B.A. Illustration

Drawing is your passion; you think in images. Our Berlin-based B.A. Illustration program will teach you to visualize messages and draft blueprints while developing your personal style. Learn to apply your drawing skills in a professional context.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Visuals serve as the central communication medium in our B.A. Illustration program where you’ll learn to tell stories through drawing and to convey messages through imagery. Develop an understanding of the interplay between image and text. Learn methods and techniques of research, conception, and visual implementation. Informed by storytelling principles, you’ll develop your own designs for a variety of illustration projects including graphic novels and children's books.

Manual printing techniques such as silkscreen, risograph, and etching make up the curriculum along with digital applications and software, typography, editorial design, and editorial illustration. Learn to transport your illustrations to three-dimensional spaces and make them interact with their environment. Help shape tomorrow’s design solutions today.

Our program encourages you to work with professional clients on real assignments. Find yourself visiting illustration and animation studios on a regular basis for a chance to experience firsthand what it's like to work in the creative industries.

1. Semester

30 ECTS

• Design Basics I
• Design Basics II
• Design Basics III
• Design / Communication Sciences
• Media Lab
• Elective

2. Semester

30 ECTS

• Illustration Basics I
• Illustration Basics II
• Illustration Basics III
• Design / Media Sciences
• Character Design
• Elective

3. Semester

30 ECTS

• Animation I
• Animation II
• Visual Essay
• Artistic Research I
• Concept Art
• Elective

4. Semester

30 ECTS

• Narrative Illustration I
• Narrative Illustration II
• Narrative Illustration III
• SRH Lab
• Editorial Design I
• Elective

5. Semester

Mobility Phase 30 ECTS

• Internship in Germany or abroad
• Independent illustration project

6. Semester

30 ECTS

• Editorial Illustration I
• Editorial Illustration II
• Research Colloquium
• Artistic Research II
• Practical project / Project-oriented work
• Elective

7. Semester

30 ECTS

• Portfolio I
• Portfolio II
• Entrepreneurship + Media Law
• Writing Workshop / Colloquium
• Bachelor's Thesis

Our innovative approach that pays off

As an illustrator, you can work for all kinds of media companies. Start your own business and offer professional services to cultural and scientific institutions, advertising agencies, and publishing houses. In addition, your job profile can include editorial, advisory, and coordinating activities.

Illustrate digital and interactive media, print, websites, 3D animations, cartoons and motion pictures, computer games. Create special effects and character designs.

You’ll possess the know-how to craft elaborate narratives for literary works and design children's books, non-fiction, and graphic novels for publishing houses.

Our internationally accredited Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree serves as a professional foundation for immediate employment. In addition, the internationally acclaimed Bachelor of Arts degree entitles you to pursue numerous postgraduate and master's degree programs in Germany and beyond.