If you like the idea of getting an associate degree that will allow you to work in television, advertising, or web development, then you might want to think about getting your associate degree in media design.
Why Get An Associate’s Degree in Media Design?
Getting an associate degree in media design is going to put you a career path that focuses on advertising in its various forms. This means that if you’re not sure you’d like to go into graphic design, web design, computer animation, or video broadcasting, starting out in media design can help you make a decision.
Why? Well, because media design teaches you about all these different mediums. It’s a great introduction to the field of advertising and design in general.
What You’ll Learn
Media design is a fascinating field that studies how, and why, people react to certain television commercials, print ads, or marketing campaigns. It also studies what design principals work best in different marketing forms.
This means that no only will you get to learn about consumer behavior, but you’ll also get an introduction into several different medias such as video broadcasting, web design, copywriting, and graphic design. You’ll learn about the effects of color, line, and form, and how to integrate all three into a design to create a visually stunning piece that will get results for the company you’re working for.
Some of the classes you might see once you enroll in a media design associate degree program include:
- Drawing
- Color Theory
- Graphic Design
- Marketing
- Psychology
- Intro to Web Design
- Desktop Video
- Copyright Law
- Intro to Audio
- Interactive Vector Graphics
Many schools will also train you to use specific design software. Most professionals depend on computerized software to do their work, so knowing how to use these complicated programs is vital for your career prospects. You’ll probably how to use programs such as:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Flash
- Dreamweaver
- Imagemaker
You’ll also learn important skills such as HTML, e-commerce, Internet marketing, animation, and advanced web-based graphic programs.
Getting an associate degree in media design is a lot of work; you’ll have a lot of projects to work on both in class, and at home. But the good news is that most of these projects can be put into your portfolio, which, in the art field, is more important to your resume. Most schools will spend plenty of time helping you put together a portfolio so that you can find a job once you’re done with school.
Careers With An Associate Degree in Media Design
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the fields of media design and web design (two fields that are often lumped together, along with graphic design) career prospects look good through 2016. Thanks to the every growing use of computers and the Internet, these careers will grow faster than average.
About 25% of people who work in media design and graphic design are self-employed. It’s hard to say how much you can earn in this field. A lot depends on the size of the company you work for, or if you decide to go out on your own.
Most designers (again, media and graphic designers are lumped together here) earned between $35,000 to $55,000. Self-employed designers earned $60,000 to $98,000.
Getting an associate degree in media design will allow you to work in a creative, innovate field that’s definitely exciting and artistic. If you’re looking for a career that’s a bit out of the box, then you’ll definitely want to consider media design.