Program Overview

---

Illustration Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree

Overview

RIT's illustration BFA degree combines traditional drawing, digital imaging technology, and sculpted dimensional methods for effective visual communication.

Why Study Illustration at RIT

• Career in Games: Opportunities to explore your creative interests related to video games and collaborate with developers and fellow artists on game and digital media projects.
• Portfolio Workshop: Participation in the annual Pre-College Portfolio Preparation Workshop.

RIT's Illustration BFA

RIT's illustration major provides an educational environment that supports your creative development and helps you achieve your goals while preparing you for various careers in illustration.

While studying illustration, you will learn conceptual skills, professional practices, and narrative storytelling techniques while developing an individual style. These techniques and styles are then applied to produce illustrations suitable for advertising, publishing, editorial, and the service and gaming/entertainment industries.

Illustration program coursework emphasizes:

• Traditional drawing and painting skills
• The application of the latest digital media
• The use of dimensional media

Illustration Studies: Enhancing your degree with electives

You may select electives that enhance your illustration BFA and allow you to pursue an area of personal or professional interest. Electives are available in:

• Graphic design
• Illustration
• Graphic visualization
• Industrial design
• Interior design
• Fine arts studio
• Environmental design
• Ceramics
• Glass
• Metals
• Textiles
• Woodworking
• Film making
• Photography
• Imaging technology

To be eligible for these electives, you must complete the foundation program or have the permission of the instructor. Additional selections are offered as special topics courses.

Interested in a Career in Game Arts?

We've got you covered. The illustration degree allows you to explore your creative interests related to video games. You'll have endless opportunities to collaborate with developers and fellow artists on game and digital media projects. Illustration alumni have gone on to establish successful careers as game artists. Learn how you can use the illustration degree to launch a career in game arts.

Pre-College Portfolio Preparation Workshop

The School of Art's annual Pre-College Portfolio Preparation Workshop is a two-week visual arts class designed to prepare the portfolios of rising high school juniors and seniors for admission to college art programs. Learn more about the Pre-College Portfolio Preparation Workshop, including information on workshop dates and how to apply.

Furthering Your Education in Illustration

Combined Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Degrees

Today's careers require advanced degrees grounded in real-world experience. RIT's Combined Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Degrees enable you to earn both a bachelor's and a master's degree in as little as five years of study, all while gaining the valuable hands-on experience that comes from co-ops, internships, research, study abroad, and more.

+1 MBA: Students who enroll in a qualifying undergraduate degree have the opportunity to add an MBA to their bachelor's degree after their first year of study, depending on their program. Learn how the +1 MBA can accelerate your learning and position you for success.

Careers and Experiential Learning

Typical Job Titles

• Advertising Illustrator
• Animation Artist
• Architectural Illustrator
• Art Director
• Book Illustrator
• Caricaturist
• Character Designer
• Character Concept Artist
• Comic Artist
• Concept Artist
• Courtroom Artist
• Digital Artist
• Dimensional Illustrator
• Diorama Artist
• E-Learning Illustrator
• Editorial Illustrator
• Educational Design
• Fashion Designer
• Freelance Artist
• Game Assets Illustrator
• Graphic Designer
• Graphic Novel Illustrator
• Illustrative Designer
• Motion Graphics Artist
• Multimedia Illustrator
• New Media Artist
• Political Cartoonist
• Presentation Illustrator
• Production Artist
• Sequential illustrator
• Storyboard Artist
• Technical Illustrator
• Textbook Illustrator
• Theater Set Artist
• Visual Developer

Industries

• Journalism, Media, and Publishing
• Performing and Fine Arts
• Advertising, PR, and Marketing
• Design

Cooperative Education and Internships

What's different about an RIT education? It's the career experience you gain by completing cooperative education and internships with top companies in every single industry. You'll earn more than a degree. You'll gain real-world career experience that sets you apart. It's exposure–early and often–to a variety of professional work environments, career paths, and industries.

In the College of Art and Design, experiential learning includes cooperative education and internships, international experiences, multidisciplinary projects, industry partnerships, and more.

Cooperative education, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities are optional but strongly encouraged for graduate students in the BFA in illustration.

Creative Industry Days

Connect with Design Industry Leaders

RIT's Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education hosts Creative Industry Days, which connects students majoring in art, design, film and animation, photography, and select computing majors with companies, organizations, creative agencies, design firms, and more. Creative Industry Days are a series of events that allow you to network with company representatives and interview directly for open co-op and full-time employment positions.

Featured Work and Profiles

• Game Illustrator

Julie Toich '22 (Illustration) has created illustrations for multiple video games as part of multidisciplinary teams of RIT students.

