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Class in the Spotlight
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Illustration emphasizes creativity, diversity
 Photo by Charlie Ribbens Illustration professor Don Rogers (left) discusses techniques with students in Morris Hall. According to chair Allan Drummond, faculty members’ diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise are one of the department’s strengths. By Monique Bos Published: Friday, December 30, 2005 The illustration department at the Savannah College of Art and Design offers an education that prepares students to be valuable assets to employers and also equips them to fulfill their personal artistic aims, said department chair Allan Drummond. “Although their primary goal might be to become a published and full-time freelance illustrator, the reality of that is extremely tough,” explained Drummond, who has written and illustrated a number of children’s books. “I think one of the most interesting things about illustration is that it attracts very creative students who may not necessarily end up as illustrators, but who, through the classes we offer, can end up in graphic design, art direction at magazines and newspapers, storyboarding, publishing or book editing.” Faculty members encourage students to develop portfolios that not only display their illustration skills but also show the context of their work, Drummond said. For example, students may incorporate typography into their images, include magazine or newspaper articles that the work illustrates, or create dummy books. “Their final portfolios are not just a collection of images but are designed to encourage the viewer to see the potential of the illustrator in the whole spectrum of design and advertising jobs,” he explained. “An illustration student is well worth interviewing and often is exactly the right candidate for a creative job.” Students also receive an international perspective of illustration from Drummond, who comes from England, and fellow professor Mohamed Danawi. Both “are passionate about children’s book illustration, and we both have a European/international perspective of illustration,” Drummond said. “Students need to be aware of the European approach, which is often quite minimal, sophisticated, idea-driven.” At the same time, students receive training in the history, development and cultural context of American illustration. “American illustration has an amazing tradition of technical prowess, which is its strength, and we cater to that extremely well,” Drummond said. It “has had to jostle with powerful graphic images of America, such as Coca-Cola, and strong branded magazines like The New Yorker. But students nowadays are aware of what is going on in Japan or Europe, and they want to know and understand how that work comes about.” He added, “The strength of the department is that we do have a really good variety of faculty.” The illustration program also boasts an active student organization. “The student body has a very strong club called the Society of Illustrators, which over the past year has produced several prize-winning students,” Drummond said. “The club organizes its own competitions at least twice a year, and the exhibitions that follow this are very well-attended and exciting events.” Most recently, the Society for Illustrators sponsored the juried exhibition “Midnight in the Gallery of Good and Evil,” which showed in Savannah during November. Alumni are finding success, both in the business world and as freelance illustrators. “Nearly every week we hear of alumni securing great jobs and commissions all over the United States,” Drummond said. “Robbi Behr [Master of Fine Arts alumna] recently went to New York with her portfolio and immediately secured a commission from the New York Times, and [Bachelor of Fine Arts] Britt Spencer is working on a full-length picture book about Benjamin Franklin for Penguin Books.” Another Master of Arts alumnus, Karim Aldahdah, who graduated in 2005, is working as an assistant art director at Publications International in Chicago, the third largest children’s publisher in the United States. Drummond hopes to continue building on the program’s international scope and diverse offerings. He said he “is keen to get British and European illustrators to visit Savannah and Atlanta.” Last March, four illustrators connected with the Cambridge School of Art — Katherine Manolessou, Paula Metcalf, Martin Salisbury and Jane Juman — spoke with students at the Lucas Theatre and led drawing excursions in Savannah. Illustration department faculty also are involved in creating a new Master of Arts program, unveiled this fall, called illustration design. The curriculum combines graphic design and illustration courses “in the hope that students will graduate with a proficiency in both areas,” Drummond said. The physical proximity of the departments — illustration in Morris Hall, 2 and 4 E. Jones St., and graphic design next door in Poetter Hall, 342 Bull St. — allows the kind of collaboration and interchange of ideas necessary to programs such as illustration design. That’s not the only thing Drummond said he likes about his department’s home, however. “We are a close-knit team and embark on projects together,” he said. “I think this is helped by working in a fantastic building like Morris Hall.”  |
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