Comics and Graphic Novels (with Foundation Year)

Kirsty Stebbings, BA (Hons) Comics and Graphic Novels

Kirsty talks about her experience of studying comics and graphic novels at Teesside.

You are introduced to the contexts of creative and design history, investigating problem solving and themes to inform your current studio practice. You research and learn to analyse ideas about past British and international styles, design and theory. This develops your understanding of the role of the designer, the meanings and vocabulary of space and design, and the relationship between design, society and the environment. You develop skills in research, analysis, communication and critical thinking, and produce and present interpretations of historical material.

This module aims to guide you through the production of a small-scale individual project defined in part by you, with guidance from the tutor. The final project aims to develop an individual working approach and good project management. You will develop original ideas and concepts for an appropriate project in your chosen field of study. These may take the form of a short story, artefact, report, campaign, comic, concept art or other appropriate form related to the arts and media industries.

You take part in a range of specialist studio activities. You investigate, experiment and explore pathways in fashion, textiles, graphics, interiors and product design. You study creative processes and develop independent project skills to help identify the specialist subject which best suits your interests and abilities.

You explore learning skills for undergraduate study at University, providing you with a range of learning material and practical sessions. You develop your professional skills including teamwork, researching a topic, report writing and delivering presentations, as well as time management and learning practice.
You learn by a combination of lectures, e-learning material and support.

You are introduced to the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) at Teesside University, exploring e-learning material and reading lists, and student support and learning resources.

Your assessment is a portfolio based on set tasks, including research into set problems.

You are introduced to a range of fundamental drawing approaches for a variety of purposes. Practical workshops include measured drawing, scale, composition and perspective as well as creatively using colour, materials and expressive mark making. These experiences increase your observational skills that help you visualise and realise ideas for potential design projects.

You further develop and deepen your knowledge gained from the induction programmes, enhancing your skills in model construction, prototyping, printmaking, and production analysis. You gain greater insight into the complexities of model construction and printmaking by working in detail with various materials, developing techniques and creative skills. This module is project-based – you transfer your knowledge from lectures to hands-on demonstrations in a workshop environment. You primarily learn through producing models and prints from drawings.

You explore the richness and diversity of the comic medium, and through discussion of its most significant works and creators, recognise how your own creative practise can be developed further.

You think critically, expand your understanding of what comics are and can do, and recognise new examples of the form to inspire, influence and educate your own practice.
Your assessment is 100% ICA

This module develops your visual perception and drawing skills – these are essential for a productive artist to communicate ideas effectively, swiftly and efficiently.

You are guided through a range of drawing exercises including figure drawing, environment drawing, and still life, enabling you to work through a variety of approaches to drawing. These exercises develop your observational and imaginative drawing abilities, and build on your artistic skills and range of techniques, using traditional tools.

You explore a range of method and techniques to generate and develop creative ideas.

You carry out a range of challenging tasks to encourage and develop an effective working practice. The unique challenges faced by comic book creators will be identified and explored in terms of the visual image and the written word.

You generate original ideas and develop skills in the areas of narrative development, thumbnailing, iteration and rewriting.

The skills you acquire in this module will be developed and expanded in the subsequent modules and will underpin future learning.

Your assessment is a portfolio of work created in response to a provided brief.

Narrative and Storytelling provides you with the opportunity to learn a range of approaches to the creative development and writing of a script.
You explore the structural dimensions of your work including aspects such as three act plotting, character arcs and story sequencing and utilises professional techniques derived from established practice in the creative media industries.
Your assessment is 100% ICA.

You are introduced to the fundamental design, communication and narrative skills to create a story in comic form.

You examine the forms and methods established by some of the most significant creators in the medium; through experimenting and workshopping with these methods; and through developing your understanding of their mechanisms.

You explore the unique visual language of comic books; how it has evolved and how it is read. You look at the effects of panel and page design, of techniques including thumbnailing and composition, and how different cultures have produced different ways of telling stories within comics.

Your assessment is 100% ICA.

We live in a visual culture. This modules explores how we see and take meaning from images across a range of media platforms including television, cinema, the press and the visual arts.

You investigate established comic creators and understand their unique motivations and practice. You explore the different creative approaches comic book creators have used to engage with theme and meaning in key canonical pieces of work to develop a more distinctive and informed creative approach.

You analyse and evaluate the work of key comic book creators within a social, historical and cultural context, before applying this learning to a practice based research project.
Your assessment is 100% ICA, through a portfolio of work and a critical reflection.

