Professional Illustration
The role of illustrators is to create visual impact, communicate ideas, generate interest, probe feelings, and present viewers with a visual challenge that will leave them seeking responses and information on their own. Illustrators' effectiveness depends first on their own insight into the subject and second, on their varied and developed background and skills.

Illustrators must be flexible and resourceful, for the content of illustrations is wide and diverse. An understanding of the psychology of human behavior helps illustrators conceptualize and choose appropriate images to solve communication problems. Illustrators need to know design, communication principles, and problem solving techniques, but most importantly, they must know how to draw.

With a developed background in fine arts, graphic design, and advertising, illustrators may direct their careers in many different directions, including illustration of books, magazine stories and articles, magazine and newspaper advertising, company literature, packaging, television, and animated films. Illustration is an art used in the media and can range from popular commercial services to the personal expression of the illustrator.

The Illustration Program
Columbia College Chicago offers a four-year professional program in illustration leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Columbia illustration students learn to understand the mechanics of tools and media. They choose the media best suited to express their ideas, organize the elements of the page to greater enhance communication, conceptualize ideas, and above all, refine their visual sensitivities to levels expected of professional artists. Their background is further developed by a well-integrated Core Curriculum of fine art and design.

Special illustration workshops and an ongoing lecture series expose students to current developments in their intended field. As a part of the four-year curriculum, the department requires Professional Portfolio Development for graduating seniors. This course is designed to assist students in making decisions about their future career direction. A more introspective approach coupled with a practical preparation helps to ease the transition from student to professional.