Game Art and Design (BFA)
Paul Smith, MA
Interim Chair
Accreditation
National Association of School of Art and Design (NASAD)
Woodbury University offers a four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Game Art & Design. The program provides graduates with a solid understanding and practice of the expertise required to enter the computer game industry. The curriculum provides students with a thorough comprehension of the production process through critical and creative thinking, theoretical and historical study, and conceptual and experimental exploration.
The incredible growth and sheer expressive power of computer and video games have made them an important and influential part of the cultural landscape. Rapid advancement of technology requires continuous development of new skills for designers and artists. A generation of young gamers raised on earlier video games are now the designers and creators of today’s games. Young artists and designers—who are now students—will grow into the field’s innovators and emerge as the creators of tomorrow’s games, but it doesn’t end there. The technology, skills, and techniques of game art and game design have advanced into new areas that promote learning, encourage health and exercise, assist corporations and the military in recruiting and training, and create new medical therapies.
The Game Art & Design BFA connects art, animation, computer hardware and software, story development, and the many facets of game design. Students may choose from two emphases: Game Art, focusing on two- and three-dimensional character design, environmental design, and animation; or Game Design, focusing on elements such as game concept ideation, play mechanics, computer programming, story development, game system navigation, user interfacing, scoring systems, and rapid prototyping.
As one of the many vibrant programs in the School of Media, Culture & Design, Game Art & Design integrates communications and psychology into the general education curriculum through the study of visual communications, media culture, consumer behavior, and media psychology. Woodbury University’s location at the heart of Southern California’s entertainment industries provides students with unique field trip, internship, field experience, and employment opportunities.
Mission
Game Art & Design merges creative vision, story, art, sound, animation, play mechanics, and computing in the development of immersive game experiences. Through original interactive projects, each student develops an individual creative voice while collaborating in an authentic production environment. We provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to excel and meet the challenges of this industry’s rapidly changing production and distribution technologies.
Additional Learning Opportunities
Career Experience
Prior to graduation, students must complete 120 hours of internship or career experience at a local game development studio, web design company, digital art studio, narrative design enterprise, technical art studio, or companies that develop interactive media. The career experience is usually accomplished in the junior or senior year and approved by the department chair.
Woodbury’s Career Development Office offers a variety of programs, services, and resources to assist students in exploring careers and securing work experience internships. The staff works with students one-on-one to develop successful search strategies in order to help students connect with employers through internship postings, résumé collections, on- and off- campus interview opportunities, alumni connections, and employer outreach in the United States.
Technology and Computer Requirements
Game Art & Design requires third- and fourth-year students to have laptop computers and recommends the same for first- and second-year students. Students may choose either Apple or PC/Windows laptops based on needs and individual budgets. Game Art & Design courses and faculty members use both Mac and PC computers. Students’ computers and software must be compatible with existing on- campus computer labs. Teaching labs are equipped with all software used in the Game Art & Design program.
Questions may be directed to the department chair and/or faculty regarding specific project needs or current hardware/software requirements.
Program Learning Outcomes
Program Learning Outcomes
Students who graduate from Woodbury’s Game Art & Design program will achieve these learning outcomes:
- Interactive Media: Knowledge of concepts related to the visual, spatial, sound, motion, interactive, and temporal elements and features of digital technology and of the principles for their use in the creation and application of interactive digital media.
- Digital Technologies: An understanding of characteristics and capabilities of particular hardware and software game technologies with regard to expressive, functional, strategic, and narrative applications.
- Strategy And Planning: Awareness of the most useful, effective, and desirable processes in the development and coordination of digitally based art and design strategies. Development of the ability to work in teams, organize collaboration among people of different disciplines, and demonstrate proficiency in both verbal and visual presentation.
- History And Theory: Knowledge of associated history, theory, and criticism with respect to areas such as film, video, technology, and digital art and design.
- Professional Practice: Understanding of structure and professional practices of the video game and interactive media industries.
- Design Communication: Development of an industry-style work portfolio to highlight the individual student’s particular strengths.
Assessment Process
Formative Assessment Experiences
Student development is assessed in each major design studio, both at the midterm and at the end of the semester. At each assessment point, student work is reviewed in terms of the applicable course learning outcomes for the particular studio.
Summative Assessment Experiences
In order to demonstrate required professional and design competencies before graduation, students must successfully pass the GAME 431 and 432 Degree Project courses. Degree projects provide students with the experience of developing and completing original, substantial 3D art or game design efforts that illustrate their ability to incorporate knowledge gained in the previous years of study.
Program Specific Academic Standards
Below-average work is not acceptable for a professional degree. A minimum grade of “C” is required of all Game Art & Design studio courses.
