VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS

Classes:
As the newest major in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, visual communications is designed for students who are interested in learning the basics of visual communications through a series of core courses and then applying those skills in a specific area through a series of media-related electives. The new major stands on its own and does not have an ad/pr or a news/ed orientation per se.

For example, a visual communications student who is interested in advertising would take all of the general mass communications and visual communications courses and then could take electives in courses such as principles of advertising, creative strategy and ad campaigns. A visual communications student interested in a news/ed field would take all of the same core courses and then could take electives such as reporting, feature writing and copyediting.

Careers:
The goal of the visual communications sequence is to produce graduates who can

• cover breaking news events as photojournalists
• produce commercial photography
• use skills in design, typesetting, illustration, photography, writing and editing to prepare materials for the mass media such as books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters and web sites
• create graphic communication for informative and persuasive messages in the mass media, such as logos, animation, software interfaces, statistical charts, diagrams, timelines and maps.
• create audiovisual communications for internal and external publics
• supervise the printing, production and delivery of print and online publications to a mass audience

Internships:  All students are strongly encouraged to do an internship in the art or photo department of an ad agency, a public relations firm or at a newspaper or magazine.

Capstone Experience:
As part of the capstone course, Jour 564 - Advanced Visual Communications, students will be required to produce a portfolio that demonstrates the broad range of visual communication skills and projects they have completed during their time in the major. This portfolio is reviewed by a faculty panel and students must pass the portfolio review in order to graduate.

QUICK LINKS

Academic Bulletin/Courses

Visual Communications Faculty

Blogabroad
This blog contains posts by Mary Pinckney Waters, a 21-year-old vis com senior from Aiken, S.C. Mary is spending the 2005-2006 academic year in a Study Abroad program at the University of Bamberg in Germany.