Create design solutions using animation, graphic design, advertising, and filmmaking for all types of screens.
So, you want to know what Motion Design is? You see it everyday, but you probably didn’t know it had a name. You see it when you go to the movies, or watch TV, or surf the web, or even go shopping. It is the mysterious title sequence that sets the mood for the latest sci-fi movie. It’s the beautiful animated graphics that introduce the events for the Olympic Games. It’s the cool interface on that website that you use to make your own snowboard designs. It’s the fun, colorful interpretation of music and dance to interest you in the new iPod at the Apple store. Anywhere there is a screen, you’re probably seeing creative work called Motion Design.
It really is an awesome career. You get to work with a variety of creative people, and work on all kinds of interesting projects. It’s pretty hard to get bored because each project requires its own unique creative solutions. The one thing that’s necessary if you want to be a Motion Designer is the desire to constantly push the creative envelope by creating new and innovative visual imagery. You have to really like challenging yourself to experiment and explore new ways of communicating a concept. You’ll assume variety of roles, from a graphic designer, to a storyboard artist, to an animator, to an editor, to an art director, and having fun doing it all.
Motion Design at
Ringling College
There are things you’ll learn in the Motion Design major to help you jump-start your career and to help you reach your full potential. First, you’ll learn the language and principles of Graphic Design. You’ll learn how to develop a consistent and repeatable method for solving design problems. Then you’ll learn how to communicate your ideas effectively by creating style frames and storyboards. Of course, you’ll learn the latest technology and software like After Effects and Maya, but in Motion Design, it’s the creative intent that drives the technical capabilities. You’ll learn how to work collaboratively with other creative people with a variety of different skill sets. And the best thing is that you’ll be working on actual projects from actual clients.
Video Gallery
Sarasota Film Festival
by Jason Beale and Audrey Aquino
Kiryoku
Paper Dancer
Silent Scream
Motion Design: Creative Design Solutions through Animation.
Motion Design exists anywhere there is a screen. Incorporating video, motion, text and sound, the screen's ubiquitous presence has become society’s preferred method of communication. By its very definition Motion Design is media in motion through the integration of a variety of animation and film techniques including traditional animation, digital animation, video and/or film combined within a single work.
The Department of Motion Design at Ringling College of Art and Design is committed to providing students with an educational experience that allows them to function at a professional level as motion design artists, able to engage in research, concept development, design development, execution and presentation for both clients, as well as to determine their own artistic direction. These two ideas, encouraging creativity in communicating ideas, along with developing fluency with a variety of moving media is at the heart of the department's philosophy to teach students how to deliver creative design solutions through animation.
Using exploration and innovation as a common theme, the program uses both tightly integrated and highly interdisciplinary practices, a specialized faculty, and technological resources to provide students the knowledge, skills and aptitudes to understand their creative efforts in the context of contemporary visual culture. Students graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Motion Design from Ringling College of Art and Design will be able to realize their educational and career goals by demonstrating preparedness for graduate school and professional creative enterprises.
Four main philosophies guide the Department of Motion Design: Integration, Collaboration, Exploration, and Innovation.
Integration: Classes should not be viewed as independent components. Each of the courses are one part of the whole creative process. It is important that whenever possible, to define projects that span across courses, and to work closely with other faculty to insure that multi-course projects are incorporated into each semester.
Collaboration: This philosophy applies to the students, to the faculty, to projects, and to departments. It is critical that collaboration applies to all levels. Students must have opportunities to work collaboratively with each other in the classroom. MD faculty must work collaboratively to develop projects that can span across courses. Courses are to include projects that mimic the collaborative experience with clients, reaching out to the local community and to industry professionals. Students and teachers collaborate to define the goals and expectations for the projects. And finally, the Department of Motion Design must reach out to other departments, sharing our resources to facilitate interaction and collaboration with students from other majors.
Exploration: Creativity is often killed by fear of failure. Obviously grades are important, but we must include in every course the opportunity for experimentation and exploration without traditional grade evaluation. We must provide room for trial and failure. We want students to be able to embrace the ‘not knowing’. These times of ‘play’ are critical to provide students (and faculty) a time to use the right-brain and to re-energize our creative side.
Innovation: The Department of Motion Design must be under constant self-evaluation. The motion design industry changes very rapidly and we must be able and willing to re-evaluate our curriculum, course content, and student outcomes on a yearly basis. We must look beyond what has been done in the past, and challenge ourselves to create a new approach to teaching motion design. We must also embrace new technology and to be the first department to design for the wide variety of new media, working with Institutional Tec
The program is designed to ensure that the students who successfully complete the Motion Design program at Ringling College of Art and Design are able to present and talk about their creative process and deliver conceptually strong, well designed work. They will be prepared for the motion design industry or studies at the graduate level, and to prepare students for evolving roles in the visual information and communication environments. The goal for faculty members in the program is to become facilitators, mentors and eventual colleagues of the professional designers they are developing. The goal of the Department of Motion Design is to cultivate a creative and collaborative environment that becomes recognized as a resource and a hub of expertise for those who are committed to remaining connected to the practice and scholarship of professionals in the industry. Consistent with this, the department embraces nascent technologies into the program to ensure the department stays relevant with this rapidly evolving industry.
To see samples of some of the top companies in our industry, take a look at the links below.