Curriculum Summary
Game Design Emphasis
| Unit Type (UT) |
Number of Units (U) |
| Major (MA) |
67 |
| General Education (GE) |
49 |
| Unrestricted Electives (UE) |
9 |
| Work Experience (WE) |
0 |
| Minimum Total Units Required |
125 |
Suggested Sequence of Courses
Game Design
First Year
Fall Semester
| GAME 101 | Game Design Fundamentals | 3 |
| GAME 107 | Game Design Practices | 2 |
| GAME 109 | Game Art Practices | 2 |
| WRIT 113 | First-Year Academic Writing | 3 |
| MDST 120 | Public Speaking | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 16 |
Spring Semester
Second Year
Fall Semester
| GAME 201 | Narrative Design Fundamentals | 3 |
| GAME 203 | Sound Design Fundamentals | 3 |
| GAME 205 | Game Engine Technique | 3 |
| GAME 207 | Game Programming Patterns | 3 |
| INDS ___ | Interdisciplinary Core Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Spring Semester
| FILM 200 | Screenwriting | 3 |
| GAME 211 | Game Level Design | 3 |
| GAME 221 | Game Prototyping | 3 |
| GAME 224 | History of Games: Twentieth Century | 3 |
| ____ 2__ | Mathematics Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Third Year
Fall Semester
| GAME 321 | User Interface Design | 3 |
| GAME 323 | Story Development for Interactive Media | 3 |
| | | |
| GAME 105 | 3D Art Fundamentals | 3 |
| | Or | |
| FOUN 101 | Beginning Drawing | 3 |
| | | |
| ____ ___ | Ethics Elective | 3 |
| ____ 3__ | Upper Division General Ed. Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Spring Semester
| ENVT 220 | Environmental Studies | 3 |
| GAME 332 | Experimental Technology for Games | 3 |
| GAME 334 | | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Art/Film/Design History Elective | 3 |
| ____ 3__ | Upper Division Interdisciplinary Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Social Science Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Work Experience | 0 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 18 |
Type:
ENVT 220, Art/Film/Design History Elective, Upper Division Interdisciplinary Elective, and Social Science Elective: GE.
GAME 332 and GAME 334: MA.
Work Experience: WE.
Fourth Year
Fall Semester
| GAME 431 | Degree Project: R & D | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Humanities Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Natural Science with Lab Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Art/Film/Design History Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Social Science Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Type:
GAME 431: MA.
Humanities Elective, Natural Science with Lab Elective, Art/Film/Design History Elective, and Social Science Elective: GE.
Spring Semester
| GAME 432 | Degree Project: Production | 3 |
| GAME 434 | Professional Practices Game Industry | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Art/Film/Design History Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Type:
GAME 432 and GAME 434: MA.
Art/Film/Design History Elective: GE.
Unrestricted Elective: UE.
Curriculum Summary
Please reference your Academic Worksheet
Game Art Emphasis
| Unit Type (UT) |
Number of Units (U) |
| Major (MA) |
67 |
| General Education (GE) |
49 |
| Unrestricted Electives (UE) |
9 |
| Work Experience (WE) |
0 |
| Minimum Total Units Required |
125 |
Suggested Sequence of Courses
Game Art
First Year
Fall Semester
| GAME 101 | Game Design Fundamentals | 3 |
| GAME 107 | Game Design Practices | 2 |
| GAME 109 | Game Art Practices | 2 |
| WRIT 113 | First-Year Academic Writing | 3 |
| MDST 120 | Public Speaking | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 16 |
Spring Semester
| FOUN 101 | Beginning Drawing | 3 |
| GAME 105 | 3D Art Fundamentals | 3 |
| GAME 112 | GameDesign Documentation | 3 |
| GDES 107 | Digital Practice | 3 |
| WRIT 313 | Advanced Academic Writing | 3 |
| LSCI ___ | Information Sources | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 16 |
Second Year
Fall Semester
| FOUN 102 | Design and Composition | 3 |
| GAME 140 | Environmental Design and Modeling | 3 |
| GAME 201 | Narrative Design Fundamentals | 3 |
| ENVT 220 | Environmental Studies | 3 |
| INDS ___ | Interdisciplinary Core Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Spring Semester
| FOUN 104 | Drawing Concepts and Composition | 3 |
| | Or | |
| FOUN 105 | Introduction to Figure Drawing | 3 |
| | | |
| GAME 224 | History of Games: Twentieth Century | 3 |
| GAME 237 | Materials, Lighting and Rendering | 3 |
| GAME 238 | Character Design and Modeling | 3 |
| ____ 2__ | Mathematics Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Third Year
Fall Semester
| GAME 203 | Sound Design Fundamentals | 3 |
| GAME 303 | Advanced 3D Sculpting | 3 |
| GAME 307 | Character Rigging | 3 |
| ____ 3__ | Upper Division General Ed. Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Social Science Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Spring Semester
| GAME 308 | 3D Cinematic Animation | 3 |
| GAME 312 | Advanced Hard Surface Modeling | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Natural Science with Lab Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Ethics Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Art/Film/Design History Elective | 3 |
| ____ 3__ | Upper Division Interdisciplinary Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Work Experience | 0 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 18 |
Type:
GAME 308 and GAME 312: MA.
Natural Science with Lab Elective, Ethics Elective, Art/Film/Design History Elective, and Upper Division Interdisciplinary Elective: GE.
Work Experience: WE.
Fourth Year
Fall Semester
| GAME 309 | 3D Game Animation | 3 |
| GAME 431 | Degree Project: R & D | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Art/Film/Design History Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Humanities Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Social Science Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Type:
GAME 309 and GAME 431: MA.
Art/Film/Design History Elective, Humanities Elective, and Social Science Elective: GE.
Spring Semester
| GAME 432 | Degree Project: Production | 3 |
| GAME 434 | Professional Practices Game Industry | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Art/Film/Design History Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| ____ ___ | Unrestricted Elective | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Type:
GAME 432 and GAME 434: MA.
Art/Film/Design History Elective and Unrestricted Elective: GE.
Program Minor Curriculum
Game Art Minor
| GAME 105 | 3D Art Fundamentals | 3 |
| GAME 140 | Environmental Design and Modeling | 3 |
| GAME 237 | Materials, Lighting and Rendering | 3 |
| GAME 238 | Character Design and Modeling | 3 |
| GAME 307 | Character Rigging | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15 |
Game Design Minor