At a Glance

(BFA) Bachelor of Fine Arts
121 Total Credits
General Education Credits 39
Art & Science Credits 9
Program Credits 64
Elective Credits 9

As technology develops and its potential applications in the workplace increase, the need for Visual Communications graduates continues to grow. The Visual Communications program has a proven record of producing graduates ready to meet this ever-evolving demand.

 

If you are looking for a major that will prepare you for professional success in a creative field, the NASAD-accredited Visual Communications program at Cazenovia College is the place for you. The program leads to a Bachelor of Fine Arts and offers concentrations in Graphic Design, Illustration, Animation, and Interactive Design. Students may wish to pursue more than one concentration within the program.

The Interactive Design concentration provides students with broad and personalized instruction on the technical skills, design strategies, and professional practices they need to solve client-based visual communications problems. Particular emphasis will be on the skills and knowledge needed to create interactive design systems for responsive web sites, mobile devices, and social media. This BFA curriculum helps students develop the necessary skills to produce digital media for new technologies – including the internet, kiosks, point-of-purchase displays, interactive maps, tablets, broadcast TV and film graphics, and mobile devices.  

Graduates are prepared for employment in creative careers as corporate in-house, freelance, or agency interactive designers or to pursue advanced degrees in a range of similar disciplines.

Cazenovia College is accredited by the prestigious National Association of Schools of Art and Design. Meeting NASAD standards confirms that Cazenovia’s curricula, faculty, facilities and student work are among the best in the U.S. 

  • GOAL 1: SKILLS - Master formal visual communication skills by the time students graduate.
  • GOAL 2: RESEARCH & IDEAS - Understand and apply design history and theory to generating ideas and visual problem solving.
  • GOAL 3: EXECUTION - Develop the skills to execute visual solutions across a range of traditional and digital media.
  • GOAL 4: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE - Fully prepared for professional employment in creative careers or further studies.
Our Visual Communications programs are housed on the main and lower floor of Reisman Hall. The facility includes everything you need to produce high-quality graphics and animations, including:
  • State-of-the-art digital lab with MAC workstations loaded with the latest Adobe and other graphics and animations software
  • Cameras and photoshoot set up
  • 3D Printer
  • T-shirt transfer printer
  • Digital drawing tables
  • Light boxes
  • Button makers
  • Wire bending machine
  • Large format printers
  • Scanners
  • Matt cutters and spray booths
  • Students are required to take two career electives that offer a broad experience within the Visual Communications degree to maximize their professional experience in the field.
  • In their final year, Visual Communications students complete a comprehensive senior project in their area of concentration and in collaboration with a professional contact within the field. These projects and their portfolios are showcased in the College Art Gallery in April. The exhibition is curated by the students, and offers the opportunity for friends, family, and industry professionals to view their creative efforts on a large scale.
  • Students and graduates of the Visual Communications program routinely win regional and national awards for their real-world design work.
  • The VC Club, now a student chapter of AIGA, takes annual trips to NYC during which students have the opportunity to tour advertising and design related businesses and visit with authorities in the field.
  • Internships are an integral part of the program because they provide students with valuable professional experience as well as all-important opportunities for networking. Internship students are placed nationally in corporate or educational art departments, advertising agencies, design and animation studios, and publishing houses.
  • Students spend their entire senior year building print and online portfolios while conducting successful job searches with mentors in the field. These portfolios are widely acknowledged by local industry professionals as the best in the region, making graduates competitive on the job market regionally as well as nationally.
  • Classes are small and taught in seminar/discussion/studio format by well-qualified, experienced faculty members in Reisman Hall, with state-of-the art dual boot computer studio labs.
After graduation students pursue degrees in higher education, go into business as freelancers, or find employment in corporate art departments, advertising agencies, design studios, publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, multi-media and web design businesses, or printing firms.

Students with a BFA in Visual Communications enter a growing job market with many career options. Typical employers would include advertising agencies, multimedia production companies, publishers, design groups and consultancies, magazines, local government, education, television, charities, commerce and local industry.

Positions graduates may seek include:
Art Director, Brand Identity Designer, Brand Manager, Broadcast Designer for film or TV, Content Developer, Creative Director, Database Administrator, Digital Production, E-commerce Site Developer, Executive Producer, Flash Media Designer, Freelance Designer, Game Designer, Information Architect, Interactive Art Director, Interactive Project Manager, Interface Designer, Java Developer, Marketing Manager, Media Designer, Mobile Applications Developer, Motion Graphics Designer, Multimedia Designer, Multimedia Developer, Multimedia Producer, Multimedia Programmer, New Media Specialist, Partner of a design business, PHP Developer, Senior Producer, Server Administrator, Video production, Web Administrator, Web Applications Developer, Web Designer, Web Developer (front end/interface systems), Web Illustrator, Web Producer, Web Programmer/Developer (back end systems), Web Project Manager, Web Scripting, Webmaster, Web Programmer/Developer (back end systems), Web Project Manager, Web Scripting, Webmaster.

Curriculum

  Courses (Credits)
   See Degree Requirements: General Education requirements (33)
   Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Information Literacy: 
      VC 498 Senior Research (3)
   Senior Capstone: VC 499 Senior Project (3)
TOTAL GENERAL EDUCATION CREDITS - 39  
   Courses (Credits)   
   FA 221    History of Visual Communications (3)
   FA 111 or 210   Art History: to the Middle Ages or Art of the World (3)
   FA 112   Art History: Renaissance to the Present (3)
Total Arts & Sciences Program Credits - 9
   Courses (Credits)      
   SA 111    Drawing: Composition & Perception (3)  
   VC 111    Design & Digital Color Theory (3)
   VC 112    Concepting (3)
   VC 118    Digital Foundations (3)
   VC 140    Typography (3)
   VC 174 or 206   Digital Page Layout or Storyboarding (3)
   VC 235    Video Production (3)
   VC 242    Graphic Design I (3)
   VC 274    Imaging Graphics (3)
   VC 281    Internship Preparation (1)
   VC 313 or 314   Mobile App Design or E-Publishing (3)
   VC 316   Game Design (3)
   VC 374    Interactive Design (3)
   VC 375    Web Design I (3)
   VC 384    Visual Communications Internship (3)
   VC 412    Motion Graphics (3)
   VC 415   Coding for Designers (3)
   VC 475    Web Design II (3)  
   VC 492    Senior Portfolio I (3)
   VC 493    Senior Portfolio II (3)
   VC 300-400    Career Elective (6)

Total Career Program Credits - 64
   Courses (Credits)      
   100-400 level    (9)
Total Open Elective Credits - 9
TOTAL ELECTIVE CREDITS - 9