Creative Concepts A team of Visual Communications students creates a window display that they have rendered, constructed, and installed.
ASSOCIATE OF ARTS
VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS
The Visual Communications Program offers students a diversified, creative business background in visual presentation, exhibit/trade show design, retail and event marketing, and store planning, with an emphasis on the fashion and entertainment industries. Students benefit from exposure to practical and theoretical visual merchandising techniques. Courses include presentation design, color theory, concept visualization, trend forecasting, and computer graphics.
What Our Students Learn In our program, students learn the creative and technical skills to create visual displays and elements for a variety of projects.
Why FIDM Students work on real-world projects with industry professionals from companies like Saks Fifth Avenue, Global Shop, PAVE/Planning, Visual Education Partnership, Giorgio Armani, Bloomingdale's, Gucci, and Anthropologie, and have partnered with FIDM to create internships for students in the program.
Students leave the program proficient not only in their hard skills like quick sketching, InDesign, SketchUp, and Photoshop, but also confident in soft skills like collaboration and negotiation. They develop a full understanding of attention to detail, problem solving, and what goes on in the world of art and culture and how it applies to their work.
[left] design: retail magazine and Saks Fifth Avenue Window Design Challenge; Class: Design Installation [top right] Students participating in the 99¢ Store Challenge [middle] Precise craftsmanship is needed when making scale models; Class: Materials & Props [bottom left] Students working with paint and markers; Class: Perspective Sketching [bottom right] Building and construction is part of the curriculum
REQUIRED CLASSES FOR ASSOCIATE OF ARTS (A.A.) (for students without a prior college degree)
| GNST 1040 | English Composition | 3 |
| GNST 1230 | Color & Design Theory | 3 |
| GNST 1450 | College Mathematics | 3 |
| GNST 1600 | Effective Speaking | 3 |
| GNST 2020 | Survey of Western Art I | 3 |
| GNST 2420 | Survey of Western Art II | 3 |
| GNST 2750 | Seminar in the Arts | 3 |
| GNST 2960 | American Political & Economic History | 3 |
| GRPH 2230 | UX Design | 3 |
| MMKT 1550 | Marketing & Brand Development | 3 |
| MRCH 1450 | Concepts in Trend Forecasting | 3 |
| SMED 1100 | Introduction to Social Media | 3 |
| SMED 2880 | New Media Public Relations | 3 |
| TECH 1100 | Introduction to Adobe | 3 |
| VCOM 1250 | Survey of Visual Communications | 3 |
| VCOM 1350 | Ideation Sketching | 3 |
| VCOM 1480 | Perspective Sketching | 3 |
| VCOM 2020 | Layout & Design | 3 |
| VCOM 2080 | Environmental Styling: Commercials to Lifestyle | 3 |
| VCOM 2130 | Mobile Photography | 3 |
| VCOM 2180 | Computer Rendering | 3 |
| VCOM 2220 | Materials & Props (6 hours)* | 3 |
| VCOM 2350 | Computer Graphics | 3 |
| VCOM 2370 | Design Strategies for E-Commerce & Visual Environments | 3 |
| VCOM 2460 | Design Installation (6 hours)* | 3 |
| VCOM 2710 | 3-D Studio | 3 |
| VCOM 2780 | Portfolio Preparation & Presentation | 3 |
| VCOM 2810 | Experiential Techniques in the Visual World | 3 |
| VCOM 2820 | Fashion Styling & Coordination | 3 |
| VCOM 2840 | Entrepreneurship for Visual Presentation | 3 |
| Total Units of Credit | 90 |
REQUIRED CLASSES FOR PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATION (A.A.) (for students with a prior college degree)
| GNST 1230 | Color & Design Theory | 3 |
| GRPH 2780 | Introduction to Digital Photography | 3 |
| SMED 1100 | Introduction to Social Media | 3 |
| VCOM 1250 | Survey of Visual Communications | 3 |
| VCOM 1350 | Ideation Sketching | 3 |
| VCOM 1480 | Perspective Sketching | 3 |
| VCOM 1550 | Critical Concepts for Visual Communications | 3 |
| VCOM 1850 | Trends: Past, Present & Future | 3 |
| VCOM 1900 | Drafting Techniques for Visual Presentation | 3 |
| VCOM 2020 | Layout & Design | 3 |
| VCOM 2180 | Computer Rendering | 3 |
| VCOM 2220 | Materials & Props (6 hours)* | 3 |
| VCOM 2350 | Computer Graphics | 3 |
| VCOM 2380 | Advanced Digital Imaging | 3 |
| VCOM 2460 | Design Installation (6 hours)* | 3 |
| VCOM 2510 | E-Commerce & Visual Merchandising | 3 |
| VCOM 2640 | Public Relations for Entertainment & Fashion | 3 |
| VCOM 2780 | Portfolio Preparation & Presentation | 3 |
| VCOM 2820 | Fashion Styling & Coordination | 3 |
| VCOM 2840 | Entrepreneurship for Visual Presentation | 3 |
| Total Units of Credit | 60 |
*Three (3)-hour lab included in 6 hours
For important information about the completion rate, educational debt, and earnings of students who attended this program, go to fidm.edu/go/ge/vc.