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Abstract design

Sequential Design/Illustration MA

  • Intro
  • Course
    content
  • Careers
  • Entry
    criteria
  • Fees
  • Location
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Intro

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 be interested in our Arts and Design by Independent Project MA.

Key facts

Location Brighton: City campus

Full-time 1 year
Part-time 2 years

Book your open day place

Apply online

Please review the entry requirements carefully and if you have any questions do get in touch with us.

Apply now for your place

Art and design at Brighton is ranked 8th in the UK and in the top 40 globally by the QS World University Rankings 2019.

Course content

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.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, 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 our applicant portal.

Grand Parade building

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 City 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 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.
Humanities lecture

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, Olso 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.

LizzieFinn

Careers

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.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course if you wish to begin studying with us in 2020. They should be used as a general guide. 

Degree and 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).

English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. Find out more about the other English qualifications that we accept.

International students whose language skills do not match the IELTS scores set out here should consider applying for this course through the Extended Masters programme at the university's Language Institute.

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

International requirements and visas

International requirements by country
Country name
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 degree preparation courses.

Visas and immigration advice

Applying for a student visa

Check out our step-by-step guidance.

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.

Humanities student

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 or 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.

Creative media work

Fees

Course fees

UK/EU (full-time) 7,488 GBP

International (full-time) 15,156 GBP

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.

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. 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. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included, whilst studying a course in the School of Art are listed here.

  • For most courses you will need to budget for the cost of specialist materials, equipment and printing and are likely to spend between £50–£300 per year.
  • Costs in your final year of study are very likely to be higher than in earlier years as you bring together your final body of work and portfolio, and you may need to budget between £200 and £1,000.
  • For some courses you may also need to budget up to £100 for specialist personal protective clothing which, with care, will last for the whole of your course and beyond.
  • For most courses you will have the opportunity to attend field trips and off-site visits, for example to galleries, exhibitions and studios both in the UK and overseas. These are optional and are not required to pass your course. The amount spent would be based on location and number of trips taken, and typically range between £100 and £700 across the duration of your course.
  • You will have access to computers and necessary software at City campus and at other locations across the university. However, many students choose to buy their own hardware – usually a laptop, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
  • Course books and a wide range of magazines and journals are available in the university libraries. You do not need to have your own copies, but if you wish to, you should budget up to £200 over your course to buy them.
  • For courses in which there is an optional placement year, you will need to budget for living costs (rent, food, travel etc) in that city/country, as if you were on site at the university.

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2020–21.

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.

You can find out more about our fees in 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-time 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.

Location

Local area

About Brighton

The University of Brighton is at the heart of our city’s reputation as a welcoming, forward-thinking place which leads the way when it comes to the arts, music, sustainability and creative technology. Brighton is home to a thriving creative community and a digital sector worth £1bn a year. Many of the work-based learning opportunities offered on our courses such as placements, live briefs and guest lectures are provided by businesses and organisations based in the city.

We provide support and venues for key events in the city’s arts calendar including the Brighton Festival, the Festival Fringe, the Great Escape, the Brighton Digital Festival, Brighton Photo Biennial and the CineCity Brighton Film Festival. Other annual highlights include Pride, the Brighton Marathon, and Burning the Clocks which marks the winter solstice. Our own Brighton Graduate Show transforms our campus into the largest exhibition space in the South East as we celebrate the outstanding talent and creativity of our students.

As a student you’ll get lots of opportunities to experience these events at first hand and to develop your skills through the volunteering and other opportunities they offer.

You'll find living in Brighton enriches your learning experience and by the end of your course you will still be finding new things to explore and inspire you.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and less than 40 minutes to Eastbourne. There are also daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Map showing distance to London from Brighton
Brighton Beach sunset

Campus where this course is taught

City campus

Located in central Brighton, this campus is home to 3D design and craft, fine art, graphic design and illustration, digital music, digital media design, fashion and textiles, history of art and design, humanities, media, photography and film.

The facilities for making and designing, the theatre, galleries, workshops, studios, archives and the independent arts organisations based on site provide a unique and inspiring environment where creativity thrives.

St Peter’s House library and Phoenix halls of residence are close to the exhibition and learning facilities in the Grand Parade main building where you will also find the student centre with careers, counselling, student advice service and disability and dyslexia support. Edward Street provides extensive teaching and gallery space for media, photography and film.

Also on site are Photoworks, Screen Archive South East and University of Brighton Design Archives. Leading visual arts agency Photoworks runs the Brighton Photo Biennial and a national programme which frequently features the work of our graduates, staff and students. Screen Archive South East holds a wealth of material capturing life, work and creativity from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Our Design Archives received the Sir Misha Black Award for Innovation in Design Education in recognition of our contribution to design history scholarship and the quality of primary materials about British design held in the archive.

The Brighton Pavilion, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, the iconic pier and beach are a very short walk away. The independent shops and businesses of the North Laine and Kemptown, and Brighton main line station, with frequent express services to London, are 10 minutes walk.

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Grand Parade exhibition space

Accommodation

Brighton: City campus

All eligible students applying for 2020 are guaranteed an offer of university halls of residence.

Halls of residence
We have halls of residence across Brighton in the city centre, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

  • You'll be prioritised for accommodation in the halls that are linked to your teaching base, subject to availability.
  • City campus is linked to Phoenix halls.
    • Phoenix halls are all self-catered. The halls are a short walk from City campus in the centre of Brighton. Public transport in the city is excellent, and there's a shuttle bus between our Brighton campuses during term time.

Want to live independently or in a university-managed house? We can help – find out more about unihomes and unilets or private renting.

Phoenix Brewery Halls Accommodation

Accommodation for City campus is in the nearby Phoenix Halls

Student kitchen in Phoenix Halls

Student kitchen in Phoenix Halls

Relaxing in nearby Pavilion Gardens

Relaxing in nearby Pavilion Gardens

Maps

City campus map

Stay in touch

Book your open day place

Ask a question about this course

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644

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