Advertising is the art of persuasion. Advertising professionals set trends in society, influence buying habits and social behavior, frame the big questions and develop solutions to contemporary social issues. The Art Institute of Portland has its own student-run advertising agency, brashCreative, which serves the advertising and marketing needs of real-world clients and gives students a chance to practice, experiment and perfect their skills.

Students develop skills in design, layout, typography, and copywriting. They examine consumer behavior, marketing concepts, design principles, the history of advertising, and trend analysis to ultimately integrate their skills, knowledge, creativity and marketing savvy to develop persuasive media messages.

Design Management is the business program for the creative industries. This is the business of thinking creatively, managing that creative flow, and maximizing creative capital. The design manager is a thinker, an artist, an entrepreneur, and a bridge builder-someone who puts a project together and steers it to completion. They are multidisciplinary professionals who ?get it? on many different levels, left- and rightbrain thinkers who thrive in a creative environment and are natural leaders of the creative process.

Students in our Design Management program complete a core of creative and business courses and also choose two different studio concentrations, in order to face design challenges with varying constraints. Upper division design management students work on real-world projects to gain experience in leading the creative process, helping businesses stay innovative and achieve their goals by integrating technology, sound management practices, and principles of good design.

Design Research is for problem-solvers. Students are immersed in design history and contemporary design theory and have the opportunity to learn to synthesize many diverse strands of design knowledge to create a vision for the future. Design Research students enjoy and understand the research process and can apply this knowledge toward situations in product development, trend analysis, design and market forecasting, business writing, project management and strategic planning for business. The Art Institute of Portland is one of the few institutions in the United States offering a degree program in the field of design research.

Studio classes combined with courses in theory, design history, and applied social sciences teach students how to apply concepts, theories, and research to design development. Design Research opens the door for young academics, writers, researchers and designers to engage in the challenges of design-methodology, ethics, problem solving, ethnographic research -and the use of design in everyday life.

Design Visualization brings ideas to life. By combining illustration, 3-D design, animation and photo compositing skills, students produce realistic visual simulations and quality 3-D renderings of new ideas and test concepts, which visualize strengths and weaknesses before production. Design Visualization professionals facilitate the communication process between designers, entrepreneurs and manufacturers.

The Design Visualization program offers students receive strong technical training and development of sharp aesthetic judgment for a career in product design, manufacturing, architecture, engineering, construction, interior design, transportation studies, urban planning, land use studies, real estate development and law. Students become proficient in industry standard CAD software and incorporate 3-D environment studio experiences.

Game Art & Design is a discipline in playful creativity. To entertain an idea is to allow it to play in one?s mind. The product is the creation of a virtual environment that engages our senses and entertains us in innovative ways. Game artists use traditional forms of media, as well as radically new kinds of tools, to communicate their ideas and realize their visions. Game artists work individually and as part of a creative team to weave together many different aspects of the look, feel and sound of a virtual environment.

Game designers create the game story, the game logic, the game space, history and timeline, fashioning together color, composition, texture, sound, 3D modeling and motion techniques. Game artists learn the nuts and bolts of how games and imaginary worlds of animation are created - they draw, sculpt, write, think, speak, work together and become adept at many kinds of software - driven by a passion for play.

Graphic Design is the universal visual language. It is an art that is present in everything we see and everywhere we go. Graphic designers are visual communicators who inform, educate, motivate, entertain and persuade by combining typography, color, composition and illustration in artful ways. Graphic design students have the opportunity to learn many visual languages-they study consumer behavior, trend analysis, and persuasive techniques-and they integrate many kinds of values into the design process, including a research focus and an understanding of sustainability.

Graphic design students build a process book and complete a research folder before beginning the design process for every new project. Upper division students work in teams on real-world projects to learn how to communicate with clients, extract the right information, organize a project and carry it through to completion.

Industrial Design shapes the world around us. From the watches we wear to the cars we drive, from medical technology to movie monsters, industrial designers imagine, design, engineer and create the built environment. The industrial designer learns to think in three dimensions, and to combine creative ideation, technical know-how, and design savvy to cater to the ever-changing needs of the global marketplace. The industrial designer is an inquisitive person and someone who likes to tinker.

The Industrial Design Studio is outfitted with devices and machinery such as 3-D printers, laser cutters, casting and mold-making devices as well as heavy equipment, and is upgraded as needed to address new trends in product development. The program keeps in close touch with the professional community and draws many of its instructors from the ranks of practicing professionals. Sustainability has been a focus of the program since its inception-not as an extra, but as a key element of good design. Industrial designers envision and make things that enrich everyday life.

The College?s Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program in Interior Design is a comprehensive program that is designed to prepare students to become professional interior designers. Students have the opportunity to gain experience in many different project types that exist in the profession -including residential, commercial, educational and medical projects-as they investigate technical, functional and aesthetic aspects of space planning and design. The program offers a global understanding of the role of the interior designer-students focus on the issues of sustainability, diversity, client and user needs, public health, safety and human welfare-students also are expected to develop a vital personal and professional skill-sets in areas such as research and analysis, problem-solving, organization, communication and time-management.

