Visual Communications

Visual Communications is packaging and art, storytelling and commerce. It's the poster, the billboard, the web page, the magazine layout. It's the zippy new image on the toothpaste tube and a 30-foot-tall ad painted on the side of a building. Visual Communications takes the message and gives it a face and a personality. The men and women who decide on a career in Visual Communications balance on a wire between the world of the artist and the world of the technician.

Imagine yourself in this colorful world. Chemeketa can take you there.

The Career

The field of Visual Communications is constantly growing and changing. While graphic designers still generate ideas and rough sketches with a pencil, they now use a computer for production and to generate digital effects. From typography, page layout and scanning to prepress production and digital printing, the computer has taken over the industry. Students entering the job market today must be fluent in the use of computers and graphics software to be in demand. Traditional skills in drawing, hand-lettering and other fine arts can develop a new twist as they are combined with digital media.

Visual Communications is an attractive and competitive field with numerous career opportunities. New media offer an expanding number of job possibilities each year, with digital communications offering enormous growth potential. If you are flexible and willing to embrace new technologies, and if you can balance creativity with technical skill, this may be the career for you.

The Program

Chemeketa's Visual Communications program offers a general degree in graphic arts with an emphasis in graphic design. Depending on your career goals and interests, you may elect to take additional coursework in photography, fine arts, illustration, web design, advanced software or production techniques. Many students decide to take three years to complete the program so they can take these additional classes.

A sample schedule for first-year students might include classes in Photography, Basic Design, Layout and Design, Introduction to Drawing, Introduction to Computers for Graphics, Electronic Imaging and Survey of Graphic Arts. The spring term of your final year includes Portfolio Preparation, a course in which you will present all your work in both traditional and digital media in a portfolio show. You will also design your own logo, business stationery, and resum¬ in this class.

The assessment process prior to entering the program includes taking the college's free placement test and meeting with counseling and advising staff. You may need to complete pre-program courses, which could include Microcomputer Basics (Macintosh Version), Keyboarding, Communication Skills, Basic Mathematics, Spelling Rules, Studying for College and Introduction to Macintosh Graphics. Your advisor will help you develop an individualized program of study so that you have the greatest opportunity for success in this program.

The Visual Communications program limits enrollment so all students have access to a computer during lab hours. A summer orientation is required for all new students, and at that time we will review assessment forms, discuss fall schedules and the required program and general education courses. If necessary, a waiting list will be developed if more people apply than we have space available.

If you are interested in furthering your education and complete the Visual Communications program at Chemeketa with a 2.5 GPA or higher, you will be eligible for a block transfer of credit to The Art Institute of Portland to continue your education for a bachelor's degree in graphic design.

If you are interested in eventually having a career in management or owning your own business, you may want to take additional classes at Chemeketa from such business programs as Accounting or Management. For information about what business courses you may want to add to your program, check the Business Technology web site at www.chemeketa.edu/programs/bt/training.html.

Getting Started

If you haven' t been to Chemeketa recently, your first step should be a visit to the college. While there you can talk to an advisor and learn what the college can do to help you reach your goal. You can arrange a time to take the college's free placement tests, which will help determine whether or not you need to take some basic skills classes in mathematics, reading, spelling or writing before enrolling in the program.

A packet of program materials is available through Counseling and Career Services, or in the Visual Communications program area, Building 4, Room 284.

To learn more about this program, meet the Visual Communications staff and see examples of student work, visit the Visual Communications website: www.cccvc.com. You may also call Christine Linder at 503.399.6473.

Updated October 2006 by the College Advancement Department.