If you are considering studying for an art and design career then you might want to consider studying online. Online study has a lot of advantages including allowing you to study from virtually anywhere and at any time. This means that even if you are a full time mom or hold a job, you can still get the college education you dream of.

Here are a few schools where you can study for your online art and design career.

Art Institutes Online

The Art Institutes Online is the online division of one of the largest art school in the world. The school offers 100% online courses as well as on campus and hybrid options as well. The Art Institutes Online features 31 individual courses that can be taken from the comfort of your home. Subjects include Advertising, Culinary Management, Digital Design, Fashion and Retail Management, Game Art and Design, Graphic Design, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Interior Design, Kitchen and Bath Design, Media Arts and Animation, Photography, Residential Planning and Web Design and Interactive Media. Courses come in the ranges of Associate, Bachelor and Master with a few individual courses and certificates available.

Full Sail University

Full Sail University is one of the most popular online universities because it offers a wide variety of fully online courses. It is also famous for featuring high quality courses and getting its students into good, high paying jobs after graduation. For example, some of Full Sails graduates have worked on the movie ‘Avatar’. The school offers around 20 courses in Bachelor and Master courses with a few Associate degrees available. Courses include Computer Animation, Creative Writing for Entertainment, Digital Cinematography, Entertainment Business, Game Art, Game Design, Graphic Design, Internet Marketing, Mobile Development, Music Business, Music Production, Sports Marketing and Media, Web Design and Development and several more.

Academy of Art University

The Academy of Art University is a full online university that offers online, on campus and hybrid classes. The school is regionally accredited. The Academy of Art University offers approximately eighteen online courses with associate, bachelor and master degrees available for each course. Studies include Acting, Advertising, Animations, Architecture, Art Education, Fashion, Fine Art, Game Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture and Design, Landscape Architecture, Motion Pictures and TV, Multimedia and Communications, Music and Sound, Photography and Web and New Media.

International Academy of Design and Technology

Despite their poorly through slogan, ‘You imagine; we can get you there” the International Academy of Design and Technology is actually a great school. They offer multiple, full online courses to students internationally. Programs include a variety of courses (Associate, Bachelor, Master and Certificate) in the schools of Fashion Media Arts and Technology and Business.

DeVry University

DeVry University is a relatively small university that is quickly expanding online. They offer top notch education and 100% online courses. The school offers a variety of degree programs and its art courses include Communications, Justice Administration, Education, Educational Technology, Curriculum leadership, Educational Leadership, Web Graphic Design and Multimedia Design and Development.  Most programs are either Bachelor or Master degrees with a few Associate and certificate options available.

If you are considering an art and design career for your future than you should consider learning about the best art and design careers. Depending upon what career you study for, you can earn a wide range of different salaries and do a lot of very different things. This list of five art and design careers should help you out.

Animator

With the rise in popularity in animated films it’s no real surprise that animation is one of the top art and design careers for 2012. Animators work to bring drawings and illustrations to life, usually using computer software. Animations are used in movies, advertisements, in games and on websites. You should have a minimum of an Associates or Bachelor degree and can earn anywhere from $30,000 to $90,000 per year depending upon level and difficulty of work.

Interior Designer

Interior Design jobs have gone up by approximately 19% within the last 10 years. That means there are almost 20% more jobs now for Interior Designers then there were in 2012. Interior Designers should hold a bachelor degree and most likely will benefit from a 2-3 year apprenticeship as well. You can expect your salary to be between $37,000 and $57,000

Curator

Museum curators can actually earn a lot of money. Depending upon where you work you can earn as much as $100,000 per year or as little as $30,000 (which still isn’t bad). You should have a bachelor, a master or a PHD for this position and with it, you can actually curate almost anywhere, including exhibits that don’t really have anything to do with art such as Zoo’s.  The job generally involves management, acquiring pieces and overseeing the care and disposition of each piece.

Graphic Designer

Graphic designers have the advantage of being able to get a job anywhere and doing anything. Depending upon where a graphic designer works they can find themselves creating magazine art, book covers, websites and much more. Salary can range between $27,000 and $50,000 per year. Graphic design provides freedom because it is very easy to freelance as a graphic designer and it is also very simple to neatly step into a slightly different career (such as web designer).

Art Director

An art director is a high paid version of a graphic designer who also happens to do management as well. You should have a bachelor degree for this position but you can earn up to $30,000 more per year than a graphic designer. Art directors generally work for companies to lay out logos, website information and art, colors, brochures and advertisements.

Graphic design is a high paying art and design career that can be fun and rewarding for the right creative mind. If you are planning to study for your graphic design degree, you might want to consider studying for it online.

