Illustration
HAW Hamburg’s Bachelor of Arts in Illustration, with foci in book illustration, informative illustration, media illustration, and interactive illustration and games, is the only degree course of its kind in Germany.
It provides a robust artistic, technical and theoretical grounding in a wide range of media and applications, and turns out graduates able to create work with culturally, ethically and academically considered content, using analogue and digital methods to communicate via illustration. Our students complete their own projects as well as collaborating on real-world artistic endeavours.
Your future career
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Illustrators are artistic professionals who create work for communicative and published media. Their creative process encompasses the planning and realisation of individual illustrations, works or series for print, digital and/or interactive media. Some illustrators develop their own graphic novels, non-fiction or children’s books and offer them to publishers.
In accordance with the focus they chose during their course, our graduates work for a range of media businesses, cultural or academic institutions, advertising agencies or publishing houses. They may also carry out editing, advisory or coordinating functions.
Course content and structure
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The course’s initial semesters involve the study of basic artistic techniques, such as drawing, painting, computer-assisted design and creative writing, in our workshops and labs, which include print shops, computer and photographic labs, and laboratories for time-dependent media. Students additionally acquire fundamentals of design in book, media, informative and interactive/game illustration.
Alongside these practical skills, you will attain advanced theoretical knowledge of topics such as the history of art and design, communication theories, philosophy of culture, the history of costume, dramaturgy, poetics and sociology.
After this phase, students specialise in one of the four foci we offer: book illustration, informative illustration, media illustration, and interactive illustration and games.
So our students can flexibly add an interdisciplinary emphasis to their course and respond to job market needs, we allow them to substitute certain modules with others from the Faculty’s degree courses in Communication Design and Fashion, Costume and Textile Product Design.
The course is seven semesters in duration and concludes with the completion of a Bachelor thesis.
Your interests and skills
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Your essential interest in drawing, painting, and photography should be accompanied, if you want to get the most out of this course, by a passion for literature, film, and the arts, and curiosity about innovations in technology; it’s useful if you know your way around new media. If you can express your thoughts and ideas in a well-structured manner, feel comfortable working across disciplines, and enjoy observing and engaging with developments in society and collaborating in teams, we’d love you to apply.
Admission requirements
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Higher education entrance qualification and test of artistic aptitude
As well as having a school-leaving qualification that entitles you to enter higher education (the German Abitur or Fachhochschulreife or an equivalent), you’ll need to take a test of artistic aptitude (see below). In exceptional cases, we admit applicants without a higher education entrance qualification who have demonstrated outstanding talent.
Pre-course experience
We do not require you to have completed pre-course experience for this course.
International applicants
If you completed your schooling outside Germany and want to study here for a Bachelor’s degree, you need to hold an academic school-leaving qualification which entitles you to admission to higher education; that is, it needs to be comparable to a German Abitur or Fachhochschulreife. The organisation uni assist will check your certificates from school and any degree-level studies to establish comparability. Please note that you are also required to have proof of German at level C1 – for example, in the form of a TestDaF certificate – in order to apply for all Bachelor's degree courses (except Information Engineering).
You can find more information about HAW Hamburg’s application criteria at International applicants.
Application process
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Please note that applicants for this course are required to take a test of artistic aptitude which includes submission of a portfolio of your work. The test takes place each autumn.
You may only proceed to the formal application stage once you have passed the test of artistic aptitude. We only accept online applications. They can be submitted between 1 December and 15 January for a place in the following summer semester. This course does not have a winter semester intake. You can find the online application system (available only during the period specified above) here: Applying for a Bachelor's degree course
Test of artistic aptitude
Dates for portfolio consultation sessions and the registration form for the test are published at Department Design
Applications from international applicants should also be submitted online during the application period.
We’ve prepared a step-by-step checklist to guide you through the process: International applicants
Questions about selecting a course, applications, admissions and degree courses
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Applications and admissions
Student Admissions and Registration Office (Studierendensekretariat)
Stiftstraße 69, 20099 Hamburg (ground floor)
T +49.40.428 75-9898
studierendensekretariat (at) haw-hamburg (dot) de
Contact us with your questions about applications and admissions
The Information Point is open at the following times:
Monday–Thursday: 10:00 am–1:00 pm
Friday: closed
In-person office hours:
Thursday: 2:00 pm–4:00 pm
Telephone office hours:
Monday and Tuesday: 9:00 am–10:00 am
For general queries about HAW Hamburg degree courses and course choice
Student Counselling Team (Zentrale Studienberatung)
Stiftstraße 69, 1st floor, room 122
20099 Hamburg
T +49 40 42875 9110
Contact form
Office hours
Contact person for applicants with disabilities or chronic health conditions
Meike Butenob/Dieter Röh
Stiftstraße 69, Haus 3, room 37
Tel. +49.40.428 75-7220
inklusion (at) haw-hamburg (dot) de
Contact the department
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Specifically subject-related queries:
Student advisory service
Prof. Alexandra Kardinar
Finkenau 35, 22081 Hamburg
T + 49.40.428 75-4742
alexandra.kardinar(@)haw-hamburg.de
Test of artistic aptitude
Dates for portfolio consultation sessions and the registration form for the test are published at Department Design
