Multimedia Design

Welcome to Multimedia Design’s Companion web site.

This 15-week course is designed to challenge your preconceptions regarding New Media and to force you to think about New Media in an entirely new way.

The first two weeks, Experience Design, will closely follow the ideas of Nathan Shedroff as presented in his book, Experience Design.

The next two weeks will explore the Information Design concepts of Edward Tufte. Using his classic work, “Envisioning Information” as the basis for the class, we will explore how data is transformed into information.

Week Five will examine the Art of the Interactive Storyteller . We will look at how the oral tradition of communication provides the roots for what we do as the story tellers of the digital age. From how the Inuit start fires with gunpowder to “The Rock” of the WWE we will examine how a story is told in the realm of Digital Media.

New Media actually started in a living room in Berlin during the 1930’s. Week Six will trace the evolution of New Media from a loom to a Chrysler CD. What may surprise you is that not much has changed in 150 years.

The term “Interactive” has been tossed around so much, it has lost all meaning. This class, in week seven. will focus on the Three Principals of Interactivity.

Week Eight will introduce you to the various “Design Styles” used on the web. Ranging from “Gothic Organic” to “Drafting Table/Transformer”you will discover you aren’t necessarily confined to the constraints of the computer screen.

Though design implies a solitary pursuit, this isn’t the case when it applies to the creation of New Media. Week Nine introduces you to the team-based approach driving the creation of New Media and the new breed of designer and developer resulting from this shift in work flow and production.

The balance of the course will be devoted to the technologies of New Media. Though you may think you know what you are talking about, do you really know hat you are talking about. The line up is as follows:

Week Ten: The Technology of Colour

Weeks Eleven and Twelve: The technology of Typography

Week Thirteen: Animation on the web

Weeks Fourteen and Fifteen: Video and Audio.