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Online Art & Design Degrees

Earn your Art & Design Degree

Do you have an artistic flair that you would love to share with the world? Are you currently weighing out your educational and career options so that you make a sound decision? There are numerous occupational possibilities in the world of art and design; you will want to weigh out your options carefully and choose a path that fits your ultimate career goals. By obtaining your degree in an area of art and design you will be able to work in a variety of venues; from education to galleries to privately owned businesses.
In order to successfully work in the industry of art and design, it will be important for you to obtain your college degree. A common path is to complete your bachelor of fine arts degree, which will take approximately four years of attending school full-time. Your coursework will likely consist of a wide variety of art and design related classes in conjunction with classes that will teach you about the history of art and how art has evolved over time. This degree program will primarily contain visual arts classes. However, should you decide to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree program your coursework will primarily focus on the liberal arts aspect of art and design.

Upon completion of a bachelor’s degree program you will be well-equipped to enter the work force; you will have a sound knowledge of instructional practices as they relate to art and design, as well as important pedagogical concepts. Your knowledge and skills will make it possible for you to use what you know in order to shape how artists, researchers, and educators contribute to educational accomplishments. Keep in mind, you can research any of the schools listed on our site and they will send you a free information packet. You can also research career information on our blog to learn more. It is common for individuals who work in art or design to fall into one of four categories: a craft artist, an art director, a multimedia artist, or a fine artist. A craft artist is the individual who creates hand-made objects to be sold; this would include items such as pottery, candles, or tapestries. An art director works to develop design concepts, as well as to supervise the entire creation and production process of the design. Multimedia artists typically find themselves working with video, the internet, the film industry, or other electronic forms of media representation. Should you decide to work in the venue of fine art your work will likely be displayed in a museum or a gallery. Fine artists often create illustrations, paintings, or sculptures. In addition, you could choose to pursue a degree program that would allow you to work as an art education teacher. Get started today and request your art and design degree program from any of the colleges listed below.

Top Art and Design Degrees

There are basically 4 levels of education one can achieve when going into Art and Design as a major. The first level is that of a certificate. In a certificate program you’ll typically take courses that focus on a single skill that you’ll master. Certificate programs are usually short in terms of how long it takes to complete (typically 6 to 12 months). This will allow you to get out in the workforce quicker. The most common certificate programs include: digital photography, dressmaking, fashion design, interior decorating and multimedia. In these creative careers you’ll be hands-on in your work and be responsible for the creative aspect and completion of your own projects. The next level is an Associate’s degree. For this level students start to get more serious about their education and allows students to find out if the training they are taking will make a good career for them. It takes 60 credit hours at a college in order to earn your Associate’s degree. Most programs you’ll find in art and design at this level will be transferrable to the next level which is a Bachelor’s degree in art and design. Earning your BA degree in art and design separates you from the rest of the crowd. When it comes to subjects the most common are: multimedia and graphic design, followed by almost anything computer design related, including animation. If you transfer credits earned from your Associate’s degree (60 or more), then you’ll only have 60 additional credits (120 total) in order to earn your Bachelor’s degree. The final level is a Master’s degree in an art and design subject matter. This level is reserved for those who want to take their career to the next level. Often those earning their Master’s degree want to get into management and perhaps even own their own business one day. Earning your Master’s degree takes an additional 50-60 credit hours (typically 2 years) in order to complete.

Careers in Art and Design to Consider

In arts and design below are the top 3 categories that we receive the most requests for additional information from. Learn why each one is so popular.
Fashion Design – The media pay for a fashion designer with a Bachelor’s degree or higher is $63,000 per year and has a projected growth rate of 3%. Currently over 325 colleges in the US offer a degree in fashion design that can be achieved by earning your art and design degree. Over 22,000 people in the US are fashion designers. You can take the first step by either starting with a certificate program or enrolling in a school that offers a 4 year degree.
Graphics Design/Multi-media – One of the most popular and desired degrees are those in graphic design or multi-media. The greatest thing about this career is the wide variety of jobs available. One can specialize in so many different types of design (web, print, multi-media, etc.). Also the entry into the industry can be obtained with limited training. You can earn your certificate in a specialized area in less than 6 months and be in the field working. Also many who earn an art and design degree with a graphic design specialty end up working in marketing departments as they have the technical skills to do the job and can even work on or manage a team. We will go into some of the specialty software below that many use.
Game Art Design – Do you love playing video games? Would you like to make it your career? Start your training at an accredited college. Over 150 colleges offer some sort of game art and design degree. These programs are offered at campus locations to allow you to get hands-on training but also can be completed online. On the high end designers can earn up to $129,000.

NASAD Accreditation
The National Association of Schools of Art and Design accredits colleges that offer programs in arts and design. Currently over 352 schools have this accreditation. NASAD is a great accreditation that provides services to the schools it accredits. It is a good idea for students to attend accredited schools as the accreditation can safeguard the student in the event of a school closing. Schools also have to abide by certain standards which assure quality programs that have the best possible standards and outcomes.

Software used in Art and Design Careers
When it comes to software used by art and design students and graduates the industry leader is Adobe Photoshop. The main reason is it doesn’t really matter what industry you end up working in, Photoshop is used by all. It has been around for years and has grown into a cloud environment recently giving its users even more flexibility. Another software package used is Microsoft Visual Studio and Adobe Illustrator. It does depend on what you’ll be working on as print designers will use different types of software where web and multi-media will need more robust software.