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I love to design games, but what should i major in? Computer science or Graphic design, or both?

#Graphics design, # Game Coding

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matt’s Answer

I would shoot for a computer science degree with a minor or dual major in design.

Simply put, the computer science background will help you score 30-50 percent bigger paycheck - perhaps even more.
You'll also have more portability - you can hop between industries based on what's hot at the moment.

Straight-art jobs can pay well, but they're hard to find. Most art-only jobs aren't that fun, you don't have as much freedom as you think.

My degree is in fine-arts, but I'm self taught in programming and I wish I had studied computer science in college.
It wasn't till I was 30 years old till I started making more than 30k - that was due entirely to my code knowledge.



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Viviane’s Answer

Hi Christopher, there are Gaming majors that you could major on. I believe this is a growing field and very interesting! Computer Science and Graphic Design will definitely give you amazing skills and knowledge for a variety of fields but if you are sure Gaming is the field you will like to design for, then look for that specialized major! For example schools like "Full Sail university" and "Gnomon" have Game Art Bachelor Degrees. For gaming I believe you will study 3D Animation/Character/Modeling. 

Now, if you want to create the game, coding, programming, then also there are some schools that will teach you that part of gaming as well, not designing the interface. the sets, the characters, but the gaming, the coding and how it works. There are Gaming Development Majors for that as well.


I went to school for Computer Animation, I got a Bachelor Degree in Computer Sciences in Computer Animation from Miami International University of Art & Deign (https://www.artinstitutes.edu/miami). My dream was to work at Pixar as a Character Animator. When I was close to graduation I started to work for a TV Channel and started to work with Broadcast Design for TV promotions. I loved it and instead of working with character animation I worked with TV Promotions, and I really love it! My major was Computer Animation so I had a broad area to get involved, from 3D animation, movies, games, to TV, commercials and others.

So make sure you love gaming if you chose to go for a specialized Gaming School, or chose a broader Design Major that will give you ability to go for gaming or others, like I did!


Good luck! I hope this helps! Any questions I'm available, just let me know!

Viviane recommends the following next steps:

Check/Research the different Design Majors: Graphic Design, Gaming Design, Industrial Design, Broadcast Design, and others.
Check this scholl website: Gnomon - one of the best ones in the West Coast https://www.gnomon.edu/academics
Check this school as well: Full Sail university. This website, have a good explanation of those majors so you can understand better how it is separated (design/programing for gaming) in the industry: https://hello.fullsail.edu/game_9ar?mncid=9651&mnckeyword=Gaming%20Major&utm_campaign=ALL-GAME&affiliatecode=EDU&step=input&agid=55973818264&gclid=CjwKCAjw2rjcBRBuEiwAheKeL8LSSvmW0J02Fjh9hNZ8ls2BxmYXwRohPpKdPTJuG5cx-t9vD3zxhBoCSmEQAvD_BwE
One more excellent school in California for design, great source also to understand the different majors: Art Center Design: http://www.artcenter.edu/
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Jetangeline’s Answer

Hey Chris

Matt is totally right - I would also suggest a Comp Sci degree and minor in design. A combo in those two majors will significantly increase your chances in landing a great paying job. Learning coding skills to complement your art/creative/design chops will make you more valuable than just focusing on one or the other. Trust me, I work in the mobile gaming industry.
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