Theoretical Basis:
It’s of essential importance for students to have a grounding in the theoretical aspects of Visual Design. This includes:
- Art History of traditional art media such as painting, drawing, and sculpture
- Production in traditional art media such as painting, drawing, and sculpture
- Understanding of Various Mediums
- Illustration
- Typography
- Graphic design
- Architecture
- Industrial Design
- History of Animation
- History of Film
Practical skills are important, but must not rest on any singular program since these are constantly changing and developing.
- Modelling and texturing artist, animators, designers, UI designers, concept artists, character artists, and much more. At smaller studios several of these roles and practices are likely to be condensed into fewer positions.
Of critical importance for programs and curriculum in this space is a clear focus on how visual aesthetics play a role in the game experience, as well as the related materials, marketing, interactive media, and potential ties to other media forms. The use of 2D and 3D graphics programs can be an important part of a visual design curriculum, but emphasis must rest not on individual software skills (which are transient and change quickly) but on fundamental visual design principles and implementation techniques. This is often accompanied in such programs through a ‘studio approach’ – i.e. courses taught using traditional art practices of creation and critique, coupled with assignments directly in the creation of a particular element of a game (i.e. an animated character, a functioning UI, concept paintings from a written brief, environment models, etc.). It is common practice now at several colleges and universities for upper division courses in this realm to be coupled in some fashion with other classes or fields in a multi-disciplinary fashion such that students studying game art and design work in teams to create full-fledged operational games and media prototypes. Another popular curricular strategy is to engage students in ‘skinning’ a game or mod, recreating the visual rhetoric of the game to tell a different story or narrative.
Such multi-disciplinary approaches engaging art and design students with other fields are particularly desirable (where possible) as the culture and practice of a traditional ‘art school’ or ‘design department’ is likely to differ significantly from traditional practices in science and engineering. In particular, a focus on process, final deliverable, critique, and impact – often the key components in a traditional studio approach – differ in form and practice from the approach often taken in software development and production. Exposing students to the types of teams and roles they will ultimately be engaged with in the profession should be a goal of any curriculum.