Digital Arts – Diploma
Program Details
Diploma in Digital Arts
Overview
Program Summary
The Digital Arts program offers a solid foundation in traditional and graphic arts, web design, video and sound production, animation and visual effects. Students gain the skills required for advanced production techniques, content creation, and effective project management. Graduates become creative directors, graphic designers, filmmakers, animators and motion graphic artists.
Program Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:
- Explain the foundational concepts of digital arts
- Use current industry tools and technology to produce content
- Communicate effectively and efficiently in various formats to a variety of stakeholders, consistent with industry expectations
- Apply problem-solving skills
- Adhere to best practices and professional standards within the digital arts field
- Demonstrate developing critical and creative thinking skills
- Plan and execute a creative project
The Digital Arts Program is designed to prepare students for employment in the diverse field of Digital Arts. The program fosters innovation and creativity while challenging students to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to address situations encountered in the profession.
Program Admission Requirements
Academic Requirements
In addition to meeting the general admission requirements to Selkirk College, applicants to the Digital Arts Program must meet the following requirements to be considered fully qualified:
- English 12 with a grade of 60% or higher
Additional Requirements
General
a) Applicants must submit a completed admission application form and other required documents (i.e. secondary school and any post-secondary transcripts) to the Admissions Office.
b) Applicants must complete the following:
i. Applicant Information
ii. Questionnaire
iii. Portfolio Submission
- The portfolio is a critical part of the application process and applicants should take care to ensure that their work is presented as strongly as possible.
- A portfolio of original work is required from each applicant. The portfolio demonstrates the applicant’s technical and creative preparedness for the Digital Arts program. The portfolio will contain no less that 10 pieces exhibiting the applicant’s understanding of how to create both traditional and digital art. Digital artwork submissions will be created using applications from the Adobe Creative Cloud including Photoshop, Illustrator or Premiere, or similar programs.
- The Portfolio Evaluation Committee is looking for a demonstration of visual awareness, creativity and technical skill.
- Applicants should organize their work in a manner that demonstrates development over a period of time or organize their work by media type. Applicants must be prepared to rationalize the inclusion of each piece submitted.
- Portfolios containing work copied from other artists will not be reviewed and the applicant’s admission process will be suspended.
In some instances, applicants may be required to participate in an interview with a program instructor or School Chair Applicants must submit their portfolio prior to that interview.
Submission Guidelines
Examples of works that can be included in your Portfolio:
- Photography
- Digital art
- Traditional art
- Video or animation
- Music or sound design
- Websites or programming
- Graphic design
- Illustration
In addition to the required portfolio pieces, applicants may choose to scan sections of their sketchbooks or art journals and submit them as a multi-page pdf. Including school assignments is also be helpful to the Evaluation Committee.
Technical Guidelines:
Once an application to the Digital Arts program has been received applicants will be contacted by the College and given a 4-digit access code. This code is required to submit the portfolio at portfolio.selkirkmedia.com.
Please ensure to read the portfolio guidelines carefully as submissions that do not meet the required guidelines or contain inappropriate or offensive content will not be reviewed.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
1. Before an applicant's file is considered to be complete, the following must have been received by the Admissions office:
a) Completed application form.
b) Official transcripts of high school grades (an interim statement of grades is acceptable if applicant is currently a student).
c) Official transcripts of all post-secondary education grades.
d) Applicant information questionnaire
e) Portfolio
In some instances, an interview may be required. Applicants requiring an interview will be contacted.
2. Students wishing to enroll in the Digital Arts Program on a part-time basis may do so providing the same entry requirements as full-time students, as stated in Part 1.A, have been met. Part-time students are only accepted if space is available after all full-time students are scheduled and with permission of the School Chair.
3. In order to be considered "full-time", for the purposes of admissions, a student in the Digital Arts Program must be taking all the courses listed under Graduation Requirements (Part II, Section C) in any given semester.
Graduation and Promotion
A. PROMOTION
1. Admission to a given semester requires completion of all required courses with a minimum
cumulative G.P.A. of 2.0 and no more than one (1) failure grade in the previous semester courses. Promotion from the first year to the second year also requires a minimum G.P.A. of 2.0 and no more than one (1) failing grade in first year courses. Any student with more than one (1) failure must have the School Chair's approval to progress to the next semester.
Students receiving a final grade of "F" in a prerequisite course will not be allowed to register in a subsequent course requiring that prerequisite.
2. To be qualified for admission into a course which stipulates a prerequisite, a minimum grade of 60% must be achieved in the prerequisite course, unless otherwise specified.
3. Normally, two failed attempts in a required course is cause for withdrawal from the program. A third attempt in the same course may be made with the permission of the School Chair.
4. Students who have an Incomplete grade ("I") at the end of any term may be allowed to proceed into the following term on a "conditional" basis. Such "conditional promotion" status will normally be permitted to continue only for the specified period permitted for the conversion of "I" grades (within 30 business days). The converted "I" grade must meet the terms in B.1.
C. GRADUATION
In order to qualify for the Selkirk College Digital Arts Program Diploma, a student must complete all of the following courses with a minimum Final Grade of "P" in each course and an overall GPA of 2.00 or better.
Program Courses
Term 1
Required Courses
| DA101 | Foundation of Digital Arts | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA102 | History of Art, Design and Film | 3.00 | 45 |
| DA104 | Introduction to Digital Photography | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA109 | Art Fundamentals | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA110 | Introduction To Photoshop | 3.00 | 60 |
Term 2
Required Courses
| DA112 | Digital Image Making | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA113 | Design Narrative | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA121 | Introduction to Animation | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA122 | Introduction to Video and Audio | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA131 | Fundamentals of Web | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA134 | Motion Graphics and Compositing | 3.00 | 60 |
Term 3
Required Courses
| DA210 | Illustration and Typography | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA220 | Film and Audio Production | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA224 | Motion Graphic Design | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA225 | Identity Design | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA226 | Multidemensional Design | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA227 | Character Design and Animation | 3.00 | 60 |
Term 4
Required Courses
| DA228 | Publication Design | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA233 | Portfolio Development and Design | 3.00 | 60 |
| DA266 | Production Design | 2.00 | 30 |
| DA292 | Professional Practices | 2.00 | 45 |
| DA298 | Capstone | 5.00 | 90 |
Additional Program Policies