Studying online means that you will have more time for yourself and that you will spend less time traveling to college; it’s in your house!  You won’t have to travel to work if you have a job and you will no longer have to arrange your schedule around your school, because, when you study online; you can study any time of day or night. Here are five graphic design schools that offer online degree courses.

Full Sail University

Full Sail University is actually one of the most famous colleges to offer an online graphic degree. Why? Because they specialize in fine and applied arts and have produced several remarkable graduates; including graphic designers who helped to work on James Cameron’s Avatar. Graphic design courses at Full Sail University cost about $463 per credit hour with most courses averaging around $20,000 per study year (plus additional costs and fees).

The Art Institutes Online

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh online division is a sub-division of one of 40 schools teaching fine and applied arts in Pittsburgh. The online version of the school offers most programs including graphic design. Cost per credit hour is $457 plus online lab fees, admission fees and etc. Cost per year is around $27,000. The art institutes are highly respected and regionally accredited.

American Intercontinental University

The American InterContinental University is one of the only American Universities that was originally founded in another country (by Americans). The school was established in 1970 and has since grown to have colleges on several continents. Their online division is just as big and is presently considered the main AIU campus! While the school does not offer a class labeled as Graphic Design, it does offer Media Production and Visual Communication which are both, essentially different forms of graphic design.

Boston University

Boston University is another very old and respected school where you can earn your graphic degree online. The school offers a Bachelor and a Master in Graphic design, both of which you can earn online. This is perfect if you want to continue study after earning your first degree!

DeVry University

DeVry University is another great school that offers online Graphic programs. DeVry is a career school which means their programs are focused on getting you a job after your education. The college offers a web based Associate degree in graphic design as well as bachelor programs in over four different areas of graphic design.

Job Description

A Graphic Designer is also known as a graphic artist and is faced with the responsibility of communicating ideas through images and text. A graphic designer will design an image, create it, possibly animate it, alight it with text, do markups, host meetings with employers to decide on their goals, ideas and what they would like for their design, printing, creating cd, book and movie covers, designing graphs, project layouts and much more.

A Graphic designer may work using pen and paper, a computer designing program or in most cases, a variety of both.

Skills

Graphic designers should have the ability to illustrate, the ability to use modern computer design programs and most of all creativity and the knowledge of how to turn ideas into imagery that will communicate to the viewer.  A graphic designer will be most comfortable in their career if they enjoy working with art, enjoy designing and enjoy being on a computer as it is most likely they will spend much of their time in this position.

Degree

In most cases a graphic designer should have a minimum of an Associate degree in graphic design.   Most companies and large corporations who would like to hire a full time graphic designer will very much prefer or even insist that you have a degree and in some cases, will not hire you unless you have a high degree such as a Master degree. However; in some cases, especially when working for small companies or doing freelance work, you do not require a degree as long as you can complete the required work.

Salary & Job Outlook

The salary and job outlook for a graphic designer can actually be quite high with some highly experienced and educated designers earning around $120,000 per year. Minimum yearly earning for a graphic designer with a degree is about $30,000 per year with a median of about $57,000 for the average designer.

Because jobs, advertisement and especially internet work is expected to grow within the next ten years, the job outlook for graphic design is especially high with job rates expected to grow slightly faster than usual.

Graphic Designer

Working as a graphic designer is the most obvious answer to the question, “What can I do with a graphic design degree.” Working as a graphic designer you will design logos, perhaps t shirt images, some advertisement, brochures and the like with a median salary of about $30,000 per year!

Web Designer

Your graphics design degree can get you a job at $30,000 per year or higher designing and creating the visual content for layouts. With so many companies and businesses switching to online sales and advertisement, you can probably see how there are a lot of jobs in this area. As a web designer, it is helpful but not necessary to be able to do the coding required to actually set up the website, you will receive a higher salary if you understand coding.

Art Director

An art director has the job of managing, creating and designing advertisement, brochures, events and etc. in order to promote an event, company or etc. Often, an art director will find themselves designing advertisement campaigns and web or magazine brochures as well.

Multimedia designer

A multimedia designer faces the task of using their graphic design skills in video or imaging that are intended for almost any purpose. As a multimedia designer you will work with video, photographs and their owners in order to create a visually communicative product.

Publications

Working in publications means that you are working directly with products that are put into print. Whether this means designing cd, book or movie covers or designing images meant for magazines, working in publications can be a fun, lucrative and highly interesting job because in most cases, each project will be very different from the last!

