Bachelor of Illustration

Our underlying philosophy is Experience and Encounter, inviting students to deeply investigate the interplay of image-making, design thinking, and social engagement.

Illustration fuses personal vision and rigorous professional practice to help students build the responsive skill set required to flourish in a variety of creative markets. Powerful imagemakers and skilled visual storytellers, illustrators create work for a highly diverse marketplace including animated films, computer gaming, picture book and comics publishing, visual journalism, surface design, apparel and fashion, and product design.

Our program combines development of technical skill in traditional studio media and new and emerging technologies with conceptual inquiry to empower you to create visual messages capable of engaging clients and changing culture.

Above all, you will use these skills to generate powerful, culturally relevant ideas; create never-before-seen worlds and characters; and craft new narratives—all communicated in your uniquely dynamic and distinct visual language.

PNCA is the only art and design college located in one of the most progressive cities in the United States. For all of its one hundred-plus years, PNCA has nurtured the talent in its students for radically reimagining everything, transforming the lives of our students and everyone they touch. Our studios and galleries continue to give rise to a vibrant community of innovators and culture-makers who shape the cultural landscape.

At the creative heart of Portland, PNCA is a center for communities of artists, designers, and scholars, presenting more free public programs and exhibitions in a given year than any other arts institution in the city.