Online Visual Development Degree

Earn your online visual development degree from Academy of Art University’s School of Visual Development. As an online student, you will have access to custom-built tools and resources, such as the Learning Management System (LMS). With this youthis, so you you can develop the skills in composition, perspective, and character design to start a career creating elaborate scenes and characters for blockbuster films and video games.

You will learn from the same practicing industry professionals as the ones teaching on-site, as well as be able to participate in discussions with teachers and peers, so you can further improve your craft through critique and feedback. The Academy’s online community also allows you to expand your network by opening up avenues for collaboration, not only with fellow visual development students, but even from other majors.

Be part of our vibrant, creative community. Earn your online visual development degree at your own pace, in your own time.

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How Online Courses Work at the Academy

The Academy provides the coursework—including beautifully produced videos, narrated slideshows, digital documents, interviews with experts, livestreams and more. As you complete assignments, you simply upload your work to the Academy’s Learning Management System (LMS) where it’s shared with your class, and your instructor can leave visual markups, video, written and recorded feedback.

Your Information Hub

Visual, interactive and dynamic. You will find all your classes, profiles, news, assignments, grades, English speaking & writing support, academic support, and more in the Online Hub. All tailored to make your online education rich and engaging.

Your Collaborative Space

Freely exchange thoughts, post work, and provide or receive constructive feedback—just like you would in a campus environment. You and your peers support and push each other, creating long-lasting connections that live beyond the course. You may not be on campus, but you’re not alone.

Your Studio & Gallery

Submit your artwork for evaluation, and if you’d like, include audio, video, and/or written descriptions of the work, and instructors can provide detailed feedback in the same way.

Enrollment is Now Open

Next semester is just around the corner

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Learn Online

Our revolutionary online courses provide the same rigorous education that we offer on campus with greater flexibility. Our online programs are purpose-built to deliver art and design courses. Study on your own time, at your own pace. Combine online and on-site classes.

3 Reasons Our Online Platform is Best

Custom Content

Created in-house by industry experts and exclusive to the Academy, the classes are a mix of lecture content, video, written content, recorded audio, interactive slideshows, and hands-on work. We built this from the ground-up and geared specifically towards art and design. We’re constantly innovating our curriculum created by instructional designers and industry professionals, as well as building new courses, reworking old ones, and adding features to our LMS based on student feedback.

Dedicated Support

Over 100 Academy of Art employees create and support online programs, dedicating more resources into production than any other. They work 24 hours a day to offer 900+ online courses spanning 35 online majors, using 1,500 instructional videos per semester to teach students from 50+ countries.

Community Support

AAUHOO, a student-run Facebook group, has more than 6,000 members and welcomes you to join this thriving online community. Other channels and venues for student socialization and interaction include online social media & blogs; online library, music library, learning tutorials; career advice, support & mentor chats, one-on-one sessions with your director, on-demand demonstration videos, town hall meetings, VIP guest speaker series and archives, director Q&A, VIP guest speakers, live-streamed events & presentations, workshops, support, digital portfolio showcase, and much more.

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“Taking classes online really benefited me as a student in allowing me to hone in on each of my skills and develop them before I got a job in the industry.”

Mark Cofer MFA Music Production & Sound Design for Visual Media / Film Composer