Program Overview
Master of Art+Design Overview [ details ]
The Master of Art and Design extends the department’s long–standing commitment to interdisciplinary and collaborative education to the graduate level.The unique feature of this graduate program is the blending of art, design, and both hand and digital technologies. The degree offers two concentrations, each with opportunities for collaboration and interaction with other programs on campus.
The Studio Experience
The studio experience lies at the heart of the Art and Design masters program. One half (24 credit hours) of all course work in the curriculum is devoted to the studio experience, learning through making. (The studio experience appears on the curriculum display in the form of one 6-credit-hour studio each semester, including the Final Project Studio in the last semester.)
The experience centers on the intersection of technical knowledge, conceptual experimentation, and making. The studio requires students to synthesize knowledge gained through instruction (both inside and outside the discipline) and individual investigation, and apply that knowledge in the development of ideas and to acts of creative problem solving. The Masters student is expected to demonstrate a mastery of subject matter in their field, both in practical application and scholarly investigation.
The studio experience will focus primarily on the activities of designing and making artifacts—those assigned by faculty and those initiated by students. During the official studio hours, other related activities may include workshops, discussions, critiques, visiting artists, and presentations. Primary evaluation of the student’s growth and progress will be based on the quality and quantity of the work produced.
Animation and Digital Imaging Concentration [ more details ]
In the New Media and Animation program at NC State, we leverage an array of technology to create images, animation, and interactive projects. To address the needs of contemporary artists and designers, we offer students a foundation for working with a range of digital tools, an awareness of formal relationships, and strategies for generating and refining design solutions. Students in the program are individuals who synthesize both traditional and digital skills. In addition, they should embrace being conceptual translators who are both able to design for clients and create self-motivated works. A unifying thread throughout the program is visual storytelling. As a result, we manipulate images, motion, time, and user interaction to convey meaning and create specific experiences. While there are many ways to apply the knowledge gained in the program, it is geared toward those who are interested in sequential art, digital illustration, digital modeling, compositing, character animation, motion graphics, and multimedia interactive projects.
This concentration educates artists/designers skilled in drawing, time-based imaging, and digital imaging to effectively use the computer to synthesize and augment these skill-sets as the demand for animators increases in the future. The concentration provides an intensive level of experience, instruction, and immersion in digital 3-D animation and graphics.
Fibers and Surface Design Concentration [ more details ]
This concentration educates professional artist/designers with both artistic and technical proficiency, combining digital technologies with traditional hand processes in the conception and hand production textiles. Focus is on professional level accomplishment for practicing artists, production craftspeople or textile designers in a wide range of areas of exploration.
