Course Description:

Building on skills learned in Media Arts I, this project-based course sits at the intersection of Art, Design, and Technology.  Students considering this class should be interested in exploring the changing landscape of digital media. This course is ideal for students involved in art and design who would like to experiment with computer generated graphics, or students with a background in computers and programming who are interested in aesthetics and design. You will learn how to create flash animations, podcasts, digital videos, computer games, interactive websites, multimedia installations and more…

 Students will be involved in examining and evaluating existing New Media projects, gaining hands-on experience through a series of practical skills-building tasks, and planning and creating meaningful, authentic final projects. Students will be encouraged to incorporate material from other courses into their projects as well as help develop the HIS website. Class materials will be in the form of handouts and online resources.

Discussion topics include; user generated content and the evolving online landscape, the digital divide, digital copyright and the open source movement, design and usability, and emerging digital technologies. Students will gain practical skills in relevant software, typography, information architecture, brainstorming techniques, project planning, as well as basic front-end programming languages (HTML & Actionscript). Various multimedia tools such as scanners, digital cameras, video cameras and sound mixers will be used throughout this course.