The location of The Art Institute of Portland, in the heart of Portland?s art and design community, provides students with direct access to designer showrooms, art galleries and local design firms. Practicing professionals teach many of our courses and also participate as design reviewers and guest lecturers. The Interior Design program has a strong commitment to keep current with industry standards and trends, and to integrate industry practices into the classroom environment. The department?s comprehensive approach to the discipline of interior design prepares graduates to be lifelong learners and practitioners in an exciting and dynamic profession.

The Interior Design program leading to the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation, www.accredit-id.org, 146 Monroe Center NW, Suite 1318, Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2822.

Web Design is the virtual roadmap to the future. The field integrates many elements-technology, psychology, project management, and marketing-and is expanding from workstations to the environment as a whole. Human-computer interactions and the new experiences that are made possible by them are radically altering the human experience.

Students have the opportunity to learn to combine elements of video, audio, graphics, storytelling and concept development and to demonstrate how solutions address the user experience. Our project-based curriculum integrates innovations in technologies and social networking with classic design principles to meet industry expectations. During events such as our annual Web Raising, students can learn to analyze and solve technical, business and design problems in collaborative efforts with real-world clients.

Apparel Accessory Design combines form and function to make that perfect outfit complete. The program encompasses a broad but focused range of craftsmanship, command over materials, and rigorous problem solving. Students have the opportunity to learn the techniques to create the products that customers demand. Staying with the seasons and being on top of the trends is a must!

Like The Art Institute of Portland?s Apparel Design program, the Apparel Accessory Design curriculum offers instruction in business and entrepreneurship, marketing and presentation and demands the same attention to detail. Students can learn to create dynamic, yet functional, accessories from concept to finished prototype.

Apparel Design is about the marriage of fabulous style and precise construction, about communication, technology and entrepreneurship, about beauty and function. Students learn under the tutelage of instructors with great experience in the fashion industry. Classmates motivate each other to innovate through originality and adaptability, both essential characteristics of successful professionals in the industry.

In the classroom, apparel design students are expected to develop skills in clothing design, sketching and illustration, patternmaking and draping, garment construction, textiles, critical analysis, and computer-aided design.

The curriculum offers exposure to business practices, marketing and presentation that are critical to the success of apparel lines and brands. Students can learn to develop their own collections and have opportunities to exhibit their creations in fashion shows and competitions, including The Art Institute of Portland?s annual fashion show which is student planned, produced and executed.

With a keen eye and a deep understanding of style, a fashion marketer may forecast trends, produce fashion shows, own a boutique or work in media to define and shape the fashion world. Fashion marketers emphasize innovation and creativity, ethical considerations, and the influences of the global market when researching and developing trends.

The Fashion Marketing program at The Art Institute of Portland exposes students to the apparel industry from a business standpoint, offering them the knowledge and skills needed to effectively market companies, create advertising campaigns and identify appropriate messaging to target demographics. Classes in retail buying, direct marketing development, and merchandising using 3-D software are designed to prepare students for product development projects that are completed in collaboration with students studying in The Art Institute of Portland?s other apparel programs. The annual fashion show is just one of the many opportunities for the fashion marketing students to get involved in the many facets of the fashion world.

The Digital Film & Video Department nurtures students by offering them the tools they need to find their individual strengths. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive aesthetic and technical foundation in all aspects of narrative and documentary digital filmmaking by balancing theory with hands-on production classes taught by established, award-winning professionals.

The Art Institute of Portland student films have been showcased at the New York International Film and Video Festival, the Toronto Doc Fest, the Palm Springs Festival and numerous international festivals.

Media Arts & Animation is a time-based art form. Animators are skilled and specialized visual communicators, combining individual artistic talent with technical expertise, who use their creative talents to design and develop story elements and character environments. Animators create impressions in a moving image format. Animation has the power to mesmerize, educate, entertain and influence.

The Media Arts & Animation program is designed to help students develop skills in 2-D and 3-D animation, drawing, color, composition, storyboarding and design, enabling students to produce a digital portfolio that demonstrates their practical and technical skills. Animators are skilled visual communicators whose work is sought out by advertising, entertainment, education, legal, governmental, technical and entrepreneurial clients, studios, agencies and organizations.

Visual & Game Programming is the combination of artistic and technical skill-the eye of the artist and the mind of the programmer-required to create a virtual environment. Like a traditional computer science program, the program teaches coding, but students also have the opportunity to learn how to envision and realize a project as an architect in virtual space. Students can choose between two tracks, technical directing or visual programming, and work in concert with Game Art & Design students to create prototype games.

The student in this field is likely to be an avid gamer but also possess a logical mind -a left and right brain thinker-someone who can envision a virtual environment as well as devise programming code to make that environment a reality. Visual & Game Programming graduates are prepared for entry-level positions in this demanding, exciting and still-expanding field.

The Visual Effects & Motion Graphics Department provides students with the unique opportunity to work individually and collaboratively within a framework of production-based classes that reflect real-world experience. Faculty members are award-winning professionals who work in the film, broadcast, Web and graphic industries. Our goal is to teach students the art of technology by teaching concepts, critical thinking, and content.