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Game art (also called “interactive art”) is a unique art form that has evolved over the decades, from sketching googly-eyed ghost monsters (think Pac Man in the 80s) to creating full-blown games that look like feature films. It takes incredible talent to become a successful game artist today because games are more realistic than ever before and game art is utilized in other industries besides video games. In addition to computer games and console games, this type of art plays an important role in many interactive art installations, it is used in advertising, it is used to create mobile games for cell phones, and game art is even used to create education and training materials.

Pennsylvania is home to some of the nation’s best schools. Carnegie Mellon University, Allegheny College, and Penn State are just a few. These schools, and many others have a variety of programs to choose from, including programs for artists and designers. For example, Penn State offers a B.A. and a B. F. A in Art with a Concentration in New Media, a B. A. in Interactive Arts, and a B. Des. in Graphic Design and Interdisciplinary Digital Studio. The state has a total of 262 Title IV degree-granting colleges and universities. The best of these schools made the “top” schools list based on factors such as job placement services, production and other facilities, variety and types of organizations and clubs, convenience, affordability, and more.

Thanks to promising employment and salary growth in the graphic design industry, graphic design programs are common at most traditional colleges, and just about every art & design school offers graphic design programs. You will likely find Associate of Arts, (A. A.), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) programs at most schools, and some even offer a Master of Arts (M.A.) and/or a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) programs as well. Whichever degree level you choose, the first thing to think about is the best school for your program.

The gaming industry is one of the most profitable industries in the world. In 2012 alone, the industry is expected to generate more than $68 billion in business. Employment is on the rise as well with a three to six percent increase between now and 2020.  Other reports suggest an even greater increase between 2012 and 2018. The gaming industry employs more than 200,000 game designers and thousands of animators, cover artists, developers, programmers, illustrators, testers, and more.