Designing a Brilliant Career
Hillier College of Architecture and Design offers a comprehensive focus on animation within its Digital Design Program.
Animation at New Jersey Institute of Technology is embedded as a part of the school’s undergraduate Digital Design program in the Hillier College of Architecture and Design. Digital Design students begin their studies working alongside other Design majors (Interior Design and Industrial Design) in the School of Art + Design’s foundation year. The freshman foundation represents the first year of a 1-2-1 educational structure. Once they complete their foundation year that includes courses in Color and Composition, History of Art + Design, and Communication in Art + Design using both traditional and digital media, students concentrate on their professional specialties in their sophomore and junior years. Digital Designers inside Hillier College or those who have not yet benefited from the school’s broad-based Digital Design education, who wish to focus more deeply in a single area of interest, can take part in graduate study concentrations offered through four stand-alone graduate certificates that build on our core strengths in Digital Design. Starting in the fall of 2022, fully online graduate certificates are available in Digital Arts, Animation, Game Design and Interactivity, and User Interface / User Experience. These 12 credit graduate certificates can be stacked and combined with graduate level Digital Design studios for students seeking to earn a 30-credit Master of Science in Digital Design or a terminal 60-credit Master of Fine Arts in Digital Design.
Entering a Vibrant Virtual World
“We are committed to educate Digital Design students to build vibrant virtual worlds and populate them with interesting characters reflecting compelling stories through action, narratives and rich sensory experiences,” says John Cays, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Interim Director of the School of Art+Design. “Character and Facial Modeling, Visual Storytelling and Storyboarding and Imaginary Worlds typically draw DD students who are interested in the core value we provide.” According to Cays, at the undergraduate level, the Digital Design program provides a firm base and carefully constructed set of courses from which students can explore any number of Digital Design topics and career paths. “We understand that some students are not exactly sure which direction they want to choose and some are very clear about the career path they want to pursue,” he notes. “We have also found that some students who enter our design programs, certain about where their interests lie, change their minds when they are exposed to a wider set of options that include choices that they find more engaging and an even better fit. Many of our design students and graduates work or have internships performing tasks as varied as graphic design, visualization, animation, and/or compositing at firms like KWD, GRAFX Co., SUSPECT vfx+design, Ntropic, Method Studios, Enscape/Chaos, Katapult Studio, Krakensoft, Slingo, Zynga, and more.”
The Hillier College faculty is made up of industry professionals who have the unique ability to combine theory and practice. “They are often beta testers for new software, work in the private sector as well and are often pioneers in ideas and planning for unique studio work and experiences,” notes Cays. “They are connected with outside industry professionals working at the frontiers of design, entertainment and technology. The Hillier faculty are a dedicated and caring group of educators who mentor their students to think broadly and to raise their levels of aspiration to meet today’s rapidly evolving job market. Those teaching our Digital Design majors also concentrate in an array of specialties including advanced design visualization and computer graphics, AR/VR/MR/XR and immersive environments, character design and animation, digital art, game design, physical computing, robotics, simulated interior and exterior environments and user interface.” The school’s faculty and staff maintain continuing relationships with alumni which helps current students tremendously with job placement. “When there are jobs to be filled, they come directly to us because they know how our students have been taught, the software they have used and what they are capable of,” says Cays. “In addition, we host a designcentered gala every spring where current top performing students and alumni have the opportunity to meet in person, share their needs and their work and start the process of exploring opportunities for internships and job opportunities.” Cays also points out that Hillier is the only comprehensive design school in the New York Metro Area that is part of a top-tier research university. “That means that our faculty who teach in the Hillier College are actively creating and working to add new knowledge in many design fields,” he says. “Our students directly benefit from learning in this environment situated at the cutting edge of design and technology. They are challenged each day to contribute to this creative and intellectual community dedicated to building the future.”
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To find out more about the courses and programs offered at the school, please visit www.design.njit.edu