Department of Art

Technology Requirements

Computers

Hardware:

All Art students are required to have a laptop or access to a laptop during their time as a student in the department. The laptop needs to support the full Adobe Creative Cloud Suite subscription. Devices that have been found to work best include, but are not limited to, Apple MacBook and HP Surface Pro. Tablets, such as the Google Chromebook are not compatible with the demands of the software and therefore are not recommended.

Additional Area Specific Requirements:

Visual Communication Design: Mac laptop, minimum 13 inch screen (Apple is the industry standard for graphic design); 14 inch, preferred

  • Minimum Specifications: Apple Macbook Pro with 13 inch screenM1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU 256GB SSD Storage
  • Dell XP13 or Microsoft Surface Book 3 laptops (not the surface tablet) are equivalent minimum Windows computer
  • Complete Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, all applications (Use "Student and Teachers" Pricing)
  • Cloud-based backup service and/or minimum 1TB backup drive

Studio Arts

Photography Area: Mac (preferred) or PC Laptop

      • Screen Size: 15 inch or above
      • At least Quad Core 2.7 GHz processor + 8 GB RAM, 16GB ram preferred
      • At least 256 GB memory
    • At least 1 portable hard drive: 500gb to 1 TB for backup and file storage
    • DSLR (ideally Nikon or Canon) with at least 1 lens: at least 16 megapixel or above, with RAW file and HD video capability
    • Durable tripod (aluminum or carbon fiber)

Software:

A subscription to the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite is a requirement for the majority of the Department of Art courses, including Foundation courses, Ceramics, Visual Communication Design, Photography, Printmaking, and Metals as well as a number of other art electives. One subscription per year is all that is needed to cover this requirement for all courses taken over that time span. It is a software students will use in class as well as to edit and refine their personal artist portfolios.

  • Student pricing is available via the Adobe Website . Plan Name: Creative Cloud All Apps

Additional Area Specific Requirements:

  • Visual Communication Design: Cloud-based backup service and/or backup drive

 

Laptop Maintenance

Technical support for all computer questions is available at Kansas State University's Division of Information Technology. There are numerous local retail outlets and private technical support services that can assist students as well.

Students will be responsible for resolving their own laptop technical issues. Therefore, an extended warranty or service agreement is recommended. Project deadlines will not be extended due to faulty equipment, slow processing, or other computer failures.

K-State Network Prerequisites, Policies, and Antivirus Software

To use the campus wireless or wired network, security programs must be installed and procedures followed.

Students are required to protect their laptops by installing antivirus software. The software is required for all computers that access the K-State network. Please review the Information Technology policy, the wireless policy and the Information Security policy and install the necessary software before you try to use the campus network. The software is available for free to K-State students on the Information Technology Service website.

If it is found that your machine is not in compliance, you may be notified and asked to make sure it is secure. If it is found vulnerable to known security problems or viruses, it may be blocked from using the campus network. If you need assistance, contact Support and they will help you.

  1. Change your computer name to your eID to identify it.
  2. Setup the wireless settings according to K-State's wireless instructions. Wired connections are automatically set up with an IP address.
  3. Set Windows to automatically download and install updates; set to check daily.

If you have any questions about this policy, contact ITAC.