ACR Staff

According to a 2016 Census Bureau report, the south is America’s most heavily populated region. The area is home to more than 122 million people and it leads the U.S. in population growth year after year. Experts say economic growth is a driving force behind the explosive population growth in the South. A recent Forbes article explains that people are moving to the south because “economic growth in the South has outpaced the rest of the country for a generation.” The southern states “generally have lower taxes, and less stringent regulations, than their primary competitors in the Northeast or on the West Coast. Indeed this year the four best states for business, according to CEO Magazine, were Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.” 

A BFA in Cartooning can open many doors for ambitious graduates. Cartoonists can find work at animation studios, production studios, for comic book publishers, newspapers, and book publishers, for advertising and multimedia firms, and sometimes all of the above—if you choose to freelance. Just a few common job titles include Animator/Cartoonist, Cartoonist, Illustrator, Comic Strip Illustrator, Caricature Artist, Editorial Cartoonist, Game Artist, Background/Layout Artist, Studio Background Artist, Storyboard Artist, Pencil Model Sheet Artist, and Morph Artist. 

If you are an aspiring animator and shopping around for a training program, you may have come across dozens of different degree programs that combine other areas of study with animation. Digital Art and Animation, Media Arts and Animation, Game Art and Animation, Illustration and Animation, and Film, Video, New Media, and Animation (FVNMA) are just a few.

The Pacific Northwest region (also Northwest) includes the states of Oregon and Washington and part of Idaho. Together, these states are home to more than 15,000 tech companies, and thousands of animation and game design companies. Seattle alone has more than 300 game companies, employing more than 16,500 people; the region is home to countless film and interactive media companies, and there are so many Fortune 500 companies here, you’ll lose count.