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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
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B.Des. in Digital Arts and Media Design

Design. Develop. Discover.
Create on the edge of technology!

Become a creative problem-solver and learn to think critically in a collaborative environment. develop your skills in the most up-to-date technologies but will also prepare you for the future of your field.

Earn a Bachelor of Design in Digital Arts and Media Design at Penn State

Are you ready to go digital with your creativity? Join us in the studio!

Digital Arts and Media Design uses digital arts technologies in studio settings to challenge artists and expand ideas.

Digital artists manipulate computer software through coding to expand the potential for creating new forms of artmaking, including interactive games, simulations, or as immersive environments that require active participation by a viewer.

This degree represents an interdisciplinary approach to emerging technologies and the arts and design disciplines and prepares you for a growing and rapidly changing field of study.

Is the B. Des. in Digital Arts and Media Design right for you?

You are inspired to think in computer languages and graphic communication. You consider digital devices flexible and adaptive studio spaces where you come up with your best ideas. With this degree, you will be equipped to engage with the ever-changing face of digital media and the open-ended nature of digital design. Students who earn this degree design video games, build virtual environments, and enjoy careers in digital art, web-based design, 3-D modeling, animation, game development, video and motion graphics, and interactive media.

If your curiosity and creativity are stimulated by thinking visually in computer languages and digital communication, take your passion to the next level. Meet your technical, creative, and intellectual needs of visual thinking, computer programming, and graphic communication.

SoVA student creating a digital model for class.
SoVA Student immersed in a video game on their phone.

Concentrations

Choose from one of the following areas of program emphasis:

Digital Art and Digital Design

In this track students create individualized 2d-3d digital arts and design learning paths that may include UX/UI design (user experience/user interface), visual concept art and design, 3d modeling and digital fabrication, 2d-3d digital imaging and computer graphics, as well as the most recent emerging forms of digital art and design.

Interactive Media

In this track students create individualized learning paths for interactive media design. Students learn computational skills as visual thinkers, designing increasingly complex interactive experiences individually and in teams. Students take courses in game art, game design, physical computing, mobile and web design, virtual worlds, interactive media design, data visualization and cultural analytics.

 

Time Based Media

In this track students create individualized learning paths for 2d and 3d time based digital arts and media design including motion graphics, animation, computer graphics and pre-visualization as well as video compositing.

A day in the digital life...

From seminars to hack-a-thons and coding sessions to fabrication workshops, you will immerse in daily creative activities.

Alumni Spotlight

While I’m still dreaming bigger and bigger, I always think about the incredible foundation that my Penn State education has provided for me.
Penn State alumnus Devan Shimoyama

Alumni Spotlight

Devan Shimoyama

B.F.A. in Art 2011

Devan’s award-winning art uses painting, sculpture, and photography to challenge gender stereotypes and confront racial and cultural injustice with a vibrant, modern edge. He has exhibited at the Andy Warhol Museum and in numerous major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Paris.

Colorful illustration by Devan Shimoyama
Colorful illustration by Devan Shimoyama

News from A&A

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Penn State work featured in upcoming long-term Franklin Institute space exhibit

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Stuckeman School to host architect and graphic designer as lecturers on Oct. 4

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Stuckeman School in the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State will welcome two guests as part of its 2023-24 Lecture and Exhibit Series


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