EDM, Electronic Design and Multimedia
The Robinson Center for Graphic Arts and Communication Design at the CCNY Art Department
FEB.15 FALL DEADLINE
OCT.1 SPRING DEADLINE
B.F.A. APPLICATION PENTRAGRAM PORTFOLIO PROGRAM APPLICATION, DUE JUNE 14
B.F.A. APPLICATION PENTRAGRAM PORTFOLIO PROGRAM APPLICATION, DUE JUNE 14
About
EDM student Laisa Barros (Computer Science major, Digital Design minor with a focus in UX/UI and
Animation) who was the first (2018) CCNY summer intern at Pixar, has been hired by Pixar as a Production
Support Engineer, the same area as
her Internship.
Alumni
Please help us by filling out a brief questionnaire about your job status after graduation.
Info
EDM is
A professional program leading to the B.F.A. degree. The 75 credit major culminates in a semester-long Thesis Project. Application to the B.F.A. is by portfolio.
COURSES in
- Graphic Design
- Imaging
- Illustration
- Multimedia
- 3D Design
- Web Design
- Typography
- Animation
- Video
- Interaction Design
- Digital Photography
News
Pentagram launches Portfolio Program for Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 with The City College of New York and Electronic Design & Multimedia!
Pentagram
is pleased to announce a partnership with The City College of New York (CCNY) to create a new
opportunity for its students. The Pentagram Portfolio Program will select eligible current students and recent
graduates of the Electronic Design and Multimedia Program in CCNY’s Art Department to participate in a special
course of study and internship at the New York office of the international design consultancy at no cost to
students. Pentagram Partner Paula
Scher will lead the program, and students will be mentored by Scher with
fellow Pentagram Partners Emily
Oberman and Natasha Jen. The
Pentagram Partners will donate their time and
services.
The program was developed in recognition of the need in the design profession for designers with more diverse educational backgrounds. CCNY offers a high-quality, affordable education to generations of New Yorkers, and embraces its role at the forefront of social change. The public college in Harlem is the founding institution of the 25-school City University of New York (CUNY) system.
The one-year program will serve as a bridge between a college design education and the professional design world. The students will take a weekly class at Pentagram where they will develop new portfolio projects that center around identity design. Participants will learn how to create identity systems, invent visual languages, and translate them into the many forms necessary for today’s communications, including digital, print, and environmental design.
The students will have an opportunity to experience the design studio environment at Pentagram and have access to its resources and staff. Over the course of the year, they will meet other Partners who may give lectures or help with mentoring. The class will also have guest speakers in the field who can lend insight into how they can navigate their future careers.
The Electronic Design and Multimedia program at The City College of New York offers one of the most comprehensive and accessible 4-year programs in digital art at a New York City public university, and holds a 27-year record of alumni success. Students pursue career tracks in print design, digital imaging, illustration, web design, creative programming, 2D/3D animation, digital video, and motion graphics. EDM offers two degrees: a BA concentration in Digital Design, and a BFA in Electronic Design and Multimedia, which culminates with a Senior Thesis capstone project tailored to a chosen design track.
EDM students (upper-level BA and BFA) and recent graduates (2019 to present) are invited to apply for the Pentagram Portfolio Program. Complete guidelines will be available on our website by mid-April 2021. Digital-based applications should be shared via Dropbox to mark.smith78@login.cuny.edu and are due on Monday, June 14, 2021. Work samples should demonstrate conceptual and research-based design approaches across print, animation, and interactive. Finalists will be selected for an interview at Pentagram mid-July and the class will begin Fall 2021 semester. For questions regarding application guidelines, please contact EDM Program Director and Associate Professor Mark Addison Smith at msmith4@ccny.cuny.edu.
The program was developed in recognition of the need in the design profession for designers with more diverse educational backgrounds. CCNY offers a high-quality, affordable education to generations of New Yorkers, and embraces its role at the forefront of social change. The public college in Harlem is the founding institution of the 25-school City University of New York (CUNY) system.
The one-year program will serve as a bridge between a college design education and the professional design world. The students will take a weekly class at Pentagram where they will develop new portfolio projects that center around identity design. Participants will learn how to create identity systems, invent visual languages, and translate them into the many forms necessary for today’s communications, including digital, print, and environmental design.