Online degrees allow you the convenience of studying from home; the freedom to study whenever and wherever you like and best of all, studying online is often a great deal cheaper than studying at a traditional school. Here are five art & design careers for you to consider!

Graphic Designer

If you wish to work as a graphic designer than you should earn a minimum of an associate degree and possibly a bachelor or master as well! A Graphic Designer designs visual content to be viewed read and interpreted in an intended way. Graphic Designers often work for magazines, in advertising and in publishing for book, movie and cd covers. A Graphic Designer can expect to earn a median salary of $42,000 per year!

Game Design

Game design is a very challenging career because it is constantly causing you to learn, adapt and of course, create. Game design requires individuals to be creative, hard-working and most of all, imaginative enough to bring a game to life! For working as a game designer, you should earn at least a Bachelor degree and consider your Master as well. You can expect to earn an average of $50,000 per year!

Mobile Development

Mobile development is the art of creating mobile technology. This can be platforms and servers for use on mobile phones or developing apps which are becoming increasingly popular. If you have a flair for knowing what people like, creativity and perhaps already a basic knowledge of computer script code than you are already well on your way to your job in mobile development! Mobile development courses can be taken online and a bachelor or master degree is recommended in this field in order to find employment!

Music Production

Believe it or not, music production can be taken online! If your passion is music, you have a good ear and you don’t mind constantly adjusting frequency levels than this is a great job for you. A music producer should have a minimum of a Bachelor degree and will most likely work in a studio with a salary range of $30,000 – $50,000 per year! A good school to study your music production degree online would be Full Sail University!

Web Design & Development

Web Design & Development is not only an art and design career that you can study for online but it is also one of the fastest growing fields available today. A web designer will integrate text, graphics/images and HTML code in order to create websites and web pages to be used on the World Wide Web. This job generally requires a minimum of a bachelor degree, however, in some cases; no degree is required at all. Web Designers earn between $45,000 and $100,000 per year depending upon their level of education and years of experience!

If you love art, can draw, sketch paint or etc. than you may want to consider studying for an art and design degrees. Art and design careers are high paying and can be quite enjoyable for a right minded individual. Generally, qualifications for the job include a love of art, an eye for design, the ability to create and a great deal of imagination or creativity. If this sounds like you, than here are five unique, fun and interesting art and design careers that you can study.

Graphic Designer

Graphic Designers are faced with the task of communicating to viewers using images, design and simple lines of text. Generally this type of work is used in advertisement, (online and off), book & cd covers, magazines, newspapers, journals, reports and more. Graphic Designers may also work purely in advertising, work on a media campaign for a company and in some cases be responsible for the creation of website design. If you wish to peruse this career, you should earn a bachelor degree in Graphic Design and consider earning your Master degree in order to earn higher wages. Average pay for a graphic designer is around $42,000 per year and the job outlook within the next ten years includes a 13% growth expectancy which is higher than normal.

Clothing Designer

As a clothing designer you can expect to draw out, cut and design clothes as well as make a prototype of it before selling your model to a store. In most cases, clothing designers are employed by companies such as brand stores or famous design labels for a good number of years before the designer strikes out on their own. Fashion designers should aspire to a minimum of an Associate degree though they will be more likely to find work with a Bachelor degree. Median annual salary for a fashion designer is around $61,000 per year and the job outlook is expected to have little to no change from current employment rates.

Web Designer

Web designers are similar to Graphic designers in that they must combine images, text and graphics to create an aesthetically appealing design that will appeal and communicate to viewers. However, the web designer specializes solely in the creation and design of websites which allows them to be much more specialized. Skills such as HTML, CSS and XHTML coding are a huge plus and will definitely help to earn a job.  Salary for a web designer can range anywhere from $47,000 per year to well over $100,000 depending upon the employer and the level of education the web designer has. Earning a bachelor degree in web design is a definite plus for this job and earning a Master degree will only help to increase your job prospects and salary!

Animator

A career in animation can be somewhat more tedious than any of the above art and design careers, however; if you love animated work, have an eye for creating characters and want to bring them to life, than it can be a well-paying job that you are proud of! An animator should have at least a bachelor degree in animation though a master degree will be a better aid for finding jobs. Median salary for this career is $63,350 per year and the job outlook projects a 15% job market rise.

Interior Designer

Working as an interior designer requires the ability to visualize designs, draw ideas, presentation skills and most of all a good eye for color, visual appeal and how shapes interact with color and design. The median salary for this job is between $30,000 and $80,000 depending on your location and level of experience.

No matter what art and design career you intend to study for, you are guaranteed a job that suits your interests and a salary that is generally much higher than an average manual labor job!