Arts and Design School: The Benefits of Distance Learning

Because art and design programs are inherently visual, they sync well with the distance learning format. You’ll appreciate the variety of standard benefits that online study has to offer: classes from home, convenient scheduling, reduced expenses, and the ability to maintain your personal and professional obligations, just to name a few. As an arts student, you’ll love the way the online degree format develops the technical skills that could give you the edge in a competitive hiring market.

College of Applied Arts: Program FAQs

Committing to a particular field of study for four or five years deserves thoughtful consideration. Here are just a few frequently asked questions that potential art and design school students have:

• Will I have to attend any campus sessions? This depends entirely on the program of study. Most online programs are just that–distance learning sessions that you can complete entirely from home. Some programs may require periodic meetings on campus to turn in portfolios or deliver recitals
• How long before I must declare a major? Many programs allow you to complete prerequisite classes for the first year or two before requiring you to declare. Due to their complexity, some art and design programs require immediate commitment
• How will the content be delivered? Online programs combine electronic textbooks, class blog and chat technologies and video conferencing in a web-based framework
• Will professional certifications help me to get hired? Professional certifications are particularly helpful in the technical design fields, such as graphic design and multi-media arts

From Classroom to Career: What to Expect

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics paints an encouraging picture of the employment opportunities for graduates of arts and design school. Here are just some of the professions that you’ll qualify for with the job outlook and salary potential for each.

• Artists and Related Workers. Employment of artists and related workers is projected to increase by 16 percent from 2006 through 2016–that’s faster than the national average for all occupations. May 2008 salary projections vary widely, from art directors at $76,980 per year to multi-media artists at $56,330 per year
• Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation. The career fields poised to see the largest growth in hiring from 2006 to 2016 include management, business, and financial occupations at 26.4 percent and professional and related occupations at 24.2 percent
• Other Arts-based Career Options . Graduates of college and applied arts programs may also choose careers as commercial and industrial designers, fashion designers, floral designers, and graphic and interior designers

The bottom line is that you can earn a living by doing what you love by graduating from a college of applied arts. Also, attending an arts and design school online makes the transition from classroom to career convenient and affordable.

Design and Visual Communication

A Design and Visual Communication Degree will help you learn design fundamentals, lettering and typography, and graphic design. You’ll create color composites and renderings, and will be introduced to using computer applications and sophisticated software as design tools. With the skills you gain from this degree, you will be able to create high quality layouts and designs for a variety of clients.

Industrial Design

An Industrial Design degree program falls in the applied visual arts category. It prepares individuals to use artistic techniques to effectively communicate ideas and information to business and consumer audiences via the creation of effective forms, shapes, and packaging for manufactured products. Includes instruction in designing in a wide variety of plastic and digital media, prototype construction, design development and refinement, principles of cost saving, and product structure and performance criteria relevant to aesthetic design parameters.

Design and Applied Arts

Design and Applied Arts is a broad concentration within the field of visual arts, and includes such areas as advertising, commercial design, commercial photography, fashion design, graphic design, illustration and drawing, interior decorating, and many more. Generally speaking, design and applied arts can be described as arts in which one designs or creates something intended to be used rather than simply viewed. There are many degree opportunities within this field.

Illustration

Illustrators bring ideas to life. An Illustration Degree will help prepare you for a career as a professional illustrator—whether you’re working for designers on web sites or trying to become the next Dr. Seuss—Illustration will also teach you about the aesthetics, philosophy, and business of the art world. Your degree will also tackle formal artistic concerns faced by illustrators, as well as the ethics and law behind the profession.

Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia

What are digital communications? They are communications performed with and by digital technology. Multimedia developers and managers use digital communications methods to create any variety of entertainment, graphic design, and artistic productions.

While earning a degree in Digital Communications, you’ll learn the fundamentals of digital communication, including computer programming, teleprocessing, graphic design, photography, and audio and video production. You’ll learn how to build websites and create 3D animation. You’ll learn about CD-ROM production and computer imaging. All of these methods of digital communication together constitute the “multi” nature of “multimedia.” A good program will also teach you about the laws and regulations in place for digital communications, and what our role is in the development and use of new technologies.

Commercial and Advertising Art

Like other art majors, with a degree in Commercial and Advertising Art you’ll build drawing and other basic art skills — and exercise your creativity. While getting your degree, you’ll also study graphic design and learn how to create ads that get the word out and turn a profit. You will create real-world projects such as billboards, brochures, and product packaging. This degree will give you the practical edge you need to work in the business world.

Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design

A degree in Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design will prepare you to apply technical knowledge and skills to the layout, design and typographic arrangement of printed and/or electronic graphic and textual products. This degree will also include instruction in printing and lithographic equipment and operations; computer hardware and software; digital imaging; print preparation; page layout and design; desktop publishing; and applicable principles of graphic design and web page design.

Ceramic Arts and Ceramics

Clay is a living medium, and a degree in the Ceramic Arts will prepare you creatively and technically to express emotions, ideas, or inner visions by producing art works out of clay and similar materials. Most programs include instruction in hand-built and wheel-thrown techniques; molding; slips and glazes; trimming and decorating; firing and kiln operation; oxidation; mixed media; ceramic murals; and personal style development.

Painting

The primary educational goals for the painting major is knowledge of and proficiency in painting practice based on the observation of nature including the human figure and supported by craftsmanship, individual initiative, creativity, and the ability to interpret ideas through artistic expression. With a Painting Degree, you’ll also discover many
historical and contemporary examples of painting and integrate that knowledge into studio practice. You will gain a thorough understanding of value, color, composition and expression through the study of anatomy, life drawing, perspective and design and the role these elements play in conveying meaning and vivacity. You will get to study the use of media such as oil, watercolor, egg tempera, and pastel, and create paintings in a range of modes including the figure, landscape, portrait and still life.