Student Work
Digital Art and Design graduates will be innovative artists and designers, well prepared to create rich media experiences that combine imaging, animation, sound and interactivity. With substantial flexibility in the degree of specialization/ generalization built into the curriculum, students will be able to develop portfolios in one or more of these professional media markets: Visual Development, 2D Animation, 3D Game Art, Motion Design, Interaction Design.
The Digital Art and Design program is designed to provide opportunities that are cross-platform and user-experience driven. They blend self-directed learning with hands-on instruction by experienced professionals. Projects and studio work may be centered around public service content, while allowing the freedom of creative expression that is necessary for every artist and designer to find their own voice.
What will I learn/study in this program?
The Digital Art and Design program inspires innovative thinking and making at the intersection of graphic design, animation, digital 3D, illustration, interaction design, and sound. Through collaborative projects and individual creative expressions, you’ll dive deep into industry-standard digital workflows, enabling you to seamlessly adapt to an ever-shifting media landscape.
You’ll also round your education out with a wide range of general education and art history courses that will stimulate your curiosity, broaden your perspective, and inspire new creative expressions. KCAD’s flexible General Education Pathways model empowers you to direct your learning by exploring topics you find most engaging and relevant.
What skills will I develop in this program?
As a student in the Digital Art and Design program, you will become a forward-thinking artist and/or designer capable of creating dynamic and engaging narratives and user experiences across a number of different disciplines and media. You’ll cultivate critical thinking skills, collaborative processes, and a broad world view, as well as intangible skills such as a keen sense of story and a fearless approach to art and design technologies.
In addition, you’ll graduate with a robust portfolio of work in one of two focus areas:
- Multimedia Design - including interaction design for the web, apps, virtual reality, and the internet of things as well as video and motion design animation.
- Entertainment Art - including animation, digital 3D, and visual development for games and animation as well as sequential arts like comics and story boards.
Why study Digital Art and Design at KCAD?
In KCAD’s Digital Art and Design program, you’ll participate in collaborative projects with area gaming and multimedia companies as well as educational institutions and nonprofit organizations. Examples of previous collaborative projects can be found at epicsite.org, where we house our student-created EPIC (Engaging Production Inspiring Classrooms) educational media, made available for free to K-12 teachers across the country. Or, head to the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store and search “KCAD.”
The Digital Art and Design program at KCAD fosters a tight-knit community centered around our physical learning spaces, the program’s Facebook page, and the student-designed website, digitalartanddesign.kcad.edu. There, students share their work with each other, gain valuable industry perspective by watching alumni interviews and reading industry reports, and absorb massive amounts of information from KCAD’s Digital Learning Center, a dynamic collection of resources including software tutorials, technical walk-throughs, and more.
Where can I expect this degree to take me professionally?
Digital artists and designers participate in creative, fast-paced work environments. As a Digital Art and Design student, you’ll graduate with a versatile skill set that can be applied in a diverse array of fields, including entertainment, advertising, retail, information, and education.
Through the program’s in-depth exploration of a number of different focus areas, you’ll be able to pursue career paths in areas such as 2D animation, 3D game art, visual development, interaction design, and motion design. What’s more, you’ll be able to approach your career search in terms of roles and skills rather than job titles, as new job titles in this quickly evolving field are emerging every year. As a Digital Art and Design graduate, you’ll adopt a continual state of lifelong learning and be ready to tackle new techniques, software, and hardware as well as employ a keen sense of story, communication, collaboration and creativity.
As a student in this program, what tools/technologies/support systems will I have access to?
The Digital Art and Design program provides hands-on experiences via high-end equipment and on-campus facilities, including multiple Cintiq studios, a green screen production room, an audio recording studio, and a wide range of cameras, microphones, lighting equipment, and more available for student use. You’ll also have access to The Dow Center FlexLab, KCAD’s state-of-the-art digital fabrication facility featuring 3D printers and scanners, laser cutting and vinyl cutting machines, wide format printers, and more; and the KCAD Library, which provides access to millions of books through the MeLCat shared library catalog as well as access to specialized research databases and subscriptions to scholarly journals.
Digital Art and Design students also benefit from access to industry interactions, guest speakers, design forums, and other events hosted by Design West Michigan, a KCAD organization that explores and advocates for design as an economic building block in the region.
What other KCAD programs might I be interested in learning more about?
Ready to get started? Apply now!
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Digital Art & Design / Entertainment Arts Focus
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Art History
Art History Elective (6)-
Western Art I-Prehist-Renais (3)
An overview of the Western Art tradition from prehistory through the Renaissance using a socio-cultural methodology in a chronological framework. (Students who have earned credit for ARTH 110, Prehistoric through Middle Ages, may not use credit earned in KCAH 111 to meet graduation requirements.)
