If you're the kind of person who...

  • Brings fictional characters to life on the page
  • Makes prize-worthy doodles in the margins of your notebook
  • Wants to make a career out of bringing stories to life through hand-drawn imagery

Then Illustration might be the Moore major for you.

WHY CHOOSE ILLUSTRATION AT MOORE?

  • CUSTOMIZED: Our unique curriculum can be tailored to your interests—whether you dream of becoming a widely read graphic novelist or developing visually impactful illustrations for children’s books, scientific journals, or newsstand magazines.
  • ACCESS: Your $1,000 paid internship between junior and senior years will give you on-the-job experience and introduce you to working professionals who will be crucial to your success. Plus, your industry heroes might become your future mentors, thanks to field trips to comic cons and classroom talks with well-known working illustrators.
  • CREDENTIALS: You’ll gain important industry experience working in analog and digital formats, with state-of-the-art equipment that the pros use.

KICKSTART YOUR CAREER WITH A PAID INTERNSHIP

100% of Moore Illustration students receive a paid internship between junior and senior years, and get real-world experience working with companies and organizations like:

Anthropologie logo

Anthropologie

Night Kitchen Interactive logo

Night Kitchen Interactive

Super Signs logo

Super Signs

Torpedo Factory Arts Center logo

Torpedo Factory Arts Center

LAND YOUR DREAM JOB

Illustration alumni have landed jobs at companies and organizations like…

Carter's logo

Carter’s

Dynamite Entertainment logo

Dynamite Entertainment

Kangaru Toys & Stationery logo

Kangaru Toys & Stationery

Mock5Design logo

Mock5Design

Nickelodeon logo

Nickelodeon

Philadelphia Zoo logo

Philadelphia Zoo

Quad logo

Quad

Studio Yotta logo

Studio Yotta

IN OUR OWN WORDS

Romeo Montero ’24

I came to Moore because I adored the intimate environment and felt that I would receive the care and attention my education deserved. This turned out to be true, as many of my professors have become mentors and huge influences on the trajectory of my work. They pushed me to hone in on my creative vision and helped me feel more confident and assured in my work.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR EXPANSIVE ILLUSTRATION FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

A student working in the computer labs.

COMPUTER LABS

Everything you need for digital work: Mac Studios and PCs, Wacom Cintiq interactive displays, laser and inkjet printers, huge 98” inch screens for viewing work, and large-format scanners for documents up to 18”x24” in size

Printer with a black and white print.

PRINT CENTER

For wide-format work, including multiple 44”-wide photo-quality inkjet printers

Laser cutter cutting shapes out of wood.

FABLAB

Your future favorite place on campus, featuring a laser cutter/engraver, 3D scanners/printers, CNC Router, ceramics decal printer and a digital embroidery machine

Moore's illustration studios with artwork hung up.

ILLUSTRATION STUDIOS

Your home away from home as you prepare work for your senior thesis and other assignments! Enjoy dedicated space to work, in the company of friends and peers.

An illustration student working on a Wacom tablet.

EDITING BAYS

Soundproofed studios with the equipment you need to focus on your work in a quiet environment.

MEET YOUR MAJOR

Watch our Meet Your Major: Illustration video to take a deeper dive into everything this program has to offer!

NETWORK WITH THE PROS

You’ll also meet guest critics and speakers—illustration superstars who started out just like you—at special department events. Here’s a glimpse of some of our recent visitors:

Loish

LOIS VAN BAARLE, AKA LOISH

Loish is a digital artist, concept artist and animator based in the Netherlands, who has done character designs for LEGO, Guerrilla Games, Amazon, EA, Coca-Cola, and more, and who shares knowledge through workshops, lectures and art books, including The Art of Loish

Dan Yaccarino

DAN YACCARINO

In addition to selling over 2.5 million children’s books, Yaccarino is the creator and producer of several award-winning animated series based on his books, including Doug Unplugs (AppleTV), Oswald (Nickelodeon) and Willa's Wild Life (NBC and Qubo), and the character designer behind The Backyardigans (Nickelodeon).

Roz Chast

ROZ CHAST

Internationally renowned for her New Yorker cartoons, Chast was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2019, and has written and illustrated several books, including Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Click the plus buttons below to get an overview of each year’s core curriculum, and also choose from a variety of exciting electives like:

  • Sequential Illustration & Animation: convey a story line and create a basic 2D animation
  • Portrait & Caricature: create portraits of the human face in realistic and exaggerated methods
  • Licensing Art for Retail Products: develop market-ready artwork, typography and patterns
  • Illustration for Children: explore layout, storyboarding and art related to children’s interests
  • Sequential Illustration & Personal Narrative: illustrate a multi-page comic that addresses an issue or experience important to you

An illustration student drawing on a Wacom tablet.

Illustration Core Curriculum

Year 1 is your Foundation year! You’ll get a head start with your bridge-to-major class

  • 2D Design
  • 3D Design
  • Foundation Drawing I
  • Drawing for Visual Communication OR Creative Design
  • Visual Thinking
  • Color Theory
  • Introduction to Illustration
  • Writing Workshop I & II
  • Art History I & II

Immerse yourself in your major in Year 2. Classes like Life Drawing Form, Pictorial Fundamentals and Digital Image Making will give you foundational skills for future work.

  • Life Drawing Structures
  • Life Drawing Form
  • Illustration Fundamentals
  • Illustration Practice
  • Pictorial Fundamentals I & II
  • Digital Image Making
  • Modern Art History Course
  • Non-Western Art History
  • Gender, Race, Class & Power

In Year 3, explore your options and start to think about your future through electives and Professional Development, which will prepare you for an exciting $1,000 paid summer internship.

  • Illustration Junior Studio I & II
  • Life Drawing Value
  • Life Drawing Color
  • Typography I
  • Digital Painting for Illustrators
  • Professional Development I
  • Creative & Critical Studies Electives
  • Studio Electives

In Year 4, take your final electives and Senior Studio and Thesis classes, and apply the skills you’ve learned to a final thesis project. Then get ready for your journey to post-graduation success!

  • Senior Studio
  • Senior Thesis
  • Business for Illustration
  • Professional Development II (Internship)
  • Liberal Arts Electives
  • Open Electives 

Take the next steps!

We look forward to meeting you and telling you more about the Illustration BFA program at Moore! Request more info and we'll get back to you soon. If you're ready, apply today!