I'm not arguing about the Fine Arts department, or it's value, or that technically you can find art in anything. I took Fine Arts and any art related classed I could my entire life, aside from doing it for my own enjoyment out of the educational system at all. When I first enrolled into college, my Major WAS Fine Arts, and I dropped it after one semester mostly because, despite hearing it from everyone else, the proffesor himself said, damn near the only job you can make a living doing fine arts anymore is teaching it. Thats pretty well true, the amount of jobs for just Fine Arts is less than a handful, and unless you're famous, you end up joining the starving artists association, hence my change to computer graphics and technology.
In the major, and position of graphic designer, advertising is the most prominent position, so unless someone knows from the beginning what they want out of it, and are sure they can get it, it is best to immerse yourself in it. And for the Major of Computer Graphics, Graphic Design, CGT, Computer Science, or whatever the particular school wants to call it, a student should get enough comprehension about art for this specific major from one good semester in Sketching, Intro to Illustration, or again..whatever the school decides to name it.
Fine Arts speaks a very direct approach on art, and it is very uncommon to see it applied in Graphic Design or Design in general. Although a person will always improve on thier skills, after people learn all these rules on depth, shading, line, perspective, volume, and so forth, the many other fine art classes you take are generally not teaching you more, just developing further ability and style for fine arts specifically, where the "sketching" class teaches the same principals you'll find in the art department, and then applies them to what you'd be doing in the major you enlisted in specifically, such as thumbnailing, concepting, and storyboarding. Things that Fine Arts isn't emphasizing on.
Ergo unless the person has specific interest in Fine Arts, I don't see further courses in it to be a neccesity, and reccomend the person takes the classes that the university, tech school, community college or whatever, specifically laid out for the students in that degree program. The fact is very little is done by hand past the concept stage anymore, and like I said in general the best place to start any of these projects is with pencil and paper. I don't find painting, sculpting, or the like to be as beneficial to THIS major as it for the most part is just accomplishing the same thing in a different way based on the same principals but in a more lengthy and harder to prepare process, and apparently the Program Directors don't find it to be as neccessary either or it would be IN the Degree Major.
Other than that, the guy that teaches the Fine Arts program is generally the same guy teaching the Illustration/Sketching class, so you would imagine he/she is going to teach both sets on equal grounds. But for the most part I think it's safe to say, one class as compared to five or six is goine to be enough for students in this particular majors, otherwise they would change their major TO Fine Arts. And it seems odd to expect just because a person wishes to be in Design, Graphic Design, Computer Graphics, Architecture, CGT, Web and Interactive, Computer Science, Video and Sound, CADD, or any other of these related Majors, that they must develop a keen interest in a different Major as well. If Fine Arts isn't what interests them, nor is their goal, why bother taking repeated classes in it? No one will excel in something their hearts and minds aren't focused on.
So to the general people taking this major, I reccomend sticking with the plan laid out for you, taking one semester of the Illustration which is almost always required at any Educational System, and when you take your Elective Classes, take the ones that interest YOU SPECIFICALLY the most, whether it's more art, a related class, or something completely aside from your Major. I find it limiting to say everyperson MUST take Fine Arts to do well in any type of design, and considering most people that are generally good in art, were mostly self taught and learned little to nothing in a class designed for people just starting out. Not to mention teaching someone to be artistic is basically impossible, the person will or will not be, but I'd expect a person would know it or see signs of interest in art well before they ever got to college.
And I still highly reccomend taking typography asap as well, usually it is scheduled for 2nd semester students, which is probably the best time to take it right after your intro classes. It is imperative to learn how to DESIGN WITH TYPE instead of just putting words on a page.
And as much as anyone can try to discredit or belittle me based on no other grounds than my age, well as much as I hate this phrase "the proof is in the pudding", accomplishments are greater than experience, but my experience and accomplishments in both Graphic Design and most especially Art is quite more than adequate. As many people have taken your side on this, have also taken this view.
Furthermore, regarding what everything being design even random accidents created without human input. There is always a way to describe things, the question isn't does it have or can it be defined by or by the lack of placement, scale, form, depth, perspective, contrast, focus, content, balance, emphasis, pattern, repetition, movement, rhythm, proportion, heirarchy, color, and unity. The question is does it succeed in what it was applied for, and if it wasn't applied created for a reason, it's not "designed." While you could still feel free to argue indefinetly it's aesthetic qualities until your face turned blue.
Designing indicates purpose, and accreditation cannot be given in the lack of intent, whether it is successful or not. There must always be a reason for something, whether it was thought out, experimental, or possibly random is not the important aspect, it's whether or not it was intended to be so.
In the end, which I'm hoping this thread and debate is approaching, relating to the threads original intent, we have a more experienced view, and a more current view, people can decide for themselves whichever, if either, or possibly both is useful to them.
