School Of The Art Institute - Chicago
The undergraduate arts programs at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is grounded in the belief that borders between artistic arenas are pliable and that the most exciting trends in art are occurring in the spaces where the arenas overlap. Therefore incoming SAIC students are urged to explore the rich variety of artistic education and individual expression.
Within the Visual Communication department at SAIC, student-designers are encouraged to look at the world as artists. Theoretical, process, and technical courses are combined with practical training to allow students to develop both an intellectual grasp of visual communication as well as a the technical proficiency to realize it.
Students learn to communicate effectively through visual language through exposure to various techniques including digital and non-digital images, typography, three-dimensional expressions, and the use of both digital and non-digital systems. In addition, students create a wide range of communication products from books, posters, and packages to visual environments, exhibitions, multimedia and interactive displays, and web sites.
SAIC offers two main areas of study within the program:
Physical media (print, objects and environments) and virtual media (web sites and interactive media). Though overlapping in terms of basic art training, the two areas allow students to pursue projects that lead to the development of their individual visual portfolios.
Students are supported in their work with a Macintosh lab equipped with printers and scanners as well as a printing service offering large-format and high-quality printing.
Students also benefit from SAIC's close relationship with the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the school's series of seminars and workshops featuring some of the nation's most renowned designers.
