Graphic design majors with subjects such as “3-D Modeling and Animations”, “Modeling with Maya 3-D” and “Model Sculpting” have opened up a colourful creative playground for students in recent years.

Creative 3D models created by Graphic Design students, Da Nang-headquartered Duy Tan University. Photo: H.L

Becoming a student of Graphic Design at Da Nang-headquartered Day Tan University gives Nguyen This Tuong Vy, a student of course K27, an opportunity to design vivid and colourful 3D models. With a strong passion for animation since her childhood, Tuong Vy showed her keen interest in learning about how to develop 3D animated characters.

According to Vy, at first she simply thought that creating character models was like drawing on paper. But when she started to get acquainted with Maya 3D or ZBrush software, Vy realized that there was an extremely interesting creative world. There, every small detail such as the way to create folds on clothes, facial skin, smiling eyes or the natural blinking of the eyes all need careful attention.

Tuong Vy has recently spent much time every week perfecting the design of the character Doris according to her imagination with mischievous orange-red hair and blue clothes. “Every detail on the character Doris carries a part of the designer’s story and when I take care of every line on the body, every lighting effect, I hope to create a character that is cute, mischievous, different and feminine.”, Tuong Vy said emotionally.

The care given to the character Doris brought Tuong Vy first prize in model design at the final round of the ‘3D Modeling and Animations’ event organised by the Duy Tan University in December 2024. Vy said that winning at the exhibition helps her be more confident on her creative journey in the future.

At the Duy Tan University, students majoring in Graphic Design have access to modern technologies to develop design ideas.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Quoc, a lecturer of the Faculty of Applied Arts, Graphic Design major, during the teaching process, he always tries to create the most optimal learning environment, where students can freely create and turn ideas into reality.

Specialised software such as Maya 3D, Blender, ZBrush or printing devices help students comfortably experience from the idea to the completion of the desired product.

In recent times, the field of graphic design has continuously expanded in the context of the strong development of the fields of communication, entertainment and digital technology. In particular, 3D modeling and animation are widely applied in movies, games, advertising, education and medicine.

As shared by Nguyen Van Duc, studying Graphic Design at the FPT Polytechnic College, during the learning process, students are encouraged to participate in real-life projects such as developing characters for games, designing advertising models or making 3D short films. The application of modeling techniques, lighting and materials has created realistic effects for the work.

Duc said that he once participated in a project to design 3D models illustrating medical surgical procedures. This project required high precision, so the design team had to apply many modeling techniques to create the most realistic products to support doctors in teaching as well as guiding medical students to practice on the models.

“Working on real-life projects helps me understand that each character, each model has its own story. It can be a story about creativity, about skills or about the designer’s own emotions put into the work," Duc said.

In addition to developing small-scaled projects, graphic design students have boldly registered to participate in creative competitions such as ASEAN Creative Design Contest or graphic exhibitions to demonstrate their abilities and seek professional opportunities.

It can be said that with interesting experiences from the university environment, the journey of young people will go further on the path of creativity as well as open up future career opportunities.

Reporting by HUYNH LE - Translating by A.THU