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Western Art II-Baroque-Present (3)
A survey of Western art from the Baroque to the present, this course will continue building upon the foundation of Western Art I; Prehistoric through the Renaissance, using a socio-cultural methodology in a chronological framework. (Students who have earned credit for ARTH 111, Renaissance through 20th Century, may not use credit earned in KCAH 112 to meet graduation requirements.)
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Major Studio
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Interactive Multimedia Design (3)
Students will learn to create functional interactive multimedia works.
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Digital Imaging II (3)
Students will apply advanced techniques for digital drawing, coloring, compositing and image manipulation for print and digital delivery systems.
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Professional Studio I (3)
Students will conceptualize and produce, in a team environment, an innovative multimedia project.
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Professional Studio II (3)
A continuation of Professional Studio I; students will conceptualize and produce, in a team environment, an innovative multimedia project.
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Digital Art and Design Thesis I (3)
Students will create a self-designed imaging, animation, video or interactive project that demonstrates their aesthetic voice as well as their technical skills.
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Digital Art and Design Thesis II (3)
Students will complete a self-designed project that demonstrates their aesthetic voice as well as their technical skills.
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Professional Practices (3)
Students will create interactive portfolios of their work for delivery via DVD, CD-Rom and the Web along with a print media identity campaign.
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Introduction to Digital 3D (3)
Students will learn to create three-dimensional objects and environments for a variety of media and entertainment applications
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Animation & Motion Graphics I (3)
Students will create two-dimensional character animation or motion graphics related to their major area of study.
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Required Major Studio Electives
Student must choose 15 credits from the following list of required studio electives.-
Web Design I (3)
Students will create and test functional interactive works for delivery via the web.
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Web Design II (3)
Students will create and test functional interactive works that include multimedia, for delivery via the web.
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Applied Music and Sound (3)
Students will design music and sound for integration into multimedia design and entertainment arts.
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3D Character Design (3)
Students will learn digital 3D character design, sculpting and organic modeling for entertainment art
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Video (3)
Students will learn the design and technical process of shooting video and digital editing and apply these techniques to their major area of study.
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3D Game Art I (3)
Students will create 3D objects and environments for a variety of entertainment art.
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3D Game Art II (3)
Students will apply advanced techniques to create 3D game art assets for digital and/or physical games. -
Animation & Motion Graphics II (3)
A continuation of Animation & Motion Graphics I, students will create two-dimensional character animation or motion graphics related to their major area of study. -
Special Topics-Digital Media (1-3)
A topical course that allows the program to respond to students' interest in a particular area, or other expressed need or capacity to offer a particular topic.
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Comic Media Design (3)
Students will create comics for print or digital delivery, using traditional and digital imaging techniques.
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Imaging for Game, Animation & Film (3)
Students will learn Game, Animation and Film imaging techniques such as: character, prop, background and pre-visualization design.
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Storyboard Art (3)
In this course students apply storyboard and film language to create storyboards for a variety of industries, using visual development techniques.
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2D Character Animation (3)
Students will learn traditional animation movement fundamentals and apply them utilizing digital processes to create 2D character-based animation involving full motion with synchronized voices.
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2D Character Design (3)
Students will learn both the technical and stylistic methods of character design for a variety of media and entertainment applications.
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3D Motion Design (3)
Students will integrate digital 2D and 3D techniques to create motion graphics related to their major area of study. Students will create 3D assets, animation and compositing for digital multimedia.
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Interaction Design (3)
This cross-disciplinary course will invite students from a variety of the college's programs to collaborate on a user-experience design problem in the realm where the digital and physical meet.
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General Education
Choose one of the following:
Perspectives on Science (3)
Math in Art and Design (3)
Aesthetics of Geometry (3)
Capstone Course (3), choose from KCHU 460 or KCHU 461 or KCSS 460.
Choose your pathway: Narrative, Cultural Studies, or Philosophy (12). Take four courses, three of which must be in the chosen pathway. Recommended 200-level or higher. Plus one capstone course (3).-
Writing (3)
This course focuses on using writing to develop ideas, hone critical thinking skills, and express ideas clearly and appropriately according to audience and purpose. Students write in a variety of modes and spend a portion of the semester engaging in scholarly research. Students also develop their public speaking skills.
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Introduction to Narrative Studies (3)
This course provides a core understanding of effective storytelling. It examines the ways in which storytellers-both past and present-craft, organize, and convey ideas to successfully impact audiences, doing so through both inquiry into established narratives, as well as students' own experiments with narrative forms.
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Introduction to Cultural Studies (3)
This course examines what it means to be a member of a particular society and how individuals both form and are formed by society. It will provide students with a better understanding of the social and cultural worlds they inhabit.
