Academy of Art University is America’s largest private art and design school. Located in San Francisco, the family owned institution was founded in 1929 and has put out some of the nation’s most successful artists and designers ever since. It was recently ranked as Best Digital Illustration School in America and one of the top 3D Motion Graphics School worldwide by the Rookies in its 2018 rankings of the Best Creative Media and Entertainment Schools.
The Academy of Art University received its ranking after being considered among more than 580 schools from 87 countries. In addition to having been voted as the Best Digital Illustration School, the Academy also ranked fourth in the world for the Best 3D Motion Graphics School.
What are The Rookies?
The Rookies is an international annual awards and mentor platform that was founded in 2009 and sponsored by the multinational software company, Autodesk. The Rookies has grown to become one of the most recognized school rankings with almost 3,000 entrants worldwide in 2018.
“The reason we take this approach is because we believe the goal of each creative school is tasked with helping students learn the right creative and technical skills that mirror the requirements of industry. It is their job to train artists to a level that allows them to transition from to a professional environment with ease,” according to the Rookies.
The Rookies rating system is based on a comprehensive and unique scoring methodology that primarily takes into consideration the quality of the students’ portfolios that the judges receive. A final score is devised by taking into consideration the quality of work of each student that represents their academic facility.
The Rookies’ panel of judges is prestigious. It entails over 60 influential industry experts from all over the world. Some notable judges are Rob Coleman, two-time Oscar-nominated animator and the Head of Animation at Animal Logic; Gino Acevedo, Creative Art Director at Weta Digital; and the Global Head of Virtual Reality at HP, Joanna Popper.
Leading in Art Innovation
According to the Rookies website, in addition to the above top rankings, Academy of Art University had 14 additional students up for 20 individual awards. Some of these included Finalists and Internship Finalists, from the Schools of Animation and Visual Effects, Architecture, Illustration, Game Development, and Visual Development.
Also, LiGang Zheng, a Game Development student, won the prestigious “Rookie of the Year” award in the Digital Illustration bracket. He went up against 25 category finalists from other schools around the world.
Ever since it was founded, the Academy of Art University has always prided itself on being at the forefront of where technology meets the arts and innovation marries creativity. It currently offers accredited degree programs in more than 30 areas of study.
Its curriculum entails hands-on and industry courses that are taught by art and design experts who maintain careers on the leading edge of industry trends. The University’s graduates leave the Academy with strong foundations in art and design and a skill set that is needed to succeed in the professional as well as entrepreneurial world.
The school also has a unique inclusive admissions policy that highlights its beliefs that it is not so much the students’ pasts that are indicative of their academic success as it is their present at the institution.
Some of the Academy’s more notable departments include the Visual Effects Department that is considered to offer one of the Nation’s most dynamic Animation and VFX programs. Furthermore, its degree in Communications and Media Technologies from the School of Communications and Media Technologies offers graduates a wide range of opportunities and places them at the forefront of sought-after fields.
Also, the BFA degree at the School of Music Production and Sound Design for Visual Media brings students closer to concepts of harmony, orchestration, composition, scoring, sound design, editing as well as mixing techniques that are all taught by the industry’s professionals. The School of Web Design and New Media equips students with the skills they need for successes in areas such as experimental design and digital media.
The School of Visual Development offers a BFA program is based on courses in photography, figure modeling, form analysis, figure drawing, narrative principles, visual development for animation, to name a few, each of which contributes to a competitive degree in the art of scene setting.
The Academy is proud of its long list of achievements. In addition to organizing around 70 student and alumni art shows and gallery exhibitions every year, it has curated a diverse student and alumni community that represents a total of 112 countries and it has 16 competitive intercollegiate teams in its NCAA sports program.
Furthermore, the school’s talent was recognized by the World Series-winning San Francisco Giants who used vehicles from the Academy’s Classic Car Museum for the city’s official victory parade in both 2010 and 2012. Also, the Academy’s Athletics became the first program in NCAA’s history to win a National Championship (Women’s Track and Field) in its first year of eligibility. Also, the Academy is the first art university that has been invited to showcase student work at New York Fashion Week biannually.
The work of the Academy’s alumni can be found all over the world from award-winning ad campaigns and blockbuster games, to top grossing movies and innovative architectural designs.
Over 50,000 students have graduated from the Academy of Art University ever since it was founded, and they continue to be some of the most successful and sought-after professionals in art and design today. Some of the more recently accomplished alumni include the prominent design entrepreneur Beau Oyler, fashion journalist and founder of Cur8able, Stephanie Thomas, experimental multi-genre music producer, musician, DJ, rapper and filmmaker, Flying Lotus, and television personality Lauren Conrad.
