Designing and Directing Illustrations
Learn how illustration can elevate the communicative power of graphic design beyond trends and visual fads.
Why take this course?
The illustration landscape is rich and diverse.
There are countless techniques and styles with enormous potential to carry meaning and convey messages. Yet this richness is often underutilized due to the pressure for quick solutions and trend-driven aesthetics.
Make better decisions when illustrating or directing a visual piece.
This course introduces concepts and hands-on exercises that encourage graphic experimentation. Throughout the classes, you’ll explore a broad overview of drawing styles — without focusing on a single direction — and their application in advertising, digital products, branding, and various graphic design contexts.
For illustrators and designers.
The course is ideal for illustrators who are starting out or looking to enter the broader world of design, as well as designers interested in expanding their skills into the illustration field.
What are you
going to learn
in this course?
Visual codes of illustration: a historical and cultural perspective.
A discussion on how illustrations communicate different messages depending on their historical or cultural context. Through examples and references, we’ll examine how and why certain trends emerged in the current illustration market in Brazil.
Techniques, meaning, and mixing.
The techniques used to create an illustration can make it unique — or blend it into trend-driven aesthetics. We’ll analyze how techniques and mediums influence image creation while encouraging experimentation and mix-and-match approaches. The goal is to cultivate critical thinking in the creative process, leading to intentional and meaningful decisions.
The role of illustration within graphic pieces.
Illustrations can function as protagonists or supporting elements in graphic compositions. We’ll explore how their relationship with other design components impacts complexity, technique, form, proportion, and stylistic choices.
Insights into the day-to-day practice of creating and directing illustrations.
Drawing from the instructor’s professional experience, we’ll discuss real-world challenges and decision-making moments in illustration and art direction. This includes how to use and present references, craft graphic concepts, build an authorial voice, provide creative direction, and more. These insights will be applied in a conceptual defense exercise and creative moodboard development.
Applying the concepts explored in class.
To conclude the course, you’ll work on an illustration and/or creative direction exercise that encourages applying the concepts discussed throughout the lessons. With mentorship and feedback from the instructor, you’ll develop one illustration to be expanded into three formats, accompanied by a conceptual defense and presentation.
World-class professionals ready to teach you.
Jun Ioneda
Graphic Artist, Director, and Founder of Estúdio Barca
I express myself through my authorial work as a graphic artist and through the projects I lead at Estúdio Barca, where I direct and produce illustration, animation, and visual identity work for clients such as Spotify, Uber, Skol, and Nubank. I also collaborate with other studios and illustrators across different creative fields.
Testimonials
Words of students who attended Designing and Directing Illustrations.
André Rodrigues
Senior Motion Designer @ Wellhub
I thought the course as a whole was excellent. The instructor teaches in a very calm and accessible way, and the content is highly relevant, giving a clearer view of the real day-to-day work in the industry with projects created for actual clients.
Tatyane Frankalino
Graphic Designer & Illustrator
The course is excellent. The instructor covers a wide range of topics related to illustration from historical, cultural, market, and personal perspectives, bringing great examples and opening space for discussion and reflection. Even though this wasn’t my first illustration course, I learned many new things and revisited others with a completely different lens. I highly recommend it!
Pedro Fioravante
Designer @ Red Ventures
A very enriching and easy-to-follow course. The instructor delivered complete, approachable content. Throughout and even outside of class, Jun was always open to questions and willing to help students with exercises or day-to-day professional challenges. I found it to be the perfect course for what it sets out to teach!
Enroll today for our next class
Tuition
$650
10% discount for former students.
If you have completed at least one course with us in the past, you are eligible to receive the discount immediately.
We offer scholarships.
If you are a member of an underrepresented or marginalized community, have an annual income of less than $30,000.00, or are unemployed, you could be eligible for a scholarship immediately. Enroll now.
Important: The discounts don't accumulate. The biggest discount always prevails, which will be applied automatically at the payment page.
Course Duration
6-week course.
6 classes — from 10am to 12.30pm EST.
15 hours of workload.
All classes take place live via Zoom. The links are automatically sent to your email and WhatsApp (optional). The sessions are recorded and will be available to students.
Check the
upcoming dates
FAQs
Is the course theoretical or practical?
Both. The course presents theoretical concepts and reflections that are then applied to practical exercises, culminating in a final project.
Does the course teach any drawing techniques?
No. The course introduces concepts that encourage experimentation and mixing of different techniques, respecting each student’s personal skills and artistic inclinations. The program includes both lecture-based and hands-on classes, with guidance and mentorship from the instructor.
What equipment do I need?
Since the techniques used in practical exercises are open-ended, the required equipment will depend on the student’s chosen approach. Students will also present conceptual slides, so having access to a presentation tool of their choice (PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, etc.) is recommended.
Do I need to know how to illustrate to take this course?
No. The course is designed so that both illustrators and non-illustrators can benefit from the concepts and exercises, as long as they have some interest in creating or directing illustrations.
Are the exercises graded?
No. The goal of the course is not to evaluate the graphic quality of the work, but to empower students through inquiry, insights, and graphic experimentation.
What you can expect attending Designing and Directing Illustrations
Remote classes.
Our classes are always remote and live via Zoom so you can get the most out of it and have real connections with your peers and the instructor.
Stay close.
Learn more.
You have direct access to the instructor and your peers with an exclusive channel on Slack, allowing you to exchange experiences and learn from world-class professionals and students worldwide.
A platform
tailored for you.
From the moment you enroll in a class to the moment you get the certificate, we designed a platform that gives you the best experience. Alune is our proprietary platform where you can watch back the Zoom sessions and keep up with your progress anytime, forever.
Learn from
real-life examples.
You can also be eligible for our Talent Program, which puts you in front of top-tier companies ready to hire. After completing the course, you’ll receive a certificate to celebrate the achievement and brag about it on social media.