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Introduction to Philosophy (3)
This course is an inquiry into the nature and power of philosophy to transform the way we experience the world around us and understand our place within it. Through a selection of readings representing various philosophical traditions and perspectives, critical discussion, and writing, students will examine some of the great questions that have intrigues philosophers from antiquity to present.
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Supportive Studio
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Digital Imaging I (3)
Students will be introduced to digital drawing, coloring, compositing and image manipulation techniques for both print and digital delivery systems.
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Drawing I (3)
The process of drawing as observation and conceptualization through eye-hand coordination. Emphasizes linear construction with concern for accurate proportion and simple positive-negative/figure-ground relationships. Includes an in-depth study of linear perspective. (Students who have earned FSU credit for VISC 112 Drawing I, may not use credit earned in KCDR 131 to meet graduation requirements.
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Figure Drawing I (3)
This course focuses on gesture drawing, rapid visualization skills, movement and expressive content, composition, structure, skeletal anatomy, and engaging in critiques.
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Figure Drawing II (3)
This course develops concepts introduced in Figure Drawing I with additional emphasis on the development of volume and mass through structural application of line and value; heads, hands, and feet; figure in environments; anatomical focus on musculature; and engaging in critique.
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Graphics Studio I (3)
An introduction to the computer as a design tool using the industry standards in page layout and digital illustration software. File transport (PDF) and font management software will also be introduced.
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Design and Color (3)
An introduction to the visual and verbal vocabularies of design and color theory as they relate to graphic design.
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Sound Design I (3)
Students will learn to create audio for multimedia design and entertainment arts.
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Digital Character Drawing (3)
Students will learn digital drawing techniques and apply them to both human and animal character stylizations, using methods and techniques that are relevant to visual development for entertainment media.
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Electives
Four (4) Electives
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Digital Art & Design / Multimedia Design Focus
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Art History
Art History Elective (6)-
Western Art I-Prehist-Renais (3)
An overview of the Western art tradition from prehistory through the Renaissance using a socio-cultural methodology in a chronological framework. (Students who have earned credit for ARTH 110, Prehistoric through Middle Ages, may not use credit earned in KCAH 111 to meet graduation requirements.)
-
Western Art II-Baroque-Present (3)
A survey of Western art from the Baroque to the present, this course will continue building upon the foundation of Western Art I; Prehistoric through the Renaissance, using a socio-cultural methodology in a chronological framework. (Students who have earned credit for ARTH 111, Renaissance through 20th Century, may not use credit earned in KCAH 112 to meet graduation requirements.)
-
-
Major Studio
-
Interactive Multimedia Design (3)
Students will learn to create functional interactive multimedia works.
-
Digital Imaging II (3)
Students will apply advanced techniques for digital drawing, coloring, compositing and image manipulation for print and digital delivery systems.
-
Professional Studio I (3)
Students will conceptualize and produce, in a team environment, an innovative multimedia project.
-
Professional Studio II (3)
A continuation of Professional Studio I; students will conceptualize and produce, in a team environment, an innovative multimedia project.
-
Digital Art and Design Thesis I (3)
Students will create a self-designed imaging, animation, video or interactive project that demonstrates their aesthetic voice as well as their technical skills.
-
Digital Art and Design Thesis II (3)
Students will complete a self-designed project that demonstrates their aesthetic voice as well as their technical skills.
-
Professional Practices (3)
Students will create interactive portfolios of their work for delivery via DVD, CD-Rom and the Web along with a print media identity campaign.
-
Professional Practices (3)
Students will create a self-promotional digital campaign that targets job seeking and freelancing opportunities.
-
Introduction to Digital 3D (3)
Students will learn to create three-dimensional objects and environments for a variety of media and entertainment applications
-
Animation & Motion Graphics I (3)
Students will create two-dimensional character animation or motion graphics related to their major area of study.
-
-
Required Major Studio Electives
-
Special Topics-Digital Media (1-3)
A topical course that allows the program to respond to students' interest in a particular area, or other expressed need or capacity to offer a particular topic.
-
Comic Media Design (3)
Students will create comics for print or digital delivery, using traditional and digital imaging techniques.
-
Web Design I (3)
Students will create and test functional interactive works for delivery via the web.
-
Web Design II (3)
Students will create and test functional interactive works that include multimedia, for delivery via the web.
-
Concept Art (3)
Students will apply visual development processes to character, prop, and background art for the entertainment industry
-
2D Character Design (3)
Students will learn both the technical and stylistic methods of character design for a variety of media and entertainment applications.
-
Applied Music and Sound (3)
Students will design music and sound for integration into multimedia design and entertainment arts.
