by Adrienne Tong and Katy Schwartz
Applying for colleges is a stressful experience for many students, and pursuing an education in the art, design, and photography is no different. There are two main schools of thought when it comes to teaching design, art, and photography. One is more along the line of fine art. This is where the first year of education is devoted entirely to learning the foundational skills needed to create beautiful work. This generally entails multiple three hour studios devoted to learning to draw, paint, sculpt, and learn color theory and shape theory. The second school of thought entails more of an experience-based style. Students generally have to come with the needed skills to dive straight into work creation.
The School of Fine Art at Ohio University supports the first mentality. The program also has a portfolio review – an unusual factor in comparison to most school who have this type of curriculum – but without the student present. The work is graded entirely on its strength which is how the student chosen to be part of the program.
Most art schools require a portfolio, but some of the elite schools do not. They have the philosophy that you can teach anyone good design. University of Cincinnati’s college of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning (DAAP) has one of the top design programs nationwide. They do not include a portfolio as any part of their application process. DAAP only accepts students with a GPA above 3.0 and then put them through an intensive foundations program. Many students leave or are asked to leave during this phase.
The School of Visual Communication is founded around the second mentality. Students are required to apply to Scripps College of Communication. Selected students are sent a set of interview questions they are to write responses to. Following that process, some are offered an interview, where they are supposed to bring their portfolio and be prepared for feedback, but also must be prepared to talk about their process.
Professor Julie Elman has an interesting view on this topic as her undergraduate degree is in commercial art (from University of Dayton), and a masters in photography from OU. “I was drawn to OU teach because I knew the program well (while working on my MFA within the School of Art, I also took numerous VisCom photo classes). VisCom classes were hands-on, practical and fell in line with the style of photography I was most interested in: documentary. I knew the program was rigorous (as was the photo art program I was in), well-established and well-respected.”
“There are many people in the visual communication field who would never describe themselves as ‘artists,’” said Elman. “That whole word and idea gets into some really tricky territory. VisCom does provide students with classes that can help build skill sets and experiences — but I don’t think it means that the program is sending out ‘artists’ into the world. On the other hand, I’m sure many people feel quite artistic when doing the visual communication thing. Some might even talk about it terms of an ‘art form.’”
This is true, students earn a Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication. The program is designed to provide students with realistic and thorough professionally-oriented training in visual communication while also adding liberal arts and cultural backgrounds for a well-rounded educational foundation. Where art schools will offer a Bachelor of Arts. The difference seems subtle in terms of the degree name, but manifests itself strongly in the curriculum.
“I think one of the main differences between photography through VisCom and photography through the School of Art has to do with the end purpose,” said Professor Gary Kirksey, “our photography style is intended to end up in magazines and in newspapers. It’s about communicating visually, but also effectively. Fine art photography is often intended for galleries.” Professor Kirksey teaches one of the foundational photography classes. Instead of prompts, Kirksey pushes his students by having them shoot as either a photojournalist or commercial photographer. He then has them do shoots relating to that choice, be it covering events, or conducting a fashion or table top photoshoot.
The program has recently been experiencing an interesting phenomena, according to Elman, designer of The Rise of Barrack Obama. “We’re seeing a lot of students from the School of Art apply to transfer in. Many of them note that they hadn’t heard of our program.” This is not entirely surprising, while the school has been recognized twice as a Program of Excellence by the Ohio Board of Regents, it only has about 500 students between its graduate and undergraduate program.
Professor Stan Alost, who served as interim director of the program, noted one of the most important parts of a VisCom education. “Our foundation courses better prepare our students to be visual communicators able to understand and use multiple tools and approaches to create content. We have photo majors who have ended up in design positions, design students who have ended up as art directors. Each student gets the skills and knowledge base to adapt to jobs well after they graduate. We look for students who want to do more – curiosity and passion are key.”
That can be attributed, in large part, to their intensive student selection process. “We want to be sure that what we offer in VisCom is a good match for the students who apply. We listen to them talk about their goals, aspirations, background — and we look at the kind of work they produce. We are interested in their creative process.”
Creative process is one of the most important elements of the program. It works to help refine that process so that the content creative is purposeful and fills its intended meaning. Professor Elman sites it as the most important element, paired with a love of learning to garauntee success and a spot in the program. “It’s the creative process and the love of learning that get you through the period of time when your taste is better than the work that you’re creating,” she said.
VisCom often refers to what they teach as story telling. Graduates from the program go into fields working with newspapers, magazines and corporations, and as storytellers, they use visual to do so. Within a Fine Arts degree, creative growth is a goal of the classes, students work using the creative process to produce work that translates ideas into forms.
The School of Visual Communication is a place for storytellers, and for people who love to make beautiful work. The curriculum is founded around the concept of showing a story to an audience, “Visual communication is at the root of human existence,” said Professor Alost. “Cave paintings are considered art, but they are also communication – people recording stories to share with others. Photography was born from a desire to make documentary art easier. We have adapted this tool for communication, but its roots are in art.”
Creative Buffs 