Illustration and Comics
The Library welcomes recommendations from staff and students, provided they are current editions and support the learning, teaching and research interests of the University. Make your request through the Collection Recommendation Service.
- Creative Review
Creative Review is available online, with copies going back to 1980. It comes out bi-monthly, the latest issue is the Annual, which looks back across the best developments in advertising, design and digital from the past year. - Journal of Illustration
Cultural, political, philosophical, and contemporary aspects of illustration - 3x3
3x3 is an American contemporary illustration magazine, it features interviews and articles with prominent illustrators.
- Have you checked to see what is on offer in the Library's Autumn 2023 webinar programme?
- New Reading List: a reading list of texts on LGBTQA+ has been created by staff in the library, the list has material available in the library on LGBTQ+ in society as well as texts that are more specific to subject areas at UCA.
- A new database, Statista, has been added to the Library databases. Statista offers insights and facts across 170 industries and 150+ countries which could be useful for researching the illustration and books markets. You will need your University login to access the database.
The library offers over 200,000 print and electronic books. Print books are arranged by shelf number, which are found using LibrarySearch and on the book binding, the most relevant numbers are -
| Subject | Shelf Number |
| Artists' Books | 702.81 |
| Fine Art | 709 |
| Artists' Drawing | 741.092 |
| Drawing Techniques | 741.2 |
| Comics/Graphic Novels | 741.5 |
| Comic Strips/Cartoons | 741.569 |
| Graphic Novels | 741.59 |
| Manga | 741.5952 |
| Graphic Design | 741.6 |
| Illustration | 741.6 |
| Illustrators | 741.6092 |
| Bande Dessinees | 741.64 |
| Children's Books | 741.642 |
| Posters | 741.674 |
| Collections of Drawings | 741.9 |
| Graffiti | 751.73 |
| Printmaking | 760-769 |
Journals provide up to date research in your area of study, they may be available in print or electronic format and can be found using LibrarySearch. A list of all current journals can be found using the Journals A-Z, the most relevant are -
- 3x3: the Magazine of Contemporary Illustration
Magazine of Contemporary Illustration - annual featuring work of artists from over 45 countries. - Applied Arts Magazine
Applied Arts magazine is the creative industry's look book showcasing innovative creatives around the world. - The comics grid
Founded in 2010, The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship is an open-access, researcher-led, peer-reviewed academic journal. The journal aims to publish original and specialised contributions to the field of comics scholarship from multidisciplinary and media-specific perspectives. - Creative Review
Focuses on commercial creativity, covering design, advertising, photography, branding, digital products, film and gaming - Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics
research on all aspects of the graphic novel, comic strip and comic book - Journal of Illustration
Cultural, political, philosophical, and contemporary aspects of illustration - Juxtapoz (Flipster)
Juxtapoz magazine presents a gallery of underground artists who influence much of the fashion, graphics, and new art we see today - New Yorker
The New Yorker is a national weekly magazine that offers a signature mix of reporting and commentary on politics, foreign affairs, business, technology, popular culture and the arts, along with humour, fiction, poetry and cartoons. - Virtual Creativity
An academic peer-reviewed journal focusing on creativity in online virtual worlds and other related platforms where the virtual is examined as a central theme in contemporary media art practices and applied contexts.
Databases bring together specialist collections of articles, images and electronic books. A list of all current databases can be found using the Databases A-Z, the most relevant are -
- Art Full Text This link opens in a new window
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Indexes and provides the full text of journal articles on art, design, advertising, architecture, crafts, interior design, photography, textiles, television and video.
- DAAI - Design and Applied Arts Index This link opens in a new window
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DAAI is the leading source of abstracts and bibliographic records for articles, news items, and reviews published in design and applied arts periodicals. 1973 to present.
- Gnomon Workshop This link opens in a new window
Online tutorials providing professional-level instruction in design, drawing, sculpting, painting, modeling, lighting, rendering, texturing, rigging, storyboarding, animation, and other areas related to visual effects.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
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Google Scholar is a freely available search tool that helps you to find academic articles and books on the web. It searches publishers’ websites, university research repositories and other kinds of scholarly sites. It provides a broad and interdisciplinary search and includes the ability to track the number of times an article has been cited by other authors as well as direct links to UCA online collections. For more information see - Using Google Scholar.
- John Johnson Collection This link opens in a new window
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Fully searchable colour images of 65,000 items from the Bodleian Library's John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera, offering unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Available within the UK only.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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An archive of scholarly journals covering the visual arts, including architecture, film studies, fine art, art history, the performing arts, religion, folklore and language, 1884-2009.
- RHS Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
RHS Digital Collections spans over 500 years of gardening history and science. As part of a commitment to improving access many collections are now freely available to view online, to students, researchers and the general public.