The students will have an opportunity to experience the design studio environment at Pentagram and have access to its resources and staff. Over the course of the year, they will meet other Partners who may give lectures or help with mentoring. The class will also have guest speakers in the field who can lend insight into how they can navigate their future careers.
The Electronic Design and Multimedia program at The City College of New York offers one of the most comprehensive and accessible 4-year programs in digital art at a New York City public university, and holds a 27-year record of alumni success. Students pursue career tracks in print design, digital imaging, illustration, web design, creative programming, 2D/3D animation, digital video, and motion graphics. EDM offers two degrees: a BA concentration in Digital Design, and a BFA in Electronic Design and Multimedia, which culminates with a Senior Thesis capstone project tailored to a chosen design track.
EDM students (upper-level BA and BFA) and recent graduates (2019 to present) are invited to apply for the Pentagram Portfolio Program. Complete guidelines will be available on our website by mid-April 2021. Digital-based applications should be shared via Dropbox to mark.smith78@login.cuny.edu and are due on Monday, June 14, 2021. Work samples should demonstrate conceptual and research-based design approaches across print, animation, and interactive. Finalists will be selected for an interview at Pentagram mid-July and the class will begin Fall 2021 semester. For questions regarding application guidelines, please contact EDM Program Director and Associate Professor Mark Addison Smith at msmith4@ccny.cuny.edu.
DOWNLOAD PENTAGRAM PORTFOLIO PROGRAM APPLICATION GUIDELINES HERE!
The Pentagram Portfolio Program is exclusively available to current students and recent graduates from The City College of New York’s Electronic Design & Multimedia (CCNY EDM) Program. BFA EDM + BA Digital Design Concentration students from upper-level courses and recent graduates since 2019 are invited to apply.Two EDM Students Participate in Google's Summer of Code 2021
Anais Gonzalez ('21) and Niki Ito ('22) spent their summers working with
Google and the Processing Foundation as part of the Google Summer of Code Program.
Anais Gonzalez created a series of examples using the p5.xr library that show people how to work with creative coding concepts inside of virtual space. Anais made examples for virtual reality on the web covering topics as diverse as typography, interactivity, and embodiment.
Read more about Anais' project here
Niki Ito created a web-based Artist Activist Toolkit that can act as a utility and possible guideline for other artists, activists, and coders on how to narrate and visualize stories to advocate for important issues using p5. As a step-by-step example for activism through storytelling and code, Niki Ito's project is an interactive code-based visual narrative to advocate for the Asian American Community.
Read more about Niki's project here.
Anais Gonzalez created a series of examples using the p5.xr library that show people how to work with creative coding concepts inside of virtual space. Anais made examples for virtual reality on the web covering topics as diverse as typography, interactivity, and embodiment.
Read more about Anais' project here
Niki Ito created a web-based Artist Activist Toolkit that can act as a utility and possible guideline for other artists, activists, and coders on how to narrate and visualize stories to advocate for important issues using p5. As a step-by-step example for activism through storytelling and code, Niki Ito's project is an interactive code-based visual narrative to advocate for the Asian American Community.
Read more about Niki's project here.
New Special Topics course for Fall 2021!
ART 49512 (Course ID: 152135)
Visualizing Resistance: Experimental Illustration and Motion Graphics
Fridays, 2pm to 4:50pm, 3.0 credit hours
Instructor: Krisia Ayala and Art Jones
Special Topics class is in partnership with the CCNY Dominican Studies Institute
In this experimental illustration and motion class, students will design an animated and web-based narrative to retell the story of the first documented anti-slavery rebellion which took place in 1521 at a Dominican Republic sugar plantation. Working from a provided script, students will begin with illustrated responses and storyboards before producing a collaborative website incorporating motion graphics, animation, information design, and sound to convey the historical, emotional, and social impacts of this uprising. Throughout the semester, students will have access to experts from the CCNY Dominican Studies Institute and will collaborate with Sonic Arts students in sound design, dialogue editing, and audio mixing. The collaborative project, in remembrance of the rebellion's 500th anniversary, will bring this forgotten event to a wider audience and public consciousness. Students' work will be featured on the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute's website, First Blacks in the Americas / Los Primeros Negros en Las Amricas, an internationally recognized and one-of-a-kind digital site, also the product of a collaboration among experts, students, and others. This Special Topics class is in partnership with the CCNY Dominican Studies Institute.
