Classes
You'll learn how to focus your passion into telling stories, then improve your skills to do so. You can tailor your major to your specific interests, taking classes to make you a smarter, better-prepared visual journalist. Learn more about the classes you will take as a visual communications student in the university's academic bulletin. Here are just a few examples of some of the quality work our classes created during spring 2020.
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Video Production
Sabrina Habib highlights student work in a course designed to help develop the theory, skills, and techniques needed to create high-quality videos and multimedia.
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Augmented Reality
Experiential Interactives in Mobile Augmented Reality is the first J-school class dedicated solely to AR.
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Eyewitness
In this class taught by photography professor Denise McGill, students spend extended time photographing stories that matter to their communities.
Capstone Experience
You'll have the most memorable resumé of any in the stack after your senior semester here, showcasing your work in three ways — a printed book, a website and a tablet-based portfolio. And you'll also stand out because your work will not only be beautiful, but will have something to say. Check out these portfolios from spring 2020.
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Ellie Larson
After seeing the power of visual communications during a trip to Malawi, Africa, Ellie knew that the major was right for her. This portfolio shows her Malawi images and her broad skills in all things vis comm.
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Meredith Price
Meredith Price was the 2020 Outstanding Visual Communications Senior. A glimpse at her portfolio will demonstrate just why she received this award.
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States Beall
States describes his illustration style as “off the wall.” View his abstract illustration talent applied to mediated visual communications in his visual communications portfolio.
Awards
And you’ll gain the skills needed to flex your muscles beyond the classroom. You may join the multitude of former and fellow classmates who’ve racked up top-level awards from Hearst, the American Advertising Federation and other national organizations.
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The winning shot
Getting published is par for the course in our vis comm program. Check out award-winning photography from Van Kornegay's portfolio class published in Columbia Metropolitan Magazine photo contest.
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Demo Reel
Vis Comm major Graeme Wolverton won a Special Judges' Award and Gold ADDY in Cinematography for this video "Demo Reel," created in his Video for Mass Communications class.
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Tarot Snap Filter
Emily Schoonover won Student Best in Show and a Gold ADDY (first place) for Tarot Snap Filter, an interactive Snapchat filter which accompanied an article in the Fall 2020 Garnet & Black magazine.
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The Man Behind North America's Only Tea Plantation
This video by Savannah Cerniglia and Sophie Bello won a Best of Show and a Gold ADDY award from the AAF local and regional, and Third place from BEA.
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Campaigns and Projects
View this photo gallery of some of the winning creative work by visual communications students in the American Advertising Federation of the Midlands competition.
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Know When to Write a Thank you Note
Emily Schoonover and Dejon Johnson won a Silver ADDY Award in the Animation or Special Effects category from the American Advertising Federation of the Midlands.
Industry Experience
We'll get you on a project, part of a film crew, in a design house, behind the scenes to help you strengthen your ability to tell stories. Our students are highly sought after for internships with art, photo, design, social media and web departments at ad agencies, public relations firms, non-profits and news organizations. And these are just some of the many opportunities for our students.
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Maggie Gosiger
Named "Outstanding Designer" her senior year, Maggie completed three internships, including one with Heat + Deloitte Digital in SoHo, New York. View her portfolio, which faculty said was the most impressive portfolio from her cohort.
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Qhira Bonds
Qhira has been able to explore her options through internships at the university. As a freshman, she worked as a social media intern for Green Quad, and later she was a public relations and communications intern for South Carolina’s athletics department.
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Hank Johnson
This 2020 grad discusses the opportunities he had as a student, including his internship for the UofSC communications office where video footage he shot ended up going into a national TV spot.
Careers
We shoot wars and fashion shows, design mobile news apps and striking billboards. We're on the sidelines of big-time college football and in the middle of the third world making a difference. A degree in visual communications can lead you to a career as a photojournalist, videographer, illustrator, graphic designer, art director, social media marketer, user-interface / user-experience web designer, filmmaker or marketing specialist. The list goes on. Our graduates work for news organizations, advertising agencies, public relations firms, fashion houses, magazines, social media groups and themselves.
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Keri Goff
This Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipient is an award-winning photojournalist-turned-graphic designer for social good. Learn more about her in this video ceremony.
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Anna Wiederkehr
A 2012 vis com graduate, Anna is a senior visual journalist for FiveThirtyEight and formerly designer and head of graphics at nzz. See some of her work here.
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Chris Hanclosky
An award-winning videographer and photographer, Chris was a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. Learn more about him in this awards ceremony video.
Faculty
You’ll study with talented faculty like Van Kornegay and Scott Farrand, who take students on yearly treks to Africa and Moscow to teach them about the impact of storytelling in a digital world. And typography enthusiast and head of the sequence Tara Mortensen, as well as Jason Porter, an award-winning animator and designer who is a voting member of the Academy of Television Arts and Science.
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Van Kornegay
Van Kornegay recently spent a sabbatical semester earning his commercial drone pilot’s license and shooting video and still images for an exhibit titled "Columbia from above: One drone’s eye view of the city."
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Jason Porter
Jason Porter is an award-winning animator and designer who has worked with some of the largest brands in the world, including Marvel, Sprint, Volkswagen, Target, Taco Bell, and Disney.
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Denise McGill
A photojournalist, videographer and writer, she’s stood on five continents gathering images that document the human experience. View her personal website.
Advanced Study
The visual communications curriculum is a great foundation for graduate study. You can gain an advanced understanding of journalism techniques and how communications is applied in different types of organizations through participation in our Accelerated Master of Mass Communication program. Choose a specialization in either strategic communications management or multimedia journalism, and you can complete two degrees in as little as five years.