities. Wunderkammer Online also provides crucial marketing material for all our graduating students to target clients for commissioned work, potentially kick-starting their careers.
For final year students, Wunderkammer is briefed and run like a live commission. Staff play the role of art directors, and the staff/students working collaboration emulates that of an art director/illustrator relationship, providing students with insight and experience for when they graduate. For many students it will be their first published illustration.
We work collaboratively to develop and produce the content for Wunderkammer Online, sharing different skills. Long standing experience in graphic design and editorial art direction is pooled together with extensive knowledge of a large body of alumni work.
The content of Wunderkammer Online brings together creative minds and artwork of final year graduating students and alumni, spanning across the last decade or so, from the most recent to long established illustrators. Each year well-known, recognisable alumni are commissioned to illustrate the entry page and chapter headings in order to attract the attention of art directors.
This rich collaboration provides an on-going platform to celebrate the legacy of the course by highlighting the breadth of prestigious commissions and creative work opportunities alumni go on to undertake, while in tandem, launching a fresh new talent each year. It brings together innovative new thinking with sustained professionalism, contemporary approaches to visual communication with traditional work, and it embraces all illustration disciplines, platforms, audiences and contexts.
Wunderkammer Online reaches out to art directors, agencies and design companies all over the world. Content includes student work, alumni stories, interviews with industry, alumni published books, national and international awards, top tips and notable commissions.
In recent months we have extended the collaboration featuring staff profiles through their industry practice and research outputs, in order to highlight the important relationship they have built within the subject between industry, staff professional practice and the student creative experience. Furthermore we have added ‘Connect’ forum as we recognise the potential for Wunderkammer Online to be an catalyst to extend the alumni community through events, exhibitions and conferences, and engage broader creative external audiences within the industry and academia.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the course teams for all their hard work over the years in making Wunderkammer possible, in particular Sue Clarke and Graham Black and show my appreciation and thanks to on behalf of the team to Patrick Atkins, BA(Hons) Illustration Alumni, for the creating the Wunderkammer homepage animation and section header illustrations.
Wunderkammer Online will frequently be updated and evolving and over the next few months we will introduce the amazing and curious work form our MA Graduates of 2021, so please bookmark this page and join us to celebrate their achievements over the last year.
Keryn Bibby – Head of Illustration
WUNDERKAMMER SECTION HEADERS AND HOMEPAGE ANIMATION ILLUSTRATED BY PATRICK ATKINS, FALMOUTH ALUMNI 2013
Patrick Atkins is an Artist and Illustrator based in Bristol, UK. Since graduating from Falmouth University in 2013 his work has spanned across book covers, editorials, album artwork, animation, advertising campaigns as well as a host of personal projects and commissions. His work often explores challenging and thoughtful themes, with particular attention to creating atmosphere and mood. He uses a combination of digital methods and traditional printmaking techniques, with heavy use of texture to evoke feelings of nostalgia and warmth.
WUNDERKAMMER PROJECT TEAM
Keryn Bibby – Project Lead, Creative Director, Graphic Design, Art Direction, Print & Online Production, Research & Editing
Patrick Atkins – Wunderkammer section header illustrations and homepage animation, patrickatkins.co.uk
BA(Hons) Illustration
Sue Clarke – Art Direction, Interviews, Research & Editing
Graham Black – Art Direction, Graphic Design, Print Production & Editing
Natalie Hayes, Nigel Owen, Nick Mott, Julie Ann-Monks, Chris Odgers – Student Work Art Direction & Proofing
