Sequential Design/Illustration MA

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Portfolio

Admission to this course involves reviewing your portfolio. After you apply, we will ask you to share a link to an online portfolio of your work. This enables us to see your potential and understand your approach and motivations.

We will ask you to log on to Student View to share your portfolio link. We will not be able to progress your application to Brighton until you share your portfolio.

• Find out about the specific requirements for your course.

Creating your portfolio

We’ve put together advice and guidance to help you create and share your portfolio and we run regular online portfolio advice sessions where you can get help from our expert team.

Course structure

You can study on a part-time or full-time basis.

• Part-time, for two years, is designed to fit in with your professional life and allows more time for reflection. Part-time students work on the course for two days a week – one day on site and one day working independently.
• Full-time, for one year, is an intensive year of study. You work four days a week: two days with the course and two days independently.

Lectures, seminars, reviews and assessments are held at fixed times on Wednesdays. Other patterns of attendance vary according to individual circumstances. During holidays you will be engaged in independent study.

Your work will be predominantly project based, which may comprise one or more parts focusing on a central theme or idea. A single project or investigation will in most cases sustain a student through the entire duration of the course, but at stage assessment, in consultation with tutors, it may naturally evolve into a new or related area of study.

The nature of the subject demands the continual interaction between research, analysis, and practical realisation, as well as an extended period of development for ideas to become fully meaningful. Throughout this investigation you will receive support and guidance from the course tutors.

Our priority is to make sure what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through Student View.

Areas of study

As the course develops, there is increasing opportunity for independent and self-directed work, though each student is allocated a personal tutor who oversees the planning and content of individual projects. Besides practice-based work, the course also includes a written element in which you will be asked to reflect critically on the research and development of your project.

While students accepted on the course should come with the technical skills necessary to fulfil their projects, access to the diverse workshops facilities – for example in bookbinding, letterpress, printmaking and photography – will be made available as appropriate to your project. There is also a substantial specialist library and a full range of computer facilities.

Modules

• Major Sequential Project (Stage One)

  In this module you will develop your individual major project proposed at interview. It integrates project work, critical work, lectures, seminars, presentations and tutorials to help you design and plan your project and provides opportunities for you to discuss key issues relating to your particular subject area. Your project is a single body of work that is a coherent programme of study and consists of one task or several related tasks developed independently.

• Practice-Based Research Methods

  This module is framed by the broad question ‘What is research?’ and encourages you to explore how research can relate to and enrich your existing practice. You’ll use research methods to develop your own research question and identify how it sits within contemporary discourse around your subject. You will learn how practice informs this enquiry both academically and within professional contexts.

• Major Sequential Project (Stage Two)

  In this module you will further develop your major project either by continuing the project, exploring another aspect or means of production or agreeing a new project that builds on previous work/research. You will develop strategies to articulate your project in ways that invite discussion, advice and assistance from peers and staff. You’ll also gain critical independence to extend the knowledge base upon which your project is founded and identify its potential professional and academic applications beyond the course.

• Applied Research Methods

  Culminating in a written project report, this module involves the further development of practical and theoretical research and is supported by lectures, seminars and tutorials. Your report will be a critical overview of your major project in which you’ll analyse and reflect on the advances made and lessons learned in the previous research and project modules. It will also provide a record of additional research sources which have informed practical work.

• Completion Statement

  You’ll explore how creative practitioners present and explain their work. Through discussion, analysis and independent research, you’ll compare your own practice with that of others while developing your understanding of layout, sequencing, typography and visual communication. You’ll apply these skills to design and produce a professional portfolio that communicates your practice and ideas effectively.

Facilities

• Dedicated studio space.
• Technical staff on hand to assist you in the workshops.
• Central media centre with computing facilities specific to the needs of designers and illustrators.
• Specialist equipment including materials for sound, film and photography.
• You also have access to the TECH HUB – a team of technical demonstrators based in Grand Parade who provide specialist creative software support including Adobe CC (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects etc), Rhino, Blender and C4D, as well as web and blog-related software. They manage digital manufacturing services within the School of Art and Media, including laser cutting, 3D printing, CNC routing, plasma cutting and 3-axis CNC milling. They also have VR headsets and 3D scanners. The TECH HUB has its own dedicated PC suite with all of the software they support as well as standard university programmes.
• Department print bureau.
• One of the country’s best-stocked specialist art and design libraries.
• Internationally important Design Archives containing a wealth of work in graphic design and illustration.
• Dedicated technical workshops in letterpress printing and book arts.

The University of Brighton Design Archives.

Visiting lecturers

We arrange a programme of weekly lectures by a range of practitioners and academics to broaden your experience and understanding of professional issues and activity. Lecturers describe their practice and professional experience, sharing insights about their research methods and discoveries.

The programme is organised to relate to specific stages of the course and varies on a two-year cycle, so part-time students have access to a different set of events in each of their two years of study.

Previous guest lecturers include:

• Anna Deamer Installation/set designer
• David Pearson Typographer and book designer
• Dr Solveigh Goett Textile designer and researcher
• Fred Baier Furniture designer
• Jonathan Rosen Artist, illustrator and filmmaker
• Prof Brendan Walker Interactive designer and performer
• Prof Calum Colvin Fine art photographer
• Rachael Matthews Artist and author
• Rick Poynor Writer, critic and curator
• Riitta Ikonen Interdisciplinary collaborative artist.

Staff profiles 

Lizzie Finn, course leader

Lizzie Finn has a commercial background in graphic design and illustration for the fashion and music industries. After graduating from Central St Martins, her clients included Vitra, Vogue, Channel 4 and The Victoria and Albert Museum. Finn has exhibited her work internationally and has been invited to speak at design conferences in Tokyo, Sydney, Oslo and Steven’s Point, Wisconsin.

Before joining the University of Brighton, Finn worked at The London College of Communication, Chelsea College of Arts and Winchester School of Art. She has run workshops related to her practice at Fabrica in Italy and Ecal in Switzerland.

Lizzie Finn’s practice and research reflect her continued interest in creating images which incorporate a convergence of visual languages and references from varied sources. Recent projects have been focused on constructing assemblages in fabric, thread and other materials.

Course fees

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

The fees listed here are for the first year of full-time study if you start your course in the academic year 2026–27.

You will pay fees for each year of your course. Some fees may increase each year.

UK undergraduate and some postgraduate fees are regulated by the UK government and increases will not be more than the maximum amount allowed. Course fees that are not regulated may increase each year by up to 5% or the Consumer Price Index (RPI), whichever is higher.

If you are studying part-time your fee will usually be calculated based on the number of modules that you take.

Find out more

• Fees, bursaries, scholarships and government funding info for UK and international postgraduate students
• Student finance and budgeting while studying
• About the university’s fees by checking our student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

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