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Technology Requirements

The Department of Visual Arts embraces and utilizes the latest software and hardware technology used in professional settings and in private artistic expression. To maintain these standards, students concentrating in Computer Art and Animation, Graphic Design, New Media and Digital Art, and Photography are required to purchase specific computer hardware relevant to their respective curricula. See guidelines below for your concentration:

Animation:

  • Laptop-PC Only with Windows 11
  • Processor (CPU): 64-bit Intel i7/i9 or AMD with SSE4.2 instruction set
  • RAM: 16 GB minimum
  • Hard Drive: 1 TB minimum
  • Graphics Card (GPU): Nvidia Geforce or AMD
  • Three-button mouse


Graphic Design:

  • MacBook Pro: Minimum 13-inch M-2 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
  • RAM: 16 GB of RAM or more
  • Hard Drive: Minimum 512 GB storage
  • Membership to Student Version of Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Membership to Pantone Connect

 
New Media and Digital Art:

  • Laptop-PC Only
  • Processor (CPU): AMD Ryzen or Intel i7
  • RAM: 16 GB minimum
  • Hard Drive: 1 TB minimum
  • Graphics Card (GPU): Nvidia Geforce or AMD
     

Photography:

  • Laptop: Apple Macbook Pro or PC
  • Processor (CPU): Intel 7th Gen or new Core i5 or higher processor
  • RAM: 16 GB of RAM or more
  • Hard Drive: Minimum 512 GB external storage


Due to the rapid advancement of both hardware and software, the Department of Visual Art recommends students avoid purchasing anything until a student starts their concentration; typically, the second semester of their sophomore year.