• Editorial Illustrator

Doug Chayka Renowned freelance illustration Doug Chayka '96 has a client list that includes The Atlantic, Boston Globe, New York Times, New Yorker, Washington Post and many other publications.

• Society of Illustrators: Grace Bloom

Grace Bloom ‘25 (illustration) had a pair of works selected for the Society of Illustrators’ prestigious Student Scholarship Exhibit — a competition that accepted only 186 pieces out of 4,500...

• Society of Illustrators: Kylie Russo

Kylie Russo '26 (illustration) had two pieces created in classes recognized by the Society of Illustrators.

• Creating with Industry Illustrators

RIT's illustration program welcomed Leslie Cober for its annual multi-day Presto! workshop in January 2025. Students worked in teams to make a cohesive illustration series for use on soap boxes. Cober...

• Spot illustration assignment

Remy Wilkins For an assignment in their Illustration II class, Remy Wilkins ’26 (illustration) visually interpreted a scenario in which humans and a pack of wild animals coexist in the same house.

Curriculum for Illustration BFA

Illustration, BFA degree, typical course sequence

• First Year
  • ARTH-### Any 100-level ARTH course (General Education-Artistic Perspective) 3
  • ARTH-### Any 100-level ARTH course (General Education-Global Perspective) 3
  • FDTN-111 Drawing I 3
  • FDTN-112 Drawing II 3
  • FDTN-121 2D Design I 3
  • FDTN-122 2D Design II 3
  • FDTN-131 3D Design I 3
  • ILLS-209 3D Applications: The Figure 3
  • YOPS-10 RIT 365: RIT Connections 0
  • General Education – First-Year Writing (WI) 3
  • General Education – Natural Science Inquiry Perspective 3
  • General Education – Scientific Principles Perspective 3
  • General Education – Mathematical Perspective A 3
• Second Year
  • ILLS-213 Illustration I 3
  • ILLS-214 Anatomical Illustration 3
  • ILLS-219 Digital Illustration I 3
  • ILLS-371 Pre-Visual World Building 3
  • ILLS-550 Topics in Illustration: Character Design 3
  • Art History Elective† 3
  • CAD Studio Electives‡ 6
  • General Education – Ethical Perspective 3
  • General Education – Social Perspective 3
• Third Year
  • ILLS-313 Illustration II 3
  • ILLS-319 Digital Illustration II 3
  • Illustration Professional Electives§ 9
  • CAD Studio Elective‡ 3
  • Art History Elective† 3
  • Open Elective 3
  • General Education – Immersion 1 (WI), 2 6
• Fourth Year
  • ILLS-413 Illustration III 3
  • ILLS-501 Illustration Portfolio (WI-PR) 3
  • Illustration Professional Electives§ 6
  • CAD Studio Elective‡ 3
  • Open Electives 9
  • General Education – Immersion 3 3
  • General Education – Elective 3

Total Semester Credit Hours 120

Admissions and Financial Aid

First-Year Admission

First-year applicants are expected to demonstrate a strong academic background that includes:

• 4 years of English
• 3 years of social studies and/or history
• 3-4 years of mathematics
• 2-3 years of science
• Studio art experience and a portfolio of original artwork are required. View Portfolio Requirements for more information.

Transfer Admission

Transfer applicants should meet these minimum degree-specific requirements:

• Studio art or design experience and a portfolio of original artwork are required. View Portfolio Requirements for more information.

Financial Aid and Scholarships

100% of all incoming first-year and transfer students receive aid.

RIT's personalized and comprehensive financial aid program includes scholarships, grants, loans, and campus employment programs. When all these are put to work, your actual cost may be much lower than the published estimated cost of attendance.

Faculty

• Allen Douglas Lecturer
• Donald Arday Professor
• Chad Grohman Assistant Professor

All Program Faculty

Facilities

• Bevier Gallery

Related News

• May 9, 2025 Homeschool to Higher Ed: 18-year-old set to graduate from RIT

WHEC-TV features illustration student Eian-Gabriel Sinclair, who is set to graduate from RIT today at 18 years old.

• April 21, 2025 RIT solidifies its place in LA

Each fall semester, RIT in LA students attend classes and gain work experience while living on the West Coast. Students come home with experiences that will help pave the way to a career in the entertainment industry.

• April 17, 2025 Tiny toy, big opportunity: How a student caught Fisher-Price’s eye

Ava Guarino '26 (illustration) brought a toy robot to an interview — and got the job. She originally made an eye-catching 2D animation of a food delivery robot before using 3D software to translate it into a 3D-printed form that helped land her an internship with Fisher-Price.

More Program News