Prerequisites: ART 39528 (2D Animation Principles) or ART 39560 (Digital Video 1) and ART 39540 (Web Design 1). Instructor permission is required for students not meeting the prerequisites.
Visualizing Resistance: Experimental Illustration and Motion Graphics
Fridays, 2pm to 4:50pm, 3.0 credit hours
Instructor: Krisia Ayala and Art Jones
Special Topics class is in partnership with the CCNY Dominican Studies Institute
In this experimental illustration and motion class, students will design an animated and web-based narrative to retell the story of the first documented anti-slavery rebellion which took place in 1521 at a Dominican Republic sugar plantation. Working from a provided script, students will begin with illustrated responses and storyboards before producing a collaborative website incorporating motion graphics, animation, information design, and sound to convey the historical, emotional, and social impacts of this uprising. Throughout the semester, students will have access to experts from the CCNY Dominican Studies Institute and will collaborate with Sonic Arts students in sound design, dialogue editing, and audio mixing. The collaborative project, in remembrance of the rebellion's 500th anniversary, will bring this forgotten event to a wider audience and public consciousness. Students' work will be featured on the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute's website, First Blacks in the Americas / Los Primeros Negros en Las Amricas, an internationally recognized and one-of-a-kind digital site, also the product of a collaboration among experts, students, and others. This Special Topics class is in partnership with the CCNY Dominican Studies Institute.
Prerequisites: ART 39528 (2D Animation Principles) or ART 39560 (Digital Video 1) and ART 39540 (Web Design 1). Instructor permission is required for students not meeting the prerequisites.
New Course for Spring 21: Animation Master Class
In Spring 2021, thanks to a generous donation from the Robinson Center for Graphic Arts and Communication Design, EDM is running an Animation Master Class for students aspiring to launch their careers within the animation industry. Students pitch an idea to be selected for the class, and are accepted based on prior experience, animation career goals, and their project idea. This semester, students are intensively working on conceptual, technical, and industry skills to develop professional-level portfolios in animation. The class is being taught by Professor Pilar Newton.
Images are from Spring 21 Animation Master Class student Francesca Blanco (BA Digital Design), and showcase her storyboard / thumbnail images for work-in-progress animation development
Financial assistance for Thesis production expenses
Continuing in Fall 2021, scholarships may be available to offset BFA EDM Senior Thesis production costs. Application should be directed to Professor Mark Addison Smith, and all applications (including project budget) will be confidential. More information to come when planning for Fall 2021 BFA Thesis begins.Fall 2020 Classroom Spotlight: Artist Charly Palmer Zoom-visits Illustration 2!
During Fall 2020, students in Nathan Sensel's Illustration 2 course met for a 2-hour conversation with
designer and illustrator Charly Palmer, who runs a successful design studio in Atlanta, Georgia. Charly,
whose artwork was recently featured on the cover of Time Magazine, has a fortune 500 clientele and is the
artist of children's books including Mama Africa! about Miriam Makeba. The wide-ranging discussion
included
a tour of his studio and a look at current work and collaborations. Many of the questions that the
students
asked led to insights and reflections on getting started in the industry and the ins and outs of
collaboration.
Student Spotlight: Professor Krisia Ayala’s Illustration 2
During Professor Krisia Ayala’s Fall 2020 section of Illustration 2, students developed illustration work
with
perspectives rooted in personal narrative and an eye toward client work. As part of the virtual class,
Professor Ayala invited multiple visiting artists who demonstrated their workflow strategies in order to
help
students understand the relevance of their projects in real-world challenges.
Top-left: Playing Card Design: Audrey Moffitt (BA Digital Design)
Bottom-left: Four Seasons Promotional Postcard: Heba Saad (BFA EDM)
Right: Music Event Poster: Elizabeth Fernandez (BA Digital Design)
Exhibits
Spring 2020 and Fall 2020 BFA EDM Senior Thesis exhibitions are now online!
Poster by Dilan Rodriguez
Poster by Ada Comonfort
Spring '20 BFA projects include: an exploration of Japanese onomatopoeia
through
typographic animation • design of an artisanal coffee brand that empowers women,
spotlighting producers and baristas
• an illustrated book of Dominican folktales • an infographic and
Instagram campaign to reduce plastic bag use • a cafe branding that
recreates
the atmosphere of 1960's Golden Age
in Egypt called Effendi Cafe.