- Statista This link opens in a new window
Insights and facts across 170 industries and 150+ countries. See Getting started with Statista to learn more.
- Underground and Independent Comics This link opens in a new window
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The first scholarly, primary source database focusing on adult comic books and graphic novels. 1943 to present.
- WGSN: Insight This link opens in a new window
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WGSN Insight provides trend analysis and consumer behaviour reports on technology, marketing, design, retail and business strategy across a range of industries, including gaming, entertainment, beauty and AI.
See - Getting started with WGSN to learn more about how to setup and use WGSN.
- Atlasshorts This link opens in a new window
Atlasshorts curates and delivers short films (under 60 minutes) and visual art across live-action, narrative, animation, documentary, VR/AR/XR, from the leading film, media, art and design schools.
- BoB This link opens in a new window
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BoB is on demand TV and radio service for education which allows staff and students to record programmes from over 75 free-to-air channels; and search our archive of over 2.2 million broadcasts. See - Using BoB to learn more about how to setup and use BoB.
- Kanopy This link opens in a new window
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Kanopy is a video streaming service with a Netflix-style interface which can be accessed via the link above or using the Kanopy mobile app for Android and iOS.
Login required off campus to watch films (log in with your UCA details to create a Kanopy login). - Stash This link opens in a new window
Stash is an online video library of animation, visual effects and motion design from around the world. The site is produced by Stash Media, a Canadian-based company.
- Britannica ImageQuest This link opens in a new window
Over 2.5 million rights-cleared and high quality images from 46 of the world's leading collections.
- Creative Commons This link opens in a new window
CC Search is a search tool that allows openly licensed and public domain works to be discovered and used by everyone - providing access to over 3 million images.
- Creative Condition Podcast
"The Creative Condition podcast show is a series of open, honest conversations with people from the creative industry and beyond, who share the story of their creativity, both the nature and the nurture, the chaos and the calm, hosted by illustrator and writer Ben Tallon." - Creative Pep Talk
By an illustrator, for illustrators. Via amusing anecdotes, illustrator Andy J. Miller aims to encourage listeners through confusion and into creative career success. Intended to support listeners to make a good living by making great art, this feel-good podcast tackles creative wellbeing from many different angles. - Illustration Department Podcast
Giuseppe Castellano talks to folks in illustration, graphic design, publishing, animation, and other creative fields about the ups and downs of their careers. - Women of Illustration
Dina Rodriguez runs a podcast and Instagram to promote female illustrators:
"We’ve all heard the artist interviews saying that it’s possible to make a living doing what you love, but rarely does anyone talk about how. This interview series will help you build up your confidence and marketing chops so you can carve out your own path to illustration success."
Archives offer access to rare and unique insight into the work of artists and creators, and often include original letters and artwork. Details of all the collections can be found in the ArchiveSearch, the most relevant for illustration are -
Artists Books
Are works of art in a book, or book-like form. The appearance and production of the work is determined by the artist as a limited edition.
Digitised front covers can be viewed in ResourceBank
Bob Godfrey Archive
Internationally celebrated animator who founded the Animation programme at UCA Farnham – we hold his scripts, storyboards, correspondence, and animation cels.
A selection of of animations are available on ResourceBank
Diagram Group Archive
Founded by Bob Chapman and Bruce Robertson in 1960’s. Diagram was one of the most prolific creators of visual information books in the 20th century – we care for most of its manuscripts and art works.
Kristian Andrews
Animators storyboards and ink drawings from 'Rabbit Punch', an autobiographical film on his life growing up.
A selection of animations are available on ResourceBank
Stuart Hilton
Artwork of an experimental documentary for '6 Weeks in June', 1996. A road animation of 11000 miles around the USA in six weeks in the back of a van with a band, a pen, and a stack of paper.
Tandem Film Daniel Greaves Studios
Animations produced by Tandem Films including ‘Flatworld’ (1997) and ‘Manipulation’ (1991) - this collection consists storyboards, scripts, and artworks.
A selection of animations are available on ResourceBank
Typographic Circle
Poster collection (2008 - 2015). Founded by Maggie Lewis in 1976, Typographic Circle brought together people with an interest in typography and type.
Working Press Archive
Books by and about working class artists and other marginalised groups of artist. Collected by Stefan Szczelkun,1986-1996 - contains correspondence, conference material, publicity, published book collection, pamphlets and zines.
Working Press Zine Front Covers on ResourceBank
Zines
Are a unique form of self-expression “do it yourself“ magazines. They cover any subject, common themes include feminism, music, politics, activism, literature, personal, crafts, art and design, and travel. Available at Canterbury, Epsom, and Farnham.
Digitised front covers can be viewed in ResourceBank
