‘There are numerous very important transferable skills that I learned on the course at Falmouth, but conceptual thinking and visual problem solving have been crucial in my role as a designer from the get-go! Whether I’m working on an illustration for print or an animation for Snapchat, these skills determine the strength of the outcome.’
Jake Hawkins, Alumni
THE BREADTH AND DIVERSITY OF ILLUSTRATION
Several alumni discuss the diverse nature of their creative practice and the broad spectrum of illustration commissions.
Many of our alumni work on illustration commissions for traditional contexts such as children’s books, book covers, editorials for magazines and newspapers and posters for advertising campaigns. However, the scope of illustration has expanded and diversified enormously in terms of the platforms and contexts it is commissioned for and the work opportunities available within which to operate.
Our alumni are increasingly involved in a broader variety of illustration work, which extends beyond the solitary studio to collaborative work environments, from small-scale illustrations for mobile phones to large-scale architectural facades, for 3-dimensional merchandise and for a range of digital platforms, both static and moving. They have developed illustrations for banknotes, passports, stamps, handbags, purses, umbrellas, tennis rackets, puzzles, digital games, mobile phone apps, socks, scarves, jackets, wine bottles, biscuit tins, coffee cups, ceramics, rugs, interior design, shop window displays festival floats and projections for live performances – to name just a few!
While their illustrations continue to educate, inform and promote awareness in society, for many of these wider contexts the illustrations take on different roles and provide a broader range of experiences for people. Some illustrations involve play or interactivity (in a real or virtual world); others become physical environments to walk into, or tactile experiences to wear, in which the illustrations keep your feet warm and the rain off!
The following articles portray the different illustrative pathways of several alumni, all embracing illustration across broader contexts, through a variety of different working experiences. They share the inspiring nature of their illustration practice as well as the creative challenges they have faced in stretching their skills to adapt to unexpected commissions and less familiar, high pressured, collaborative working environments. They reflect on how their diverse creative journeys have broadened their perspective of illustration and have enriched their passion for the subject.
