Join Discourse Magazine as an Illustrator 

Love drawing, painting, digital art, collage, graphic design — or generally making things look beautiful? 

We’d love to hear from you. 

Discourse Magazine is looking for illustrators and visual artists who would like to help bring student writing to life. 

Illustration plays an important role in the identity of a literary magazine. Artwork can introduce a story, capture the atmosphere of a poem, give an essay a visual identity, or simply make someone stop scrolling and discover a piece they may otherwise have missed. 

You don’t need to have worked for a publication before - whether you illustrate regularly or simply want somewhere to experiment with your creative work; Discourse can be a place to build that experience. 

What could I work on? 

Depending on the needs of the issue, illustrators may contribute to: 

• artwork for the magazine itself, including cover concepts;  
• illustrations accompanying poetry, fiction or other published pieces;
  
• social media graphics and promotional campaigns; 
• contributor features;  
• issue teasers and launch content;  
• event materials;  
• other special projects

Who are we looking for? 

There is no single “Discourse style.” 

We welcome different approaches, including: 

digital illustration · traditional media · collage · photography-based artwork · mixed media · experimental visual work 

What matters most is an interest in storytelling and a willingness to collaborate. 

What can I gain from it? 

As a Discourse illustrator, you can: 

• publish your artwork alongside student writing;  
• collaborate with writers and editors;  
• experiment with editorial illustration;  
• gain experience working from creative briefs;  
• build pieces for your portfolio;  
• have your work credited and promoted through the magazine and its social media channels 

And most importantly: your work remains your work. 

Interested? 

Send us a short introduction and a few examples of your work. These do not need to come from a professional portfolio — an Instagram art account, PDF, Google Drive folder or examples of university/personal projects are absolutely fine. 
 
Send your work to