Sequential Design/Illustration MA

Course in brief

The Sequential Design/Illustration MA attracts new and established illustrators, artists and designers from all over the world who are keen to explore the principles of sequence within their chosen field and make them visible through a variety of forms.

These forms have included written and illustrated books for children and adults, interactive design, film, graphic novels, stage and exhibition design, animation, book arts, narrative textiles, experimental writing, product design and even community projects that encourage social development through storytelling.

In its 25-year history, this course has built on the gathered knowledge and experience of its staff and students to cover topics that are relevant to all MA students interested in storytelling, visual narrative and delivering complex sequential messages.

Recent graduate work – ranging from a biography of Edith Sitwell to a series of calendars made from human hair – demonstrates the diversity of individual research. Other students have examined the legacy of recipes, the secret language of headscarves, the parallels between quantum physics and Taoism as demonstrated through a detective novel, and the role of plumage in communication.

You might also want to consider our Arts and Design by Independent Project MA

Key facts

Location Brighton: Grand Parade

Full-time 1 year
Part-time 2 years

Apply online

You can apply for 2016 and 2017: please check that you meet the entry requirements before you make your application.

Apply now for your place

Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course if you wish to begin studying with us in 2017. They should be used as a general guide.

We operate a flexible admissions policy – this means that you could receive a lower conditional offer than the typical offer, informed by our assessment of your complementary non-academic achievements and experiences. For courses that require interview or portfolio review, this may also be considered in the level of any conditional offer that follows if your application is successful.

Degree and/or experience
Normally an honours degree in a related discipline, a recognised equivalent qualification or professional experience. Admission is subject to interview and requires a portfolio of recent work (in any appropriate discipline) plus a 600-word proposal for a potential project. Applicants are requested to submit their proposal at the application stage (guidelines are available on request).

For non-native speakers of English
IELTS 6.5 overall and 6.0 in writing.

Other
All students applying before June will be interviewed. Applicants are encouraged to attend open days during the spring term.

International equivalencies

International equivalencies by country

Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

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

Visit our language institute

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For academic preparation courses.

Project proposal

You are required to write a 600-word project proposal to accompany your application form. The following headings should assist you:

Title (or working title) and any subtitle of the project.
The form the project might take: book, comic/graphic novel, digital, film, interactive, etc
The editorial limits of the project (number of pages, running time etc)
Who is the project designed for and what are its intended objectives?
A description of what the project will involve
How you would start work on the project
Possible technical requirements
In what way do you feel the project is designed to be sequential?
Any information you think is relevant

This proposal represents a project that you would choose to do. It is useful as an example of your thinking. However, many students change their projects by agreement either after interview or on joining the course. In some cases, students may prefer to do more than one project on a theme. If this is the case, write a brief summary about why you would want to take this approach.

Portfolio

Your portfolio, together with the project proposal, will enable us to assess your abilities to carry out your chosen project. It should demonstrate evidence of:

Completed projects: it is essential that at least one of these projects should be accompanied by all its development work; you will also be required to explain the nature of the tasks or briefs in relation to these finished pieces
An ability to use maps, plans, diagrams and rough sketches to discuss large projects before you start them
Scrapbooks, sketchbooks, notebooks that show your ability to visually research any subject
Independence (projects and work other than those required by academic or client demands)
Interests outside your particular subject/discipline

You do not need to start the project you have proposed or have work in your portfolio that relates directly to it. We feel able to assess an applicant’s potential by looking at the work they choose to present at interview.

Course in detail

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 of 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.

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.

The Visual Narrative module includes lectures, themed group events and small practical activities such as the Surprise Project, where you are asked to deliver a surprise though a sequence of six images or objects, with the module group as your target audience. From this experience, you learn the nature and importance of surprise in basic storytelling and develop a vocabulary for narrative. In scheduled theme day events, such as Modern Cautionary Tales, you work in groups to challenge your quick-thinking skills in the invention, planning and presentation of a story.

