As just one of CMU’s 34 Academic Majors, the Graphic Design program brings a lot to CMU as a whole. As a 4-year BFA degree with two separate concentrations, the Graphic Design program offers both print and animation courses. As a fairly small department with over 150 majors, class sizes don’t exceed 20 students, which allows more time for students to get one-on-one help from their instructors.

In addition to small class sizes, the program has a small staff size with only 4 to 5 professors in the department.

In the program all the learning is Mac based. Students animate on programs such as Adobe Flash, Adobe After Effects and Autodesk Maya.

“All seniors have the software on their own Mac’s and [the department] got new iMacs this year,” Professor Carolyn Quinn-Hensley said.

Animation students learn how to use a camera to capture the props and tell a story. Some students choose to write and produce their own music videos they create. Others choose to make a series of drawings and then scan them into the program, similar to the way that old Disney movies were made.

“The program is both challenging at points and also really helps your imagination and design skills,” senior Parker Eyrich said.

Each year, the animation program hosts an Animation Festival at the school, with last years attendance exceeding 150 people.

Last year, three animation students beat out over 340 other competitors and 140 projects to win the third annual 2012 CMU Student Showcase. However, this wasn’t the animation programs first entry in the Student Showcase. In 2010, animation students created Beau Tube Productions, which are a collection of animated shorts that had CMU characters and themes. The animation program has also been highlighted in CMU’s alumni magazine and Quinn-Hensley manages a blog on the program at animationcmu.blogspot.com. Although most graduates go on to work for design studios, web design has also been a rising field in which animation graduates go establish a professional career.

“I want to go to graduate school after graduation and then work at a major animation studio,” Eyrich said.

For more information on the animation program, contact professor Quinn-Hensley.