Expressive Book excerpts by Matthew Wattam
Students can emphasize areas like commercial photography or graphic design, or take coursework in web design and development, professional printmaking, or animation and fabrication. Innovative capstone courses allow students to interface with their professional choices while enrolled in the degree.
Digital Media Design enables students to actively craft their career with a degree that combines fundamental production skills in video, photography, design, and programming with training to understand and analyze how culture is transformed by a myriad of rapidly evolving and hybridized media. This degree puts you in control of your future.
Our students learn from instructors with a varied set of skills and experiences while receiving hands-on training in photography (camera work, lighting, large format printing, post-production), video (storyboarding, short film creation, color grading, editing), digital fabrication (3D printers, CNC, laser cutting), programming for the web and IOT (client-side and server-side programming, connecting to sensors in the physical world), graphics (from layout design to illustration), and many other skillsets.
Students in this program will learn to master emerging technologies as well as develop creative critical thinking skills. This combination of technology and creativity helps students find their own aesthetic voices, preparing them for success in the fields of communication and culture creation.
Facilities & Equipment
- 7 digital media labs
- Fabrication lab
- Illustration Tablets
- Lighting Studio
- Sound Booth
- Printing Lab
- Media Center
- Over 80 DSLR cameras
- Professional Lenses
- Over 100 Video Cameras
- Video & Photography Grip
- Sound Recorders
- Professional Strobe Lighting
Apply
For freshman applicants, no application beyond the UK Admissions application is required. Transfer students—whether from other UK programs or other universities—must complete additional questions and submit a portfolio as part of the application process. This includes students already enrolled at UK who want to change their major or add DMDE as a second major. Admission to the program is competitive and considers both academic performance and creative goals.
Students explore areas of interest, including:
- graphic design
- digital drawing and illustration
- photography
- video
- animation
- digital design and fabrication
- programming for the web and Internet Of Things
- printmedia
The information presented below is for your convenience. Always be sure to check the official UK Catalog for full course requirements and degree information.
Major Requirements
Digital Media Design Foundations
Digital Media Design students must complete a set of foundational art courses to prepare them for higher level studies. This program consists of four studio courses, two art history surveys, and a specialized introductory course in academic and creative strategies. Students also participate in a Foundation Exhibition, celebrating work created across the foundations courses, competing for juried awards.
Studio Requirements
A minimum of nine art studio (A-S) courses at the 300-level or above, of which at least six are digital-based (printmedia, digital photography, graphic design, video, web-based art, 3D fabrication, and more).
Art History and Visual Studies
At least six hours of art history, visual studies, film history or theory must be taken at or above the 300-level from an approved list.
Required Outside Concentration
In addition to the major requirements, each student, with the approval of his or her academic advisor, will select a minimum of 18 hours in related course work in an outside area of concentration, of which 12 hours must be from a single discipline or focused area, such as film studies, WRD, media arts, business, etc., and 6 must be at the 300 level or above.
- Interested in science? You can still major with us!
CFA & UK Core Requirements
- College Requirements (6 ch)
- UK Core Requirements (30 ch)
Pre-Med Requirements
Students need not enroll in the labs associated with these various courses. They are not necessary for students pursuing careers in medicine. Calculus is also not required.
- PHY 151 Introduction to Physics (3 ch)
- PHY 152 Introduction to Physics (3 ch)
- BIO 148 Introductory Biology I (3 ch)
- BIO 152 Introductory Biology II (3 ch)
- CHE 107 General College Chemistry II (3 ch)
- CHE 230 Organic Chemistry I (3 ch)
- CHE 232 Organic Chemistry II (3 ch)
- CS 115 Intro to Computer Programming (3 ch)
- CS 215 Intro to Program Design Abstraction/Problem Solving (4 ch)
- STA 296 Statistical Methods and Motivations (3 ch)
Digital Media Design
Foundations
- A-S 101 Creative Practices in Art Studio (1 ch)
- A-S 001 Foundation Exhibition (0 ch)
- A-S 130 Drawing (3 ch)
- A-S 200 Introduction to Digital Art, Space, and Time (3 ch)
- A-S 285 Lens Arts (3 ch) 1 100-level art course (3 ch)
Major Requirements
- Nine Art Studio courses at the 300-level or above, at least six of which are Digital Media Design courses.
- A-S 585 Industry Pathways and Practices
- A-S 547 Advanced Digital Projects Capstone
Electives (6 ch)
TOTAL: 120 Credit Hours