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.

In order to bring together a variety of students and approaches, this course coexists with the Arts and Design by Independent Project MA. Both are based at our Grand Parade campus.

Stage 1

Sequential Project(s)
Visual Narrative
Research and Investigation

Stage 2

Major Sequential Project(s)
Project Report

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 RosenArtist, 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

Interested in storytelling through images, objects, folklore and outsider art, Margaret Huber examines drawings developed from random ephemera. Her most recent work explores the line between representation and invention in natural history illustration.

Karen Morgan is a graphic designer specialising in design for print. Her enthusiasms are typography, ephemera, collecting, artists' books and picture books of all types. She enjoys both collaborative and self-initiated projects with other designers, illustrators, historians and writers.

Graham Rawle is a writer and collage artist whose visual work incorporates illustration, design, photography and installation. His worldwide success with Woman's World added to his celebrity as the creator of the Lost Consonants series.

Margaret Huber, course leader for the Sequential Design/Illustration MA and the Arts and Design by Independent Project MA

Student work

Eleanor Crane

Input=Output: An Autobiographical Exploration into Anorexia

A three-minute synopsis of a twenty-minute animation for children ages 11 upwards. The film aims to raise the awareness of anorexia, to educate children about anorexia and help with body image issues. A set of storyboards describe the full-length animation and a leaflet explains how these ideas could be taken further into education and the therapy services.

Katherine Perrett

Isolarions: Recovering the senses

Four separate books contemplating the senses; they map a personal, disjointed journey through a number of locations.

Completion statement
Digital portfolio
Content navigation

Nele Anders

Of Truth and Lies

A collection of illustrated stories using facts and anecdotes to examine the effects of truth and lies on narrative, regarding history and truth as separate entities and history as ultimately subjective.

Completion statement
Digital portfolio
Content navigation

As I photographed, each place became indistinct from one another, interweaving and working together in their jumbled state to communicate something other than merely how each place is represented photographically.

Katherine Perrett

I will leave the course with a deeper understanding of establishing and pacing narratives, a more critical awareness of my own practice, and a new direction within my work.

Nele Anders

Careers and employability

Because of the diversity of our students and the projects they create, their professional achievements are equally wide-ranging. Successful commercial enterprises have been established, research degrees undertaken, books published, collaborative design groups formed, and work exhibited in major galleries and institutions. Graduates have also participated in festivals and conferences around the world.

Recent graduates include:

an art and display technician at the Littlehampton Academy
an associate teaching fellow at the University of Southampton
a book designer at Flukso Design
a designer and associate lecturer at the Open University
an exhibition and graphic designer at Hello Museum
an illustrator at Helen Murphy Freelance Illustration
a lecturer at Norwich University of the Arts
a mobile game designer at TieSense Information Company.

Many of our graduates cite the course as having been a strong influence on their success. Kate Adams MBE, founder of Project Art Works, described the course as "richly diverse in the practice it promotes and encourages". She went on to say: "The analysis of working methodology was really formative and important for me. I founded Project Art Works a few years after completing the course and felt it had a big influence on how we expressed the conceptual and political drive of our early projects."

Success stories

Margardia Botelho, community art educator
In 2009, Margarida received an award from UNESCO to take the art/literacy storytelling project she had developed on the course and spend eight months working among disadvantaged communities in slums, rural villages and refugee camps in Mozambique. The ongoing project has since been developed for other Community Arts Education projects in Portugal, Brazil and India.

Sarah Dyer, author and illustrator
A prolific children’s book author and illustrator, Sarah’s published books include The Girl with the Bird's Nest Hair, Mrs Muffly's Monster, A Monster Day at Work, Bear's Best Friend (written by Lucy Coats, illustrated by Sarah Dyer), and the Bloomsbury Book of Things. Sarah also attends many festivals, workshops and schools to carry out events and readings.

