SCAD Majors/Minors Fair 2019
On Friday, Sept. 21, 2019, SCAD Atlanta held its annual Majors/Minors Fair.
The event featured all of SCAD Atlanta’s current undergraduate major and minor programs with course lists, student works, and department professors to address students’ queries. The majority of the attending students were freshmen researching their options.
Most prominent amongst the programs were SCAD Atlanta’s five largest departments: Interior Design, Fashion, Illustration, Graphic Design, and Animation.
Out of these five, the Animation program has recently gone through the biggest changes. According to Professor Tina O’Hailey, most of these changes are to the senior classes: they are now 100% group-based, requiring inter-class collaboration and resembling professional animation studios. This structure also allows for more completed films, which the department hopes to show at this year’s Animation Fest. When asked about alumni careers, Professor O’Hailey responded, “Animators often become directors because they’re innate storytellers.”
The Interior Design major also has some minor changes. Professor Peili Wang shared that beginning this year, upperclassmen can take a VR-based elective.
Another trendy program is Fashion, which includes Fashion Design and Fashion Management. A member of the Fashion department commented that it is advisable for students to know both, and expressed interest in future collaboration with Graphic Design. When questioned about SCAD’s slower learning curve compared to other fashion schools, the professor remarked that the appropriate method depends entirely on the individual student’s wishes.
On student’s wishes, Hayden Yang, Fashion Design student, expressed his, “Most students want to launch their own brands. But I don’t, because I like making garments more than making design,” said Yang. “I’ll probably work for a company — a fashion magazine or brand.”
The freelance-corporate split in Illustration and Graphic Design is closer to 50–50. Three years ago, Illustration started to offer four specialized concentrations: entertainment, animation and games, publication design, and surface design. The Graphic Design program is unchanged; its freshmen expressed an accurate understanding of their study.
“I’m interested in brand and web design,” said Lesly Granados, first year.
However, students sometimes oscillate between Graphic Design and Advertising and Branding. Professor Holly Quarzo, Graphic Design, offered her advice, “Take introduction classes to what you feel resonates with you the most. You’ll eventually feel a specific way. It’s also helpful to know the organization you’d like to work with.”
“Advertising is easy,” said Professor Robert Brown of the Fine Arts department. When asked about the fine arts, he replied, “Fine arts is about thinking. You say you’re in Fine Arts, but you’re really in philosophy. It’s less designing somebody else’s and more developing your own.” The department offers Painting and Sculpture majors and a Printmaking minor. According to professor Brown, graduates can either freelance as professional artists or work for corporations in promoting fine arts.
Other notable programs at the Major/Minors Fair include Game Design and Developing, which attracted a lot of freshmen, Industrial Design, and Writing, the only department of SCAD Atlanta’s School of Liberal Arts. According to Professor Darby Sanders, Writing is not a big department and is sometimes taken as a minor to Photography, Sequential Art, or Film & TV.
