Communication goes 3D in a multimedia age

WITH JOB prospects widening from the two dimensional to the three dimensional, graphic design is now more commonly referred to as visual communications.

Ron Hamilton, director of Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design's diploma course, explains that graduates find jobs in the areas of CD-ROM publishing, multimedia, computer games and Web site design, as well as the more traditional design for print, theatre and film. Students are no longer working with print alone but also with sound, animation, film etc.

As well as the three year full time diploma in design/communications, Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design offers courses in the areas of animation, film, radio broadcasting and model making. "So we are in a position to exploit cross disciplinary experiences," explains Hamilton.

As for job opportunities, 80 to 90 per cent of those who graduated from the diploma in the past three years are in employment, he says.

From next September, the college will offer a one year follow on degree in interactive multimedia. This will be open to students from other colleges, and Hamilton says each college has a particular speciality or ethos; having people that have specialised in typography or illustration or other specialisms should make for "an interesting group dynamic".

Athlone RTC, which offers a three year diploma with an emphasis on typography, has submitted a one year follow on degree to the NCEA for approval. This will be a course in graphic design and multimedia, linking in with the electronics department.

As with other careers areas, it appears that a degree is increasingly becoming the desirable standard both with industry and students. However, Marlene Armstrong, head of the department of art and design, says that there is still a strong demand from employers for diploma graduates.

At present, three quarters of Athlone's design (communications) graduates go on to further study, with about one quarter going into employment directly. Armstrong points out that three graduates of the diploma course have gone straight into master's programmes in the past two years.

Like all other art and design courses approved by the NCEA, the course in Athlone RTC is 80 per cent practical and 20 per cent academic. "All courses include the history of art and design. We also have communications, business administration, marketing and management studies. These subjects make students aware of the elements of business they will need if they are working as freelance designers or in design houses,"she explains.

All students are very computer literate in the typographical areas by the end of third year, she says.

Dermot McGuinne, head of the department of visual communications and design in DIT Mountjoy Square, says that one of the major developments in the graphic design area is the use of desktop publishing and computer aided design. Of the 30 or so graduates each year, he would expect about 40 per cent to get jobs and the remainder to end up freelancing.

"One of the positive features of, our courses is that we are in a position to encourage a multi disciplinary approach - so a student might, typically, take illustration and graphics or graphic and photography," he says.

The course in DIT Mountjoy Square is a four year diploma, and McGuinne expects that, with the new status and position of the DIT, it will eventually become a degree.