Woodrow Phoenix, comic artist and writer
Woodrow is co-editor of Nelson and winner of the 2012 Best Book at the British Comics Awards. In 2011, he led workshops and drawing exercises in Buenos Aires art and language schools as part of the The British Council project, which worked with writers in 50 countries to celebrate the bicentenary of Charles Dickens. Woodrow regularly writes about comics and has authored more than a dozen books.

Fees and funding

Your fees

UK/EU (full-time) 6,030 GBP

International (full-time) 14,400 GBP

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2016–17. Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee. Further details regarding tuition fees are available from the university’s student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full- or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

What's included in the fee?

When costs such as health or DBS checks, field trips or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.

You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee paying status.

Location and living here

Location

About Brighton

Brighton has been called the happiest place in the UK, and it’s easy to see why. With five miles of pebble beach, more than 300 pubs and a packed festival calendar, Brighton is the ideal place to spend your student years.

Arts and culture: The Royal Pavilion is the most famous landmark in Brighton, opening its doors to around 400,000 tourists every year. Right next door is the Brighton Dome, the south coast’s premier multi-arts venue, and the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which holds a diverse collection of decorative arts, textiles and archaeological artefacts.

Festivals: The Brighton Festival is now the largest arts festival in England and a major milestone in the international cultural calendar. Meanwhile, The Great Escape has been established as the UK’s leading event for new music, with over 300 bands playing 30 venues across the city over three days.

Nightlife: Aside from the many nightclubs that line the city’s seafront, student favourites include The Haunt, Concorde 2 and Patterns, which attract leading bands and DJs from around the world. If you don’t feel like dancing, you can take your pick from the many hundreds of pubs and bars that dot the city centre.

Shopping: The quirky North Laine district houses Brighton’s finest collection of boutique shops and independent cafes, while the narrow, winding streets of the South Lanes house collections of jewellery and antiques. Churchill Square is the city’s main shopping centre and serves all of your high street needs.

Sports: Brighton’s seaside location offers the perfect opportunity to try paddle boarding, kayaking and windsurfing. Further into the city, The Level has a skate park for skateboarders and BMX riders to practise their skills.

Campus where this course is taught

Grand Parade campus

Our Grand Parade campus is in the heart of Brighton, across the road from the Royal Pavilion and a five-minute walk from the beach. After your lectures you’ll be right in the city centre, close to all the best pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes that Brighton has to offer.

The campus is home to a creative community of arts and humanities students, specialising in everything from fashion and textiles to politics and philosophy. It is also the location of the University of Brighton Gallery and Sallis Benney Theatre, which host events throughout the festival season and beyond.

The world-renowned University of Brighton Design Archives are in the basement of Grand Parade and offer extensive resources for the study of British design in the twentieth century. St Peters House, the campus library, is also nearby and houses a specialist collection of arts books and journals.

Accommodation

Brighton

Our Brighton halls of residence are located across the city in Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

Our Grand Parade campus is in central Brighton and has one hall of residence, Phoenix Brewery, within walking distance. We have around 300 rooms available in Phoenix Brewery, which are all ensuite and self-catered.

Moulsecoomb is two miles from the city centre and also has one hall of residence, Moulsecoomb Place, on campus. All accommodation in Moulsecoomb Place is catered, offering breakfast and an evening meal during term time. There are more than 150 rooms available here, with six to eight rooms per flat.

Varley Park offers the biggest choice of student accommodation with ten halls of residence. The site is four miles from Brighton centre but within walking distance of Falmer train station. You can also catch a free bus service to Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb and Falmer campuses, which is operated by local bus service The Big Lemon.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence: Great Wilkins and Paddock Field. Great Wilkins offers 150+ self-catered single rooms and one-bed couples flats, while Paddock Field offers 450+ catered and self-catered single rooms only. All rooms in Falmer are en-suite.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. The rent covers all utilities and includes £5,000 of contents insurance for your personal belongings.

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

If you have any questions about accommodation in Brighton, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accommodation@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 644100.

Paddock Field