What private, liberal arts colleges have an exceptional arts program?
Q. I'm majoring in Studio Arts and possibly French or International Relations. My current school is strong in the liberal arts but their visual arts program is underdeveloped and pretty elementary, so I want to transfer. I feel like I rarely hear about good arts programs at small, private colleges so I'm looking for some suggestions, primarily in the Pacific Northwest but I'm open to anything. Thanks.
Asked by J'aime Le Pois - Wed Jan 28 16:08:18 2009 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments

A. The small, liberal arts schools that I know have excellent overall academics and strong visual arts programs are on the east coast, sorry. They include: Bard, Skidmore, Tufts (via their relationship with the School of the MFA Boston), Brown (via their relationship with RISD; and like Tufts, maybe big for you, but they really are small unis, relatively speaking), and Carnegie Mellon U (again, a small uni). Those are all very strong. The one I think is dead-on for what you want is Bard. Others you could consider include Smith, Hampshire, Wesleyan, and SUNY New Palz.
Answered by RoaringMice - Wed Jan 28 16:17:06 2009

Difference between Computer Arts: New Media and Graphic Design at Academy of Art University?
Q. I'm planning on going to the Academy of Art University in SF, but I'm stuck between whether I should take Computer Arts: New Media or Graphic Design. Could someone please tell me the difference? Also, if I do take Computer Arts:New Media, what type of career opportunities are there? I know obviously if I take Graphic Design, I become a Graphic Designer, am I right? Please help!
Asked by Kay - Mon Jan 14 17:08:30 2008 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Hello! I'm a student at AAU and here's about as much as I know: New Media is part of the Computer Arts school, so you're going to learn more about web design and web graphics. You'll probably learn programs like Photoshop, Flash, After Effects Fireworks, Dreamweaver, etc. and probably some basic HTML, CSS, etc. Graphic Design is more traditional arts based, where you'll learn the principals of design and stuff like typology, calligraphy, print and package design. You can always change your major if you end up liking one more than the other. You can probably even float between the two and still be a graphic designer, but learn the tools of the new media trade.
Answered by Hoot - Wed Jan 16 00:23:09 2008

What are good books for learning graphic arts?
Q. I was interested in using my creativity and possibly learning graphic arts concentrated on web developing. What are some good books to learn about graphic arts, art, and web design?
Asked by hardboiled - Wed Mar 25 13:40:07 2009 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Meggs, History of Graphic Design Landa, Graphic Design Solutions, also Advertising by Design Carter, Day and Meggs, Typographic Design Clair, Busic-Snyder, A Typographic Workbook Samara, Making and Breaking the Grid Those books will all give you a good grounding in graphic design, typography and the history of Graphic design. These are the foundations for being a graphic designer. The software is secondary; once you've studied design concepts, then progress to the software, and web design. If you are going to learn web design, although you can use software that handles the code for you, it's a good idea to get at least a basic grounding in HTML, XHTML and CSS.
Answered by amybeader - Wed Mar 25 14:49:09 2009