Savannah College of Art and Design has BA, BFA, MA, and MFA degree options for students who would like to study Illustration. All programs provide the opportunity to declare a Minor and/or take courses in other disciplines such as Visual Effects, Interactive Design, Architecture, Animation, Graphic Design, and Game Development. Minor examples include Animated Illustration and Publication Design, Storyboarding, Illustration for Surface Design, Advertising and Branding, Scientific Illustration, and Illustration for Entertainment.
For Illustrators who would like to add Publishing and Design to their skill set, SCAD has an undergraduate Digital Publishing Certificate that consists of 30 credit hours. The Program explores Graphic Design, Interactive Design and Web Design, Print Production and Digital Environments, and Media Management. Students in this program may focus in Pre-Press or Web Publishing. For further specialization, Digital Publishing students have the opportunity to complete both the Web Design and Production Design courses.
Degree-seeking students at SCAD have the following degree options: the Visual Communication BA with an Illustration Concentration available at the Atlanta and Savannah campuses; the BFA in Illustration (Atlanta, Hong Kong, Savannah); an Illustration MA (Atlanta, Savannah, eLearning); and the Illustration MFA Program (Atlanta, Savannah, eLearning).
All BA and BFA students will complete the SCAD Core before entering the Major. Consisting of general education coursework and foundation studies, the SCAD Core includes courses such as Digital Communication, Color: Theory and Application, Drawing I/II (Form and Space/ Composition and Media), Design I/II/III (Elements and Organization/3-D Form in Space/Time), Speaking of Ideas, Applied Physics, Visual Culture in Context: Making Modernites, Creative Thinking Theories and Processes, Psychology of Group Processes, and The Geometry of Physical Space.
Course examples across programs include Illustrating Beyond the Page: The Narrative Experience, Digital Illustration, Speaking of Ideas, Creative Concepting for World Building, Book Illustration, Illustrating Beyond the Page: The Narrative Experience, Materials and Techniques, Animated Illustration, Illustration Business Strategies and Entrepreneurship, Advertising Illustration, Contextual Character Design, and Editorial Illustration.
The SCAD Illustration BFA has four Concentration options including Animated Illustration and Publication Design; Concept Design for Animation and Games; Illustration for Entertainment; and Illustration for Surface Design. This professional degree program includes 10 hours of free electives and advanced courses such as Illustration Business Strategies and Entrepreneurship, Career Strategies for Illustration, and Professional Portfolio for Illustrators.
Both programs require 180 credit hours to graduate, including 20 credit hours of free electives for the BA Program. Students in both pathways may participate in the SCAD internship program.
The Illustration MA at Savannah College of Art and Design features a Graduate Internship, Directed Projects in Illustration, and the Illustration Final MA Project. The program requires 45 credit hours to graduate. The SCAD Illustration MFA consists of 90 credit hours and features two Graduate Internships, Directed Projects in Illustration, Advanced Studio Techniques, Illustration for Publications, Professional Practices in Illustration, and Illustration Markets. Students in this terminal degree program may develop additional skills in a specific area through the program’s four required electives at the 500 to 700 level.
All SCAD students may spend a quarter abroad at SCAD Lacoste or other study abroad locations. Other SCAD features include access to studio classrooms, state-of-the-art labs, production studios, drawing rooms, cutting tables, and Adobe Creative Cloud; creative collaborations between departments and with global brands; master classes; participation competitions and exhibits; visiting artists and speakers; panel discussions; and the annual Sidewalk Arts Festival.
Graduates of the Illustration Programs at Savannah College of Art and Design have been recruited by a variety of brands, studios, publications, and companies. Examples include A&E, The New York Times, Converse, Walt Disney Imagineering, Comedy Central, ImagineFX, Bento Box Entertainment, Game Informer, and Revolver Studios.
Providing more than 100 degree programs and over 75 minor options and certificates, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) has more programs and specializations than any other art and design college in the U.S. Founded in 1978, the school opened in 1979 with just 71 students, one classroom, and an administration building. Today, SCAD serves more than 15,000 students across campuses in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, and Lacoste, France. Savannah College of Art and Design is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).