Visit the SPRING 2020 BFA Show
Visit the SPRING 2020 BFA Show
Fall ’20 BFA projects include: a graphic novel that empowers second-generation
youth, as told through the eyes of a Mexican-American boy • an illustrated-history textbook,
website,
and game that spotlights significant Latinx figures • a virtual museum that
amplifies works by BIPOC, Disabled, and LGBTQIA+ artists • a tea shop branding
that
promotes the health benefits of Cantonese Leung-cha to the New York area • a
book
and series of tattoo designs that elevates tattoo art in mainstream culture •
an
infographic set and magazine that explores the history and resurgence of Hanfu,
the
traditional clothing of Han Chinese people.
Visit the FALL 2020 BFA Show
Visit the FALL 2020 BFA Show
Courses
EDM's Spring 2021 course offerings include:
Posters by EDM Assistant Professor Sherry Muyuan He
Events
Razzle-Dazzle designer Zipeng Zhu visits the EDM Club!
Zipeng Zhu, a Chinese-born designer, art director, illustrator, and animator in New York City, who
wants
to make everyday a razzle-dazzle musical, virtually visited the CCNY EDM Club on November 4, 2020. He
presented a lecture, Making Work In Response To Time, and answered questions from our EDM students.
Zhu's client list includes Apple, Adidas, Adobe, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Twitter, Netflix, New York
Times,
Harry’s, Viacom, The New Yorker, Fox, Away, Animal Planet, CNN, MTV, Refinery29, Chobani, and Samsung.
After he graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, he worked at Pentagram and
Sagmeister & Walsh. He was one of the Art Directors Club Young Guns 13 winners and has been recognized
as PRINT’s New Visual Artist and by The One Show Young Ones. His work has been exhibited all over the
world, including New York, Barcelona, Dubai, Mumbai, Shanghai, and other major museums and
institutions.
Currently, he runs his creative practice Dazzle Studio and gift shop Dazzle Supply.
Profile
Laisa Barros, Pixar's 2018 CCNY summer intern gets her dream job!
EDM student Laisa Barros (Computer Science major, Digital Design minor with a focus in UX/UI and
Animation) who was the first (2018) CCNY summer intern at Pixar, has been hired by Pixar as a Production
Support Engineer, the same area as
her Internship. Says Laisa, “My job requires me to be able to communicate with both technical and non-technical people. I am assisting them daily with desktop equipment for their virtual workstations whether it be a faulty hardware or software. I'm also writing scripts for command line utilities or using command line interface tools to diagnose virtual machines issues. I truly enjoy helping people and it's very rewarding to see how happy they get once I fix their workstations. I love Pixar's culture of learning and the constant collaboration and open communication that I have with my team. I feel like everyday I am learning something new and that I am encouraged to do so. I'm really happy I found a way to combine art and technology in my career. I'm super happy to be doing my dream job!”
Pixar's Halloween 2019 Internship presentation at EDM
Pixar's Beth Sasseen, Head of University Outreach, and Sets Art Director Paul Abadilla spoke to an
overflow
crowd of students gathered in CG252 on October 31st. This was Pixar's third visit to
EDM.
Paul Abadella gave students an overview of his career in animation. He showed some whimsical sketches depicting his childhood in the Philippines as well as some of his set design work on Brave, Coco and Monsters U. He then gave a description of his work on the Incredibles II abd showed storyboard animatics for a climactic scene in which Elastigirl discovers the Lair.
Abadilla started as a sketch artist in several Pixar art departments doing shading and set design on the feature films Monsters University and the Academy Award®-winning films Brave Inside Out, Coco and The Incredibles 2. In addition, Abadilla has worked on the short films The Blue Umbrella, Pixar’s first television special Toy Story of TERROR!, LAVA and the Academy Award®-nominated Sanjay’s Super Team.
He recently wrapped production on the upcoming film Soul which is an upcoming fantasy adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures.
Beth Sasseen then took students through the steps of applying for the Pixar summer internship. She showed a presentation describing each type of Pixar internship, gave tips about what Pixar looks for in student portfolios and explained the application process. After the presentation, students moved over to Professor Newton's class for portfolio reviews and to continue the conversation!
Paul Abadella gave students an overview of his career in animation. He showed some whimsical sketches depicting his childhood in the Philippines as well as some of his set design work on Brave, Coco and Monsters U. He then gave a description of his work on the Incredibles II abd showed storyboard animatics for a climactic scene in which Elastigirl discovers the Lair.
