Digital Communication students critique capstone projects around table

Digital Media

Imagine your future with a bachelor's degree in digital media, working in fast-paced careers producing useful art, and being in high demand for your skills. LVC’s Digital Media Major (formerly Digital Communications Program) immerses students in the dynamic world of digital design, production, and content creation. You’ll learn how to design for digital media and gear up for emerging media, including Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Extended Reality AR/VR/XR), motion-capture animation, AI/generative tools, spatial projection, and more.

Instead of shying away, learn to leverage AI to become hyperproductive, a requirement for today’s world. Our students learn emerging technologies to develop, create, launch start-ups, and support marketing and advertising teams with excellent digital communications at the speed of the digital age.

Choose one of six concentrations: business technology, communications, design, programming, user experience, or videography.

Elevate your education by combining your bachelor of arts degree in Digital Media with a second major. Powerful combinations include Interaction Design, Art, Marketing, or Business. You can get even more leverage from your degree with a minor in Psychology or Consumer and User Behavior.

However you choose to study digital communications and media, LVC’s degree prepares you to be a competitive professional. Our graduates have gone on to work in fields like graphic art, web design, game design, interactive media, and marketing in cities like Boston, London, and New York.

Need-based departmental scholarships are available.

Learn More About the Program

As a Digital Media major, you’ll gain hands-on experience with industry-standard software in art and design. Create your digital designs in physical form in LVC’s Maker Space, which is open to you 24/7. Our students gain experience with tools commonly used in the industry. These tools include digital fabrication equipment, like 3D printers, a vacuum form, digital scanners, embroidery, a vinyl cutter, electronics, and laser cutters. In the Usability Lab, learn to conduct usability research on your designs. The Studio Lounge provides a space for you to collaborate with your peers while surrounded by inspiring work.

LVC students use motion capture technology to customize an avatar

Creativity at Work

Motion Capture Technology

What can you do with a degree in digital media technology? Well, if you’re a LVC student—a lot. Check out this video to see how your peers use program technology to create exciting designs.

Emerging Media Lab

The Design, Media & Technology department (DMT) has created the Emerging Media Lab (EML) to provide LVC students with an understanding of and exposure to disruptive technologies. This allows them to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these technologies and aid in developing design strategies for them.

100%
of students develop portfolios and hold internships for professional development
$66,240
median annual pay for media and communication occupations, 2022 (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
6%
projected job growth for media and communication occupations, 2022–32 (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Equipment Available to Digital Media Majors

  • Sewing/Embroidery Machine* 
  • Vinyl Cutters* 
  • Heat Press* 
  • Paper Cutter 

*Students must complete a designated training with the department to use.  

  • Cameras, DSLRs & GoPros 
  • Drone 
  • Dollies & Tripods 
  • Greenscreens 
  • Tascams 
  • Headphones 
  • Light Kits 
  • Microphones (lavaliere, shotgun, standard) 
  • PRUSA i3 3D Printers 
  • PRUSA SL1S Resin Printers 
  • DREMEL 3D Printer 
  • MakerBot Replicators 
  • MakerBot Digitizer 
  • Intelligent 3D Pen 

*Students must complete a designated training with the department to use. 

  • Revopoint 3D Scanner* 
  • HP 3D Capture Stage* 
  • HP sprout computer w/ camera stand 

*Students must complete a designated training with the department to use. 

  • Roland SRM20 Desktop CNC 
  • Glowforge Laser Cutter 
  • Epilog Edge Laser Cutter 24×12 
  • Vaquform

*Students must complete a designated training with the department to use. 

  • Lightform Spatial Projection 
  • Digital Projectors 
  • Ultraleap 3D Stereo Hand Tracking 
  • Oculus Rift 
  • HoloLens Headsets 
  • HTC VIVE 
  • Metaquest Headsets 

*Students must complete a designated training with the department to use. 

  • Soldering Stations 
  • Raspberry Pis 
  • Arduinos (Uno Rev3, Uno Wifi R2) 
  • Electrical components, transducers and actuators (Bone Conductor amps, sensors, heartrate sensors, etc.) 
  • Prototyping Equipment (Breadboards, 22g wire, connectors, etc.) 
  • Helping hands 
  • Multimeters 
  • Portable Oscilloscope
  • Hot Glue Guns 
  • Heat Gun 
  • Utility Knives 
  • Tape Measures 
  • Screwdrivers 
  • Wrenches 
  • Pliers 
  • Ratchets 
  • Wire Cutters 
Equipment in Action

In this video, LVC Digital Media and Creative Arts double major, Will Minayev, showcases how to use The Ultra Leap Virtual Hand Tracking device, specifically for exhibitions and creative freedom through Unity Software. This tool ranges from simple designs and interactions to complex visualizations of projects. Whether they are 3D or predefined assets, somebody can visualize objects in a detailed 3D environment. This cutting-edge device enhances user experience in gaming, simulation, and training applications, making virtual engagement more intuitive and immersive. Its integration is perfect for industries ranging from healthcare to education, where seamless interaction with digital environments is crucial. The only limit is your imagination!

Internships & Hands-On Experience
Internships

Internships play a large role in LVC’s bachelor’s degree program. Students who major in Digital Media are required to take at least three credits of internship, which is pass/fail.

Recent internship sites include Hershey Foods, TE Connectivity, the Hershey Bears, McKenney’s, Inc., and more.

LVC Digital Media students can view internship requirements here.

 

Student-Operated Ad Agency

Lebanon Valley College’s Kalo Creative is a student-operated ad agency founded in 2014 that actively engages students with local nonprofits. The one-credit course provides pro bono marketing and communications services to community organizations. Students gain practical experience in project management and client relations, and area nonprofits gain marketing support under the supervision of high-level professionals.

Brand logos of companies LVC interaction design and digital communications majors have interned and worked for.

In Their Words

I chose Digital Communications because I was searching for a way to channel my creativity to use technology to solve problems. I saw an opportunity that didn’t close creative doors but leveraged them to create professional opportunities.
Sophie Trentini ’24
The LVC DigiCom Program changed the way I view art. With DigiCom, not only is art a means of personal self-expression, but it is also functional; it serves a purpose. The DigiCom Program showed me how to communicate ideas effectively through many different mediums and perfectly prepared me for the world of digital media where I now work.
Shelby Lister ’23, Graphic Designer, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet
Our students enter as amateur artists, musicians, videographers, writers, entrepreneurs, and creative dreamers. Four years later they leave with the knowledge and skills to apply their creativity to a professional career path.
Joel Kline ’89, Professor of Design, Media, & Technology

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