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GCU Digital Design and Canyon Ventures helps bring the ideas of GCU student entrepreneurs to life. GCU’s Canyon Ventures is designed as a startup business accelerator, giving students a centralized opportunity for employment by a variety of startup organizations. With guidance from knowledgeable instructors, digital design students from GCU can prepare themselves to provide the branding and messaging required by startup companies, including logo and website design, social media strategy and content marketing.
GCU’s startup business accelerator, Canyon Ventures, housed 13 companies and employed 56 GCU students and 16 GCU alumni as of June 2024.
Other companies and organizations that GCU Digital Design has a relationship with include:
Lane Terralever
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA)
Phoenix Design Week
Adobe
Heart and Soul Marketing
Median annual wage for special effects artists and animators as of May 20231
Median annual wage for arts and design occupations as of May 20232
GCU Digital Design students create work that is not only ready for their own portfolio, but also ready for design competitions and employers after they graduate. Throughout your time at GCU, you may continue to uphold the positive reputation within the community set by GCU Digital Design alumni by seeking to improve your experience through peer support and connections with local industry groups.
Design students present their work as part of the Senior Showcase, the required capstone for all design majors. Other showcase opportunities for GCU students include:
Take a look at some of the work done by students in our Student Showcase page.
1 The earnings referenced were reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Special Effects Artists and Animators, as of May 2023, retrieved May 7, 2024. Due to COVID-19, data from 2020 to 2023 may be atypical compared to prior years. BLS calculates the median using salaries of workers nationwide with varying levels of education and experience. It does not reflect the earnings of GCU graduates as special effects artists, nor does it reflect the earnings of workers in one city or region of the country or a typical entry-level salary. Median income is the statistical midpoint for the range of salaries in a specific occupation. It represents what you would earn if you were paid more money than half the workers in an occupation, and less than half the workers in an occupation. It may give you a basis to estimate what you might earn at some point if you enter this career. Grand Canyon University can make no guarantees on individual graduates’ salaries. Your employability will be determined by numerous factors over which GCU has no control, such as the employer the graduate chooses to apply to, the graduate’s experience level, individual characteristics, skills, etc. against a pool of candidates.
2 The earnings referenced were reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Arts and Design Occupations, as of May 2023, retrieved May 7, 2024. Due to COVID-19, data from 2020 to 2023 may be atypical compared to prior years. BLS calculates the median using salaries of workers nationwide with varying levels of education and experience. It does not reflect the earnings of GCU graduates as arts and design occupations, nor does it reflect the earnings of workers in one city or region of the country or a typical entry-level salary. Median income is the statistical midpoint for the range of salaries in a specific occupation. It represents what you would earn if you were paid more money than half the workers in an occupation, and less than half the workers in an occupation. It may give you a basis to estimate what you might earn at some point if you enter this career. Grand Canyon University can make no guarantees on individual graduates’ salaries. Your employability will be determined by numerous factors over which GCU has no control, such as the employer the graduate chooses to apply to, the graduate’s experience level, individual characteristics, skills, etc. against a pool of candidates.
If you have a knack for seeing the detail in any form of art, the GCU Digital Design department provides an environment for you to work toward gaining design experience while building your portfolio. Inside the College of Arts and Media, hands-on design projects start from day one. With no portfolio requirement for admission, students start quickly and focus on employability with a strong design foundation for all students in the areas of social media, web design, user experience, motion graphics, graphic design and advertising.
Digital design students have the ability to work on campus in many departments to gain a wide variety of experience. This includes GCU Athletics, promotions, social media, student engagement and more.
GCU Digital Design students learn under faculty that are knowledgeable in their respective industry. These faculty members teach assignments that are made in conjunction with the Industry Advisory Board to help students connect to employable skills.
GCU Digital Design students are part of a collaborative and supportive community that empowers and teaches students to be better designers. Students have access to quality facilities and numerous design showcases throughout the year to network and receive valuable feedback.
GCU Digital Design teaches skills in which students can take directly into the workforce. Students may take a digital design degree with emphases in animation to learn about the next generation of multimedia art, or web design where students learn the aspects of best user experience for web applications.
The facilities and equipment that students can use at GCU are built to align with design industry standards. These are areas in which students of any design major can collaborate with their peers in a shared space.
The design facilities at GCU include the:
Digital Design Student Collaboration Lab
Drawing Studio
Photo Studio