-
3D Character Design (3)
Students will learn digital 3D character design, sculpting and organic modeling for entertainment art
-
Storyboard Art (3)
In this course students apply storyboard and film language to create storyboards for a variety of industries, using visual development techniques.
-
2D Character Animation (3)
Students will learn traditional animation movement fundamentals and apply them utilizing digital processes to create 2D character-based animation involving full motion with synchronized voices.
-
Video (3)
Students will learn the design and technical process of shooting video and digital editing and apply these techniques to their major area of study.
-
3D Game Art I (3)
Students will create 3D objects and environments for a variety of entertainment art.
-
3D Game Art II (3)
Students will apply advanced techniques to create 3D game art assets for digital and/or physical games. -
Motion Design (3)
Students will create animated graphic design related to their major area of study.
-
3D Motion Design (3)
Students will integrate digital 2D and 3D techniques to create motion graphics related to their major area of study. Students will create 3D assets, animation and compositing for digital multimedia.
-
Interaction Design (3)
This cross-disciplinary course will invite students from a variety of the college's programs to collaborate on a user-experience design problem in the realm where the digital and physical meet.
-
-
General Education
Choose one of the following:
Perspectives on Science (3)
Math in Art and Design (3)
Aesthetics of Geometry (3)
Capstone Course (3), choose from KCHU 460 or KCHU 461 or KCSS 460.
Choose your pathway: Narrative, Cultural Studies, or Philosophy (12). Take four courses, three of which must be in the chosen pathway. Recommended 200-level or higher. Plus one capstone course (3).-
Writing (3)
This course focuses on using writing to develop ideas, hone critical thinking skills, and express ideas clearly and appropriately according to audience and purpose. Students write in a variety of modes and spend a portion of the semester engaging in scholarly research. Students also develop their public speaking skills.
-
Introduction to Narrative Studies (3)
This course provides a core understanding of effective storytelling. It examines the ways in which storytellers-both past and present-craft, organize, and convey ideas to successfully impact audiences, doing so through both inquiry into established narratives, as well as students' own experiments with narrative forms.
-
Introduction to Cultural Studies (3)
This course examines what it means to be a member of a particular society and how individuals both form and are formed by society. It will provide students with a better understanding of the social and cultural worlds they inhabit.
-
Introduction to Philosophy (3)
This course is an inquiry into the nature and power of philosophy to transform the way we experience the world around us and understand our place within it. Through a selection of readings representing various philosophical traditions and perspectives, critical discussion, and writing, students will examine some of the great questions that have intrigues philosophers from antiquity to present.
-
-
Supportive Studio
-
Digital Imaging I (3)
Students will be introduced to digital drawing, coloring, compositing and image manipulation techniques for both print and digital delivery systems.
-
Design Drawing I (3)
Freehand drawing using basic perspective principles and quick sketch techniques.
-
Graphics Studio I (3)
An introduction to the computer as a design tool using the industry standards in page layout and digital illustration software. File transport (PDF) and font management software will also be introduced.
-
Design and Color (3)
An introduction to the visual and verbal vocabularies of design and color theory as they relate to graphic design.
-
Typography I (3)
An introduction to the fundamental aspects of typography. History, structure, form, and the basic application of typography will be presented.
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Typography II (3)
Addresses complex communication problems that incorporate use of type and typographic systems as visual and expressive devices.
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Sound Design I (3)
Students will learn to create audio for multimedia design and entertainment arts.
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Introduction to Photography for Non-Majors (3)
An introduction to the fundamentals of photography using both manually adjustable 35mm film cameras and digital cameras. This course includes black and white film development and darkroom printing as well as digital camera use and basic image manipulation controls using PhotoShop. The aesthetics of photography will be discussed in terms of its history, and artistic and technical advancements. Students must own or have use of a digital camera (prosumer grade or above; camera phones are not acceptable).
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Electives
Four (4) Electives
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Download the catalog for the most recent course listings and prerequisites.
Susan Bonner M.F.A.
Jessica Bradham
Christopher Brown
Wade Cutler
Michael Dollar
William Fischer M.F.A.
Keith Himebaugh
Milton Klingensmith
Danylle Leonard
Comfort Love
Brian Olmstead
Claudia Pimentel
W. Shane VanOosterhout
Michael Williams
Adam Withers
Richard Yarhouse M.F.A.
Digital Art and Design graduates thrive in creative, fast-paced work environments. The skills you’ll gain in the program can be applied to a geographically diverse, broad-spectrum landscape that serves many purposes, including: entertainment, advertising, retail, information and education.
With substantial flexibility in the degree of specialization/generalization built into the curriculum, you’ll be able to develop portfolios in one or more of these professional media markets: Interaction Design, Motion Design, Visual Development, 3D Game Art, and 2D Animation.