The School of Art offers a four-year, professional degree program leading to the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Visual Arts/Animation with a concentration in Game Art/Design.
The concentration in Game Art/Design offers a comprehensive digital animation experience that explores traditional 2D and 3D animation, stop-motion, and illustration. Students learn about video game creation including game theory, game development pipelines, and game asset creation. Students use industry-standard animation game development software such as Autodesk Maya, Epic Unreal Engine, Substance Painter, Toon Boom Harmony, and Adobe Photoshop. They learn how to draw for games, develop assets, manage complex tasks, work collaboratively, meet deadlines, participate in critique, respond to feedback, and adapt to change.
Students begin with the First-Year Foundations Program which nurtures their interests and skills through classes in drawing, 2D, 3D, and 4D. In subsequent animation courses, students develop an understanding of essential industry tools for 3D art creation an learn about game-specific pipeline management, workflow optimization, version control, and various aspects of technical art. They also refine their ability to work collaboratively within a game engine, integrate sound into their game prototypes, and build a strong foundation in coding.
Juniors and seniors participate in a three-semester collaboration with peers from Computer Science and Music Media Production in an environment that mirrors the dynamics of a real game production studio. They leverage art and design principles for creative problem-solving, master professional terminology, and craft a demo reel or portfolio.
Our Game Art/Design graduates are prepared for careers across diverse interactive industries: at big companies and as independent developers working on a wide range of games, such as AAA games for major platforms like Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation; games for Apple and Android mobile apps; medical therapy games; and educational games for K-12 and beyond.
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