You bring your visual and narrative practise to a new level of professional and creative skill. Through practice, you explore new ways of creating and using images for narrative, including: interpreting written descriptions as images, drawing as a non-verbal form of communication and experimenting with comics’ unique interplay of words and images.

You practically explore the relationship between writing, design and drawing in your work. Through critical review of the tools and techniques used by the medium’s most significant creators, you develop your understanding of the power of the comic medium to tell stories in a variety of ways.

You explore capturing action, emotion, drama and movement; look at representation, documentation and communication, and the unique use of time in sequential art. You experiment with ways of converting text into images, and translating dramatic tension, atmosphere and pacing into the design, text and visuals of your comic.

Your assessment is 100% ICA.

The module is designed to develop further skills in drawing and to develop methods of applying drawing in more specific situations. The main focus is communicating emotional responses through the artwork. It will encourage you to start developing your own style, and to progress your narrative storytelling in an image.

Life drawing will form a key part of the module, encouraging you to think about showing personality through posing and developing an understanding of characterisation, exaggeration and the use of shape language in developing characters and environments.

You collaboratively initiate and develop an original and self-directed project. You work together with your fellow students to secure a space such as a local gallery, commercial space, community centre to organise and execute an exhibition of new work; or to create, fund, design and publish an anthology of new professional work. You develop your portfolio of professional networks and skills, including project management, group working skills, promotion, as well as learning networking and presentation skills. You also work collaboratively online and to plan, create, execute and promote the artefact or exhibition. You are assessed by a group project and reflective log.

You pitch for a professional comic, graphic novel or other narrative art creation. You gain experience of portfolio construction, presentation and pitching to develop and mature your individual creative voice.
Emulating current comic and publishing industry standards, you demonstrate your individual creative take on a set brief, showing how you would explore and develop a character or situation into a visually and narratively developed world.

You explore your career goals and undertake primary research into the historical and contemporary creators, publishers and movements relevant to your ambitions, resulting in the creation of a career development plan.

Your assessment is 100% ICA.

You have the option to spend one year in industry learning and developing your skills. We encourage and support you with applying for a placement, job hunting and networking.

You gain experience favoured by graduate recruiters and develop your technical skillset. You also obtain the transferable skills required in any professional environment, including communication, negotiation, teamwork, leadership, organisation, confidence, self-reliance, problem-solving, being able to work under pressure, and commercial awareness.

Many employers view a placement as a year-long interview, therefore placements are increasingly becoming an essential part of an organisation's pre-selection strategy in their graduate recruitment process. Benefits include:

· improved job prospects
· enhanced employment skills and improved career progression opportunities
· a higher starting salary than your full-time counterparts
· a better degree classification
· a richer CV
· a year's salary before completing your degree
· experience of workplace culture
· the opportunity to design and base your final-year project within a working environment.

If you are unable to secure a work placement with an employer, then you simply continue on a course without the work placement.

You demonstrate your learning and showcase your storytelling style or ‘visual voice’.

You work individually on a large-scale, negotiated, self-directed project guided by your own creative instincts under the supervision of academic staff, alongside working collaboratively to display or publish your work as a collective.

You develop a sense of work discipline coupled with a professional outlook, take responsibility for the planning and execution of your extended piece of work, including the consideration of associated legal, social, ethical and professional issues.

You explore your negotiated project area, and demonstrate the ability to analyse, synthesise, and creatively apply what you have studied on the alongside demonstrating critical and evaluative skills and professional awareness.
You produce a substantial artefact related to the field of comics, graphic novel and sequential art and document your research and development process and a viva consisting of the presentation, demonstration and discussion of the artefact.

Your assessment is 100% ICA.

You draw on the techniques and theories previously explored and develop your own personal style of storytelling and your own approach to work. You build and present a professional portfolio that reflects your style.

You explore the different routes into the contemporary comic industry by responding to mock industry briefs, as well as one real commission or competition entry.

You explore how to identify opportunities; how to present and promote yourself professionally; how and when to use portfolios; the practice pitching to publishers; and current professional practice in networking and promotion through conventions, festivals and the internet.

You gain an overview of the business and legal information relevant to professional creative career. You analyse career opportunities, job specifications and potential employers related to your specialist areas of interest.

You gain greater confidence and independence in your professional portfolio of work and your future career planning.
Your assessment is 100% ICA.

You explore the professional comics world in a wider context, and the myriad opportunities that the current transmedia industry presents to work in innovative creative forms.

You engage with new technologies and approaches to audiences to create work that develops a flexible, adaptable creative style to promote, publicise and deepen a creative approach to your work.

Your assessment is 100% ICA.