How to Pick High School & College Art Classes That Actually Build Real-World Skills

The younger artist in me spent every school year trying to be in the art wing as much as possible. Taking art classes during the day was a block full of happiness, exploration, and a welcome break from the mandatory subjects. I took every class offered—even an after-school oil painting class just for fun. Those classes were where I learned to see, think, and create in ways that would shape my future. I knew from a young age that I wanted to pursue art in college, but getting there wasn’t simple. With art not being the center of the school curriculum, options were limited. My curiosity pushed me to take every available art class, AP art, and even the special projects my senior art teacher assigned.

High school and college art classes aren’t just electives—they’re playgrounds for curiosity, practice grounds for skill, and launching pads for real-world creativity. Choosing the right classes can open doors to endless possibilities, whether you’re building your portfolio, discovering a new passion, or preparing for a career in design and art.

The Most Important Rule?
Stay curious. Don’t worry if a class doesn’t directly fit your career path. Every medium you explore adds to your creative toolkit and helps you figure out what excites you most.

High School: Explore and Experiment
This is the perfect time to test the waters and try everything. Art electives aren’t just for fun—they’re opportunities to discover what you love and start building versatile skills.

Drawing & Painting: Strengthens foundational techniques and personal style.
Photography: Teaches composition, lighting, and visual storytelling.
Sculpture: Builds spatial awareness and problem-solving skills.
Digital Illustration: Introduces tools you’ll use in college and beyond.
Ceramics or Printmaking: Encourages thinking about texture, layering, and visual storytelling.

If you’re considering an art major in college, your high school art teachers can be invaluable guides. One of my teachers recognized that I belonged at an art school rather than a traditional university and helped foster my talents. The relationships you build as a young artist can shape your path—and some of those connections last a lifetime. To this day, I still check in and share creative updates with my early mentors.

College: Refine and Specialize
In college, you start to focus on your major—but there’s still value in branching out. For example, I majored in Graphic Interactive Communications at Ringling College, but additional electives I took was book binding, printmaking, motion graphics and more alongside my core classes. These electives gave me technical skills, expanded my visual vocabulary, and showed me how different media can work together to tell a story.

Why I majored in Graphic Design:
I’ve always loved solving problems visually and telling stories through design. In high school, I realized I didn’t just want to make pretty pictures—I wanted to explore visuals in many different forms, all designed for people to interact with, react to, and experience. Graphic design let me combine creativity with practical skills, building work that could be applied across industries—from marketing and branding to entertainment and product design. It was the perfect bridge between my artistic curiosity and a real-world career, taking my love of making art beyond the canvas and into experiences people could use and engage with.

Applying Skills to the Real World
Here’s how the classes you take can translate into real-world design work:

• Photography: Learn to shoot and edit images—essential for product photography, e-commerce, social media, and marketing campaigns. Even if your company has a professional photographer, understanding composition and editing helps tell a stronger visual story.

• Typography & Layout: Crucial for creating everything from packaging to digital ads, brochures, and websites.

• Digital Illustration & Motion Graphics: Perfect for entertainment design, animation, interactive experiences, and social media content.

• Sculpture & 3D Modeling: Builds spatial awareness and understanding of form—useful for product design, environmental graphics, or experiential marketing.

  
  
  

Each class, each skill, becomes a building block. The more you experiment and combine what you learn, the more confident you become at solving design challenges across industries—whether it’s products, marketing, entertainment, or even running your own creative studio. These experiences don’t just create art or design—they create value that employers, clients, and collaborators will notice.

Key Takeaways

• Stay curious and experiment—don’t limit yourself to your major.

• Look for classes that teach transferable skills you can use in professional work.

• Combine experimentation with foundational skills to build a versatile creative toolkit.

• Consider how each skill can apply across industries—products, marketing, entertainment, or digital experiences.

Final Thoughts
High school and college are your ultimate creative sandbox. Every class, project, and experiment is a step toward becoming a designer who can adapt, innovate, and thrive in any creative field. Keep exploring, stay curious, and let each experience shape the way you see, think, and create.

Keep the Inspiration Coming
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