Bachelor's Degree in Visual Communications: Advertising Design

In recent years, demand for skilled employees in the creative professions has risen dramatically. As technology develops and its potential applications in the workplace increase, the need for Visual Communications graduates continues to grow. The Visual Communications program has a proven record of producing graduates ready to meet this ever-evolving demand.

If you are looking for a major that will prepare you for professional success in a creative field, Visual Communications at Cazenovia College is the place for you. The program leads to a Bachelor of Fine Arts and offers concentrations in Advertising Design, Graphic Design, Web/Interactive Design, and Illustration/Animation. Students may wish to pursue more than one concentration within the program.

The Visual Communications: Advertising Design concentration allows students to focus on developing the knowledge and skills that will allow them to create great advertising. This includes developing an understanding of basic advertising concepts, including advertising strategy, design development, and execution. Creative skills focus on the combination of images and type, and the use of popular imagery to develop a visual language of persuasion. Students can also expect to become familiar with the agency model and current industry trends and practices. Integrated campaigns, social media and other digital advertising forms are included, ensuring a current and well-rounded advertising design experience.

Student Learning Goals:

Students will cultivate intellectual curiosity and practice critical thinking skills during the creative design process.
Students will identify desired outcomes and analyze socio-cultural context as they solve visual design problems.
Students will be prepared for professional positions in the field of visual communications or graduate school in related fields.

Special Features:

Students are required to take two career electives that offer a broad experience within the Visual Communications degree to maximize their professional experience in the field.
In their final year, Visual Communications students complete a comprehensive senior project in their area of concentration and in collaboration with a professional contact within the field. These projects and their portfolios are showcased in the College Art Gallery in April. The exhibition is curated by the students, and offers the opportunity for friends, family, and industry professionals to view their creative efforts on a large scale.
Students and graduates of the Visual Communications program routinely win regional and national awards for their real-world design work.
The VC Club, now a student chapter of AIGA, takes annual trips to NYC during which students have the opportunity to tour advertising and design related businesses and visit with authorities in the field.
Internships are an integral part of the program because they provide students with valuable professional experience as well as all-important opportunities for networking. Internship students are placed nationally in corporate or educational art departments, advertising agencies, design and animation studios, and publishing houses.
Students spend their entire senior year building print and online portfolios while conducting successful job searches with mentors in the field. These portfolios are widely acknowledged by local industry professionals as the best in the region, making graduates competitive on the job market regionally as well as nationally.
Classes are small and taught in seminar/discussion/studio format by well-qualified, experienced faculty members in Reisman Hall, with state-of-the art dual boot computer studio labs.

Career Opportunities
After graduation students pursue degrees in higher education, go into business as freelancers, or find employment in corporate art departments, advertising agencies, design studios, publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, multi-media and web design businesses, or printing firms.

Students with a BFA in Visual Communications enter a growing job market with many career options. Typical employers would include advertising agencies, multimedia production companies, publishers, design groups and consultancies, magazines, local government, education, television, charities, commerce and local industry.

Positions graduates may seek include:
Freelance Designer Owner, partner, principal of a design business, Marketing manager, director Art Director, Brand Manager Creative Director, Layout artist Communications Director, Communications, Manager Presentation Specialist, Print Production Manager Creative Director, Print Advertising Director, Art Production Manager, Brand Identity Developer, Broadcast Designer for film or TV, or Brand Identity Designer.