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2011-12 Academic Catalog - Cazenovia College
2011-12 Academic Catalog - Cazenovia College
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Visual Communications: Web and Interactive Design concentration<br />
Bachelor <strong>of</strong> Fine Arts<br />
The Visual Communications: Web and Interactive concentration teaches students to<br />
create content for the Web or other digital media. Students learn various methods <strong>of</strong><br />
how to build a Web site and how to design user-friendly delivery and displays in a nonlinear<br />
and interactive environment. Interactive design aims to have the end-user interact<br />
and respond (such as in game design), using text, graphics, animation, video, and audio.<br />
The curriculum focuses on usability, technology, and business. Students can pursue<br />
advanced degrees, go into business as freelancers, or find employment in business,<br />
industry or government art departments, advertising agencies, design studios, publishing<br />
houses, multi-media and web design businesses, television studios, or consulting firms.<br />
Goals:<br />
• Teach students to solve communication problems visually, to partake in conceptual<br />
message development, and to achieve personal creative excellence;<br />
• Help students understand and respond to the cultural influences that shape various<br />
audiences, messages, client needs, and design decisions;<br />
• Develop pr<strong>of</strong>iciency in classic media as well as fluency in new technologies; and<br />
• Ensure understanding <strong>of</strong> basic business practices as designers, including production,<br />
project organization, and working in a team environment.<br />
Special Features:<br />
• Students are required to take two career electives that <strong>of</strong>fer a broad experience within<br />
the Visual Communications degree to maximize their pr<strong>of</strong>essional experience in the<br />
field.<br />
• In their final year, Visual Communications students complete a comprehensive senior<br />
project in their area <strong>of</strong> concentration and in collaboration with a pr<strong>of</strong>essional contact<br />
within the field. These projects and their portfolios are showcased in the College Art<br />
Gallery in April. The exhibition is curated <strong>by</strong> the students, and <strong>of</strong>fers the opportunity<br />
for friends, family, and industry pr<strong>of</strong>essionals to view their creative efforts on a large<br />
scale.<br />
• Students and graduates <strong>of</strong> the Visual Communications program routinely win regional<br />
and national awards for their real-world design work.<br />
• The VC Club takes annual trips to NYC during which students have the opportunity<br />
to tour advertising and design related businesses and visit with authorities in the field.<br />
• Internships are an integral part <strong>of</strong> the program because they provide students with<br />
valuable pr<strong>of</strong>essional experience as well as all-important opportunities for networking.<br />
Internship students are placed nationally in corporate or educational art departments,<br />
advertising agencies, design and animation studios, and publishing houses.<br />
• Students spend their entire senior year building print and online portfolios while<br />
conducting successful job searches with mentors in the field. These portfolios are<br />
widely acknowledged <strong>by</strong> local industry pr<strong>of</strong>essionals as the best in the region, making<br />
graduates competitive on the job market regionally as well as nationally.<br />
• Classes are small and taught in seminar/discussion/studio format <strong>by</strong> well-qualified,<br />
full-time faculty members in Reisman Hall, with state-<strong>of</strong>-the art dual boot computer<br />
studio labs.<br />
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