What is digital media arts?

What is a good university that teaches Media Arts? (multimedia graphics)?

• I was SOO sure i wanted to g o to The ARts Institutes but i heard lots of bad things about them. soo i want to go to a state school.. but idk which one! WHat i wanted to take at the Arts Institute was Visual Effects and Motion graphics. soo where do i go!?!?! thanku:) and plz tell me if they hav dorms there and sports :)

• Answer:

  I don't want to throw the Art Institutes under the bus wholesale... some are better than others, and I've worked with some extremely talented people who came out of those schools (specifically Dallas and Pittsburgh) - but I've also been a creative director trying to hire people and seen some horrible, utterly clueless, portfolios from people graduating from Art Institute. I suspect that, as with most schools, you'll get out of them what you put into them. All that said, I am not a fan. I'd recommend a four year school over the two year Associates or Certificate program. The main reason for this is the foundation is missing from the two-year programs. Ai, if it serves its stated objective, is only trying to get you the short list of practical skills needed to get a job. You learn the software and technical aspects of multimedia, but don't spend a lot of time developing as a create or conceptual talent. You also don't get the humanities foundation (English 1A and 1B) or other tangential subjects that build out the skills you need for leadership in any workplace. If you open yourself up to the four year programs, there are a lot of great schools. The independent schools of art are great (here's a short list): School of Visual Arts [sva.edu], New York Pratt College of Art & Design, New York Art Center College, Pasadena Cal Institute of the Arts, Valencia CA Cal Arts & Crafts, Oakland CA Rhode Island School of Design School of the Art Institute Chicago Maryland Institute College of Art Then, there are some truly excellent programs within larger state-run and private universities: Rochester Institute of Technology Virginia Commonwealth University Arizona State University UCLA Eastern Carolina University The other thing that going to a big school of school of art program provides is a lot of contacts within the business. And, the more classes you take, the more of these contacts you're likely to make. Make sure you focus on the work of students at the schools you consider. This is a VERY competitive business. You'll need an awesome portfolio to get a job, you need to go to a school that gives you the best chance of competing. People don't generally care where you graduate from if you have a great portfolio -- but I have decided who I would talk to first (or not at all) based on resumes... and, I must admit, I've pushed some Art Institute candidates to the back of the line based on my experience looking at their portfolios (particularly in Atlanta). If a four year program is just out of the question, I would suggest BETTER short programs than Art Institute: Portfolio Center or Creative Circus in Atlanta, Miami Ad School - not sure what their multi-media programs look like, but they're all creatively very strong and taught almost exclusively by people working in the business.