Abadilla started as a sketch artist in several Pixar art departments doing shading and set design on the feature films Monsters University and the Academy Award®-winning films Brave Inside Out, Coco and The Incredibles 2. In addition, Abadilla has worked on the short films The Blue Umbrella, Pixar’s first television special Toy Story of TERROR!, LAVA and the Academy Award®-nominated Sanjay’s Super Team.
He recently wrapped production on the upcoming film Soul which is an upcoming fantasy adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures.
Beth Sasseen then took students through the steps of applying for the Pixar summer internship. She showed a presentation describing each type of Pixar internship, gave tips about what Pixar looks for in student portfolios and explained the application process. After the presentation, students moved over to Professor Newton's class for portfolio reviews and to continue the conversation!
Apply for an upcoming Pixar internship!
Pixar offers internships to college students or recent graduates within one year
post-graduation.
Internships in animation, art, business operations, editorial, marketing, production management,
software research & development, story, systems, and technical direction are held in the
summer for twelve weeks, or in the fall or spring for six months. Internships are paid, with travel
expenses and housing assistance provided, and selection is extremely competitive.
The Pixar online internship system will open for applications December 2021. If you are interested in applying, you will need a portfolio of your animation or other art or design work, a resume, and a cover letter.
The Pixar online internship system will open for applications December 2021. If you are interested in applying, you will need a portfolio of your animation or other art or design work, a resume, and a cover letter.
Check the Pixar website for current details and deadlines: http://www.pixar.com/internships
Contact Professor Newton-Katz for advice on your application.
Alumni Night
Alumni night will return during academic year
21/22. Please continue to check the website and social media for upcoming dates and times.Recent
graduates in Electronic Design and Multimedia have found jobs in Print and Publishing, Imaging and
Illustration, Web Design and Web Programming, UX/UI, 3D Modeling and 2D/3D Animation, Digital Video and
Motion Graphics at companies, including:
Please join our CCNY Electronic Design and Multimedia Alumni Group on LinkedIn to network and keep in touch. You have to be a member of LinkedIn before you can join.
- BAM / Brooklyn Academy of Music
- Bumble and bumble
- Columbia University Medical
- Condé Nast
- College Board
- Discovery
- Dow Jones
- Droga5
- Fast Company
- Fox Corporation
- IDEO
- Jessica Weber Design
- Lyft
- McGraw Hill
- NBC Sports
- Peacock / NBCUniversal
- Penguin Random House
- Scholastic
- Squarespace
- Tiffany & Co.
- Quantum Networks
- United Nations
- The Wall Street Journal
- The Washington Post
- Victoria’s Secret
Please join our CCNY Electronic Design and Multimedia Alumni Group on LinkedIn to network and keep in touch. You have to be a member of LinkedIn before you can join.
Join The CCNY Electronic Design and Multimedia Alumni Group in LinkedIn
If you are about to graduate or are a recent graduate, you are invited to join The CCNY Electronic Design and Multimedia Alumni Group. It's a great way to network, stay in touch with your peers and former instructors, and learn about job opportunities. You have to be a member of LinkedIn before you can join.Please help us by filling out a brief questionnaire about your job status after graduation.
EDM Competitions and Opportunities Calendar
Check out the EDM Calendar for listings of competitions, awards, scholarships and other opportunities for students in the B.F.A. or B.A./Digital Design Concentration.
EDM Library: borrow an art or design book
You can see the list of books in the EDM Library and reserve a book by using the online link to send an email to the EDM Club. Over the summer, we will be putting our book collection reservations online, so you will soon be able to make a direct reservation on the website.If you would like to donate art or design books to the Library, contact the EDM Club or the CLTs.
B.A.: Concentration in Digital Design
Students in the B.A. majoring in Art can choose the Digital Design Concentration option if they are interested in focusing on EDM (major code: DGTLDSGN). For more information go to the Advising page or check with the Art Office. This option is designed for students who are not in the B.F.A. or who are waiting to apply for the B.F.A.
Insurance Policy Required for DOC Checkout
Students who want to check out DOC/Art Department equipment valued at $300 or more must now provide proof of personal insurance for the entire replacement value of the equipment borrowed.See the Checkout page for complete information about this policy and learn how to obtain insurance which will also cover your computer, phone and camera.