The Art Institute of Portland
Prepare yourself for a creative career at The Art Institute of Portland, one of over 40 Art Institutes located in major cities across North America. We’ll help take you there with a real-world, hands-on education in design, media arts, fashion & the culinary arts. Just imagine: preparing for a career you’ll love. Becoming the professional you’ve always known you could be.
Programs Offered:
- Advertising
- Apparel Accessory Design
- Apparel Design
- Design Management
- Design Studies
- Design Visualization
- Digital Film & Video
- Fashion Marketing
- Game Art & Design
- Graphic Design
- Industrial Design
- Interior Design
- Media Arts & Animation
- Visual & Game Programming
- Visual Effects & Motion Graphics
- Web Design & Interactive Media
Financial Aid: Financial aid is available for those who qualify.
Career Services: Our career services are designed to encourage your success. From helping you obtain part-time work while you are attending school to actively supporting soon-to-be graduates' job search, faculty and staff are committed to ensuring that each and every student receive the support he or she needs.
Summary of Programs:
Advertising
Advertising is a creative profession within the commercial realm. In the Advertising program, you’ll study art direction, copywriting, and account supervision – and you’ll learn both the creative and business side of advertising. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as account manager, copywriter, or assistant art director.
Apparel Accessory Design
The Apparel Accessory Design program starts with a foundation in art and general studies courses, helping you to gain an understanding of design elements such as color theory, sewing, materials, and trends. You’ll progress on to designing accessories such as footwear, hats, jewelry, hosiery, eyewear, and umbrellas. When done with the program, you will be able to use color, textiles, stones, metal, and other materials to create a dynamic yet functional accessory, Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as fashion designers and accessory designers.
Apparel Design
From patternmaking and sketching to fabric selection and industry-related computer software, courses in Apparel Design prepare students for a career in the fashion industry. You’ll create styles that stand out – maybe even the next big thing in fashion. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as designer, assistant fashion buyer, fashion designer, and seamstress.
Design Management
In the Design Management program, you’ll study studio design, general education, business, management and technology. You’ll learn to work as a team member as you fine-tune both your creative and business skills. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as production assistant in a design studio or in-house creative department, marketing assistant for a corporation or interior design firm, or assistant traffic manager for an advertising agency or magazine.
Design Studies
In the Design Studies program, you’ll learn the fundamentals of research, business and art and understand how they integrate to enhance the design process. Students will focus on analyzing design trends, understanding design philosophies, and gathering research to provide support for new designs. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as market researcher, account manager, or photographer’s assistant.
Design Visualization
Contact an admissions rep for more information.
Digital Film & Video
The Digital Film & Video program provides the basics to help aspiring videographers understand nuances of digital filmography. You’ll gain knowledge of shooting, directing, and editing digital pieces using industry-related software and equipment. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as digital or film videographer.
Fashion Marketing
In the Fashion Marketing program, you’ll fine-tune your fashion buying and marketing skills. The program prepares you to choose your own direction as you learn from fashion professionals and study merchandise presentation, visual merchandising, retailing, and buying. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as assistant fashion buyer, fashion merchandiser, retail store manager, or runway coordinator.
Game Art & Design
In the Game Art & Design program, you’ll learn the art and design skills needed to get into the gaming field. You’ll use your talents to create applications used within the business, education, training, and entertainment industries. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as modelers, storyboard artists, animation artists, 3-D illustrators, digital artists, FX artists, video post production artists, broadcast graphics designers, and game designers.
Graphic Design
In the Graphic Design program, you’ll study design, typography, and color theory. Industry-specific software is utilized to help you learn to create everything from logos and posters to packaging, Web sites, and corporate identity packages. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as advertising designer, computer artist, freelance artist, graphic designer, or layout artist.
Industrial Design
From the watches we wear to the cars we drive, industrial designers have a hand in nearly everything we use. In the Industrial Design program, you’ll learn to balance aesthetics and engineering as you develop product to practicality using specialized software programs. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as car designer, furniture designer, product designer, special effects artist, or theme park designer.
Interior Design
In the Interior Design program, you’ll study the design, safety, and usability issues of creating the spaces that we live, work, and play within. Coursework focuses on space planning, traffic patterns, and the colors, surfaces, and furnishings that make surroundings comfortable and livable. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as draftsperson, facilities planner, interior designer/decorator, or space planner.
Media Arts & Animation
In the Media Arts & Animation program, you’ll develop a strong foundation in drawing, design, and illustration in order to produce traditional 2-D formats. Then you’ll move into computer generated 3-D formats that make characters and objects come alive. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as animator, computer animator, digital media producer, special effects artist, background designer, computer artist, layout artist, or video game artist.
Visual & Game Programming
In Visual & Game Programming, you’ll take courses in art, general studies, mathematics, science, computer engineering, and computer graphics. As you gain experience, you’ll create modified prototype games in a group environment, learning how a whole team works together to create a product. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as digital artist, character animator, texture artist, and character modeler.
Visual Effects & Motion Graphics
The Visual Effects & Motion Graphics program helps you to learn how to use your creativity to produce attention-grabbing communication design for film, television, and the Web. Visual effects are responsible for movie trailers, opening film credits, television commercials, animated network identities, and short promos. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment such as production assistant, assistant designer, visual effect specialist, or broadcast design assistant.
Web Design & Interactive Media
In the Web Design & Interactive Media (formerly Interactive Media Design) program, you’ll focus on interface design, interactivity, visual design, database design, dynamic Web content design, technology, and information design and employ creative solutions across all Web-related mediums. You’ll learn skills that will enable you to create accessible, engaging interactions via Web sites and other interactive mediums. Graduates are prepared to seek entry-level employment in positions such as interactive designer, animator, special effects artist, and computer artist.
Degree Key: C = Certificate AAS = Associate of Applied Science BA = Bachelor of Arts BS = Bachelor of Science