Illustration is art for the people: illustrators create work that is seen, enjoyed and judged by general audiences, not art specialists. The Illustration department is distinct from other majors at MICA in that it is not defined by a specific medium. Illustrations can be created by hand (drawing, painting, collage, assemblage, sculpture, printmaking, etc...), digitally (Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Corel Painter, Autodesk 3ds Max, Softimage and Maya, etc....) and increasingly a combination of both.
The language of Illustration is symbolic and narrative, rooted in the traditional codes of Western Art, but constantly affected by diverse contemporary and non-Western aesthetics.