Illustration at School of Visual Arts

About

Overview Graduates of the Illustration program from School of Visual Arts continue to change the way we see the world, and it is everywhere: at your local newsstand, on your TV, in your local library, at the comic convention, on the back of your t-shirt, on your smartphone, and yes, even that design inked on your bicep. It is all illustration, and it all tells a story. SVA is proud to produce some of the greatest image-makers on the planet!More About the DepartmentA clever style was once thought to be the calling card for the professional illustrator. But in an age where images and artworks abound, visual artists must do more than deliver slick gimmicks—they must develop a real sensibility and create work that transcends trends. We not only inspire and encourage a student’s imagination, but also teach the art of interpretation: the ability to carefully read and cross-reference texts, research visual styles, and conceptualize and produce significant bodies of work.With our junior thesis and senior portfolio curriculum, our students develop sophisticated and complete oeuvres, unlike the “patch-work portfolios” produced by many other art schools, which consist of students’ scattered responses to a variety of assignments, and don’t especially reveal their true personalities.Maybe it’s our commitment to unleashing those personalities that accounts for our student’s success in the illustration world—and why our students have landed, while they’ve been students, significant assignments for The New Yorker, The New York Press, Mad Magazine and The Village Voice.Not a big surprise when you consider that our instructors tend to make their own waves. Whether it’s Stephen Savage, illustrator of The New York Times bestseller Polar Bear Night; or Jonathon Rosen, whose talents were evident to millions in Tim Burton’s and Johnny Depp’s blockbuster film Sleepy Hollow; whether it’s the faculty who’ve created award-winning magazines, book covers, posters, CD packages, opera sets, product designs, toys, US postage stamps, wallpaper for Prada décor, Van’s footwear, ad campaigns, book bags, lighters, compasses and t-shirts—we’re positioned to connect our students to the most lucrative illustration opportunities in the industry. I want to find another Bachelor Course

At the Illustration program from School of Visual Arts, they believe that an illustrator’s career can be as limitless as his or her imagination. We always encourage ambitious thinking—the innovator, not the imitator.