Task

"This unit provides you with the opportunity to select from a range of briefs so that
you can focus on those aspects of illustration that you feel are important for your
self-development. You can either source a live brief or competition (this could
involve submitting editorial imagery to magazines, producing artwork/products for
exhibition or entering an international student design competition) or create a
project based on your own interests and themes. Such self-directed projects are
referred to as Authorial illustration and offer the Artist the opportunity to pursue
their own interests and enthusiasms through their practice.

There are options to take on more that one brief during this unit, and decisions
about which you should choose should be negotiated with your tutors through a
learning agreement. What ever you decide to tackle must relate to your career
aspirations.

If you select a competition brief you are encouraged to produce work around a
subject that interests you. You could even use a competition brief as a catalyst
for an authorial project.

Authorial projects often blur the boundaries between personal and commissioned
work. They have become an increasingly important area for illustrators in terms
of research, development and as a means of marketing work to a wider
audience; opening up new contexts for illustration. Proactive designer/illustrators
are constantly reinventing themselves through exciting self-initiated projects.

Students can choose to work as part of a collective for this unit, but must be
specific about their role within the group, their working practices, research and
outcomes, and express this in their own individual learning agreement."