Program Overview

J. Robert and Barbara A. Hillier College of Architecture and Design

The J. Robert and Barbara A. Hillier College of Architecture and Design offers a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Design program.

Digital Design Program

The Digital Design program is an evolving and exciting multidisciplinary field that underlies many of today's fast-growing industries, from web-based communications to advertising to entertainment. Applications of digital design can be seen in movies and television, magazine ads, video games, museum and trade show exhibits, and online.

Program Overview

The four-year program of study leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. The first year curriculum is a Foundation Year in which all students in the School of Art + Design take design courses together. During their Foundation Year, students will be exposed to, and expected to work in, a variety of media from the very beginning of the program. The curriculum includes design and graphics classes with digital and traditional media, color theory, art history, and general education courses such as math and English.

Facilities and Resources

Digital work takes place in dedicated Foundation Year Laboratories restricted to students enrolled in those classes, while work in traditional media takes place both in and out of class. Freshman students are provided with 24/7 access to Foundation Year Labs when enrolled in those courses, and all design studios are accessible 24/7 throughout the semester. Along with the facilities available throughout the NJIT campus, Digital Design students take courses and have access to the Cintiq-equipped Art Teaching Lab, Physical Computing Lab, and the Animation Lab. Digital and traditional fabrication facilities, especially laser cutters and 3D printing equipment, are available in the College of Architecture and Design and are integrated in required and elective courses in physical computing, augmented reality, and robotics.

Tracks of Study

Following the foundation year, students select a particular track of study: the Entertainment track or the Interactive Media track. Each track has a specific set of prescribed courses within the School of Art + Design and at other NJIT schools and colleges. In addition to a three-year studio sequence, the curriculum provides opportunities for students to take a variety of related classes such as environment design in motion pictures, SFX/VFX in movies, digital audio, history of games, video & animation, 2D and 3D character design and modeling, management, internet marketing, game level design, and more.

Career Opportunities

Digital design students have opportunities to showcase their work through competitions and curated exhibits, and a number have had work exhibited at the annual conference of ACM/SIGGRAPH, the international organization focusing on computer graphics and interactive techniques. With both faculty and student participation at the national and local levels of the organization, additional career and networking opportunities arise through participation in various SIGGRAPH programs. Students and graduates have enjoyed success with internships and full-time employment in a variety of specialties that include graphic design, game design, architectural and environment visualization, animation, web design, storyboard art, and more.

Career Paths

The Digital Design program at NJIT is geared specifically to students interested in a combination of creative and technical fields. The course of study prepares professionals for careers in:

• Game Design
• Web Design
• Graphic Design
• Video or Film Production
• Animation and/or Special Effects
• Virtual Set Design
• Digital Special Effects
• Exhibit Design
• Education
• Communication Design
• Technical Illustration and Scientific Visualization
• Advertising/Marketing/Business
• Sales/Electronic Commerce
• Educational Software Design
• Interactive Art Installation
• Graduate School
  • Education (M.S. Ed.)
  • Business (M.B.A. or M.S. in Business)
  • Law (J.D.)
  • Fine Arts/Specialization (M.F.A.)
  • Architecture (M. Arch. or M.S. in Architecture)