Program Learning Outcomes
Animation Track
Mission Statement
The Entertainment Design - Animation Track prepares students to be the next generation of animators by teaching creative and technological skills needed to bring stories to life, memorable animated experiences, and immersive gaming experiences.
Thinking Process & Conceptual Methodology
Graduates will be able to:
- take assignments and add their originality to it, creating fun and interesting worlds, environments, characters, etc.
- come up with fun and entertaining storylines
- work within someone else’s storyline/world
Storytelling
Graduates will be able to:
- Be fluent in narrative structures (films and written material), non-narrative structures (games or VR experiences), and other information/language structures in relating content, understanding audiences, and world-building, while being able to both interpret and expand one’s own stories, and those of others.
Communication Skills
Graduates will be able to:
- Achieve mastery of both traditional and digital media that is relevant to the student’s chosen track as well as clearly and professionally express themselves visually, verbally, and interpersonally.
2D & 3D Proficiency
Graduates will be able to:
- Demonstrate fluency in identifying and applying the principles 2D and 3D animation/modeling as well as mastery in the use of pipelines to create the artwork
Painting & Lighting Skills
Graduates will be able to:
- Develop traditional painting mastery as well as digital painting mastery. Observe and absorb real-world realities to influence conceptual creation and master the powerful use of lighting, composition, and color for storytelling.
Design Knowledge & Critical Thinking
Graduates will be able to:
- Recognize challenges and have a systematic approach to exploring multiple solutions. Find solutions that are repeatable, adjustable, and professionally deployable. Confidently create personalized problem-solving processes to be able to solve clients’ visual storytelling challenges.
Professional Awareness
Graduates will be able to:
- Understand and implement practical employment skills/knowledge. Develop curiosity as life-long learners by identifying core strengths to build upon while also challenging themselves outside their comfort zone. Interact thoughtfully with people and cultures to cultivate originality and responsibility. Learn to navigate peer-to-peer, client, and team dynamics with collaboration and competence. Understand the pipelines of production in their respective fields of entertainment design.
Concept Track
Mission Statement
The Entertainment Design - Concept Track prepares students to be the next generation of entertainment designers by teaching creative and technological skills needed to bring stories to life, creating conceptual worlds, memorable animated characters, and immersive gaming experiences.
Thinking Process & Conceptual Methodology
Graduates will be able to:
- Understand and demonstrate proficiency in story creation, interpretation, production design methodologies and presentation, and balance real-world constraints with imaginative needs.
Storytelling
Graduates will be able to:
- Be fluent in narrative structures (films and written material), non-narrative structures (games or VR experiences), and other information/language structures in relating content, understanding audiences, and world-building, while being able to both interpret and expand one’s own stories, and those of others.
Communication Skills
Graduates will be able to:
- Achieve mastery of both traditional and digital media that is relevant to the student’s chosen track as well as clearly and professionally express themselves visually, verbally, and interpersonally.
2D Proficiency
Graduates will be able to:
- Demonstrate fluency in identifying and applying the principles of design with 2D artwork as well as mastery in the use of pipelines to create the artwork.
3D Proficiency
Graduates will be able to:
- Demonstrate fluency in identifying and applying the principles of design with 2D artwork as well as mastery in the use of pipelines to create the artwork.
Painting Understanding
Graduates will be able to:
- Develop traditional painting mastery as well as digital painting mastery. Observe and absorb real-world realities to influence conceptual creation and master the powerful use of lighting, composition, and color for storytelling.
Lighting Understanding
Graduates will be able to:
- Master the powerful use of lighting for storytelling and to direct the viewers' focus.
Design Knowledge & Critical Thinking
Graduates will be able to:
- Recognize challenges and have a systematic approach to exploring multiple solutions. Find solutions that are repeatable, adjustable, and professionally deployable. Confidently create personalized problem-solving processes to be able to solve clients’ visual storytelling challenges.
Professional Awareness
Graduates will be able to:
- Understand and implement practical employment skills/knowledge. Develop curiosity as life-long learners by identifying core strengths to build upon while also challenging themselves outside their comfort zone. Interact thoughtfully with people and cultures to cultivate originality and responsibility. Learn to navigate peer-to-peer, client, and team dynamics with collaboration and competence. Understand the pipelines of production in their respective fields of entertainment design.
Game Design Track
Mission Statement
The Entertainment Design – Game Design Track prepares students to be the next generation of game designers by teaching creative and technological skills needed to bring stories to life, creating immersive gaming experiences.
Thinking Process & Conceptual Methodology
Graduates will be able to:
- Integrate and utilize in-depth understanding of story creation, game mechanics, and presentation
- Understand methodologies to create a game based on the initial idea/story/IP
- Have the capacity and methods to invent truly original games
- Develop their own design language
- Show iterative process of ideation to final design
- Easily and skillfully move from micro to macro, and macro to micro
Storytelling
Graduates will be able to:
- Recognize and evaluate the narrative and engagement flows of a game
- Create and convey their own game concepts /stories/worlds
- Interpret/support/expand/communicate existing (others') game concepts
- Apply consistent scope of design within world-building (environment, characters, levels, etc.)
Communication Skills
Graduates will be able to:
- Demonstrate mastery of relevant interactive media
- Flow smoothly between art and programming design languages & expression
- Clearly express concepts in presentations, in own portfolio, and in pitching
- Utilize effective interpersonal skills
Game Development Skills
Graduates will be able to:
- Acquire and synthesize the technical skills necessary for competency in prototyping and game design
- Understand the skills required in the production of art and audio
- Demonstrate fluency in the various phases of the production process of a game
- Demonstrate fluency in the production pipeline and game development workflow
Game Production Skills
Graduates will be able to:
- Demonstrate fluency in identifying and applying the principles of design for interactive experiences
- Understand and use efficiently new technologies
- Identify their audience and assess their concepts from the user’s perspective
- Balance the game in order to optimize the player’s experience
- Balance and sort the constraints between the familiar (industry standards and references) and the innovative
- Identify and understand the business aspects of a game and their effect on its design
Design Knowledge & Critical Thinking
Graduates will be able to:
- Recognize challenges and have a systematic approach to possible multiple solutions
- Find solutions that are repeatable, adjustable, and professionally deployable
- Confidently create their own problem-solving processes
- Understand and solve others' game design problems
- Internalize the concept "the past informs the present which makes the future" to inform design choices
- Make both past and future inferences for credible formation of cohesive world-building and game design
Professional Awareness
Graduates will be able to:
- Identify core strengths and build upon them, while also challenging themselves in lesser-developed areas
- Internalize identity as a designer and innovator
- Interact thoughtfully with people and cultures, whether familiar or unfamiliar
- Cultivate uniqueness of mind and scope of experience
- Appreciate their responsibility for keeping the quality of their work high and staying current in their field
- Navigate peer-to-peer, client, and team dynamics with collaboration and competence
- Develop a growth mindset as a life-long learner
- Understand and engage with issues that directly influence the profession
- Understand and implement practical employment skills/knowledge