An investigation into the alignment of illustration in higher education practices and the visual communications industry

Abstract

University graduates entering the graphic design, advertising and publishing industries do so with the hand and digital illustration knowledge and skills that they acquired during their time of study. As a result of the ever-changing developments in technology, the parameters of hand-generated illustration within the visual communications industry have increasingly progressed toward digitally generated artwork. This thesis investigates the alignment or nonalignment between illustration teaching and learning practices in higher education and professional practice in the visual communications industry, with a view to identifying the gaps, and their causes, in the knowledge and skills of graduates entering the workplace. The study uses the lens of Activity Theory (Enqestrorn, 1987) to investigate practices in higher education and industry sites. Both the higher education and workplace investigation was guided by the research questions: 1) What comprises an activity system in the training of illustrators in higher education? 2) What comprises an activity system in professional illustrators' practice? and 3) How can the higher education and professional activity systems be aligned for their mutual benefit? The comparative study uses both quantitative questionnaire data and qualitative data derived from interviews conducted in both higher education and workplace sites, including the analysis of samples of illustration at both sites. The research reveals areas where there is both alignment and non-alignment and recommendations are made with a view to ensuring that illustration programmes in higher education are aligned as closely as possible to the needs of the workplace. The contribution made by this research is both theoretical and practical. The theoretical knowledge framework that has been developed outlines academics' and practitioners' of illustration theorising of current trends in both hand and digital illustration curricula in higher education and current trends and needs of digital and hand illustration in the visual communication industry. In broad terms, there is alignment with regard to technical skills and the tools used across both sites, while there is non-alignment with regard to knowledge of and preparation for the workplace and self employment, for example, time management, interpersonal skills and the acceptance of critique. The practical contribution is in the form of recommendations to curricula, which when applied should better prepare graduates with the practical and skills required of illustrators in the unpredictable, demanding world of work, which they encounter on leaving their academic institutions.