The New England School of Art and Design (NESAD) at Suffolk has decided to join other art schools in Boston by offering a new illustration major.
“We created our major in response to a demand for people wanting to study illustration,” says Nichole Vatcher, assistant director of academic and instructional services at NESAD.
The major, scheduled to start this fall, is an approved 124-credit Bachelor of Fine Arts program, and it will receive full accreditation once NESAD has graduated someone from the program.
Vatcher stated that the curriculum for the major will be rolled out according to the grade level of incoming freshmen. This means that junior level classes for the program will not be offered until those freshmen are juniors.
“The bottom line is, anyone wanting an illustration major is welcome to do so, but they won’t be able to graduate from the program until spring of 2015,” she said. But she doesn’t want this to discourage anybody who is interested in a change of major, saying that she would be more than happy to assist any student who wishes to go over the possibility.
The illustration major covers the basics of design, and then putting that knowledge to practice for occupational success. Those studying illustration at NESAD may continue after school to become graphic novelists, animators or children’s book authors; these being only three among many other opportunities.
“Mainly it’s for students who are thinking about graphic design, thinking about fine arts, and not finding a good fit in either one of those programs,” says Vatcher. “Illustration is kind of the middle ground between those two fields because it incorporates design and more traditional studio practices.”
Vatcher highlighted that, apart from other forms of art, illustration is about using visuals as narratives rather than visuals as a statement about your ideas, as in fine arts. She believes this allows students to assimilate their art work into the business world.
“For illustration, it’s definitely for someone who still wants to remain artistic and independent with their artistry, but also who wants to get a gig somewhere and then makes some money at the end of the day,” she said.
The major will progress much like most of the art majors at NESAD. Vatcher said that after the basics are covered, students will begin to take more intricate Illustration classes. Students will begin by learning to do everything by hand, and will then move on to computers.
“The program will include a lot of the fine art department’s figure drawing classes,” she said. “Some extra painting classes will be required for Illustration majors, as well as some graphic design typography course work, like hand-lettering type and things like that.”
Daniela Wong-Chiulli, a Suffolk alumnus and current graphic design professor at NESAD, will be one of the illustrators teaching the classes required for the new major. Vatcher said it is required of the staff to be illustrators themselves. She is excited to pull from Boston’s wide range of professionals to teach various electives and the courses related to business.
Vatcher foresees a high degree of interest in the program for the coming year. She does recruiting for her department at NESAD, and gained early insight by asking students what their interest would be in an Illustration major. She said they already have a pile of applications for next year’s incoming freshman, and that current students have been buzzing about a switch.
“We’re finding a lot of students feel it’s really exciting to be part of our inaugural class of Illustration majors,” said Vatcher. “We’ve been selling it and doing a good job so we’ll see what numbers come out in the fall, but we’re very optimistic that it will be successful.”
