Design for Digital Media – (M.A.)

Contents

This course is structured by three distinct project-based developmental phases. In full-time mode, you will undertake the first phase and second phase in semester one and two respectively, with the third phase running in parallel throughout these two semesters (90 credits per semester). Whilst in part-time mode you will undertake the first phase and second phase in semester one and two respectively, with the third phase running in semesters one and two of the second year (45 credits per semester). Each project phase involves a particular combination of learning modes, as outlined below:

The initial individual project phase

* Project units: * Digital media research and development - 15 credits
* Digital media synthesis and resolution - 15 credits


* Context unit: * Digital media research methods - 15 credits



This phase introduces students to
* standard principles, broad skills and working methodologies of design for digital media business
* the significance of contemporary practice of interactive media within broader industrial and cultural contexts
* professional standards and practices required by design for digital media services
* knowledge and awareness of current technological and market development potentials in digital media
* skills in textual and visual research and design, editing and presentation methods
* application of research, design and media management processes in developing sequence, navigation and interaction strategies
* responding to varied contextual opportunities and constraints with appropriate design
* skills in appropriate textual and visual identification
* skills relevant to project management
* information and study skills-based learning in the use of web-based and physical archive information retrieval
* IT skills supporting digital manipulation, content and flow management
* foundations of team-building through peer-exchange and role-play

The project at the centre of this phase requires you to define a particular theme and develop a body of experimental work amongst the complex inter-relationships that are being forged between the qualities of digital space, physical and social environments and modes of presence.

After forming an overview of these issues you will, through a body of theoretical and visual research and analysis, demonstrate a multi-faceted understanding of your selected subject through exploration of your ideas in digital media. Your experimental work should allow you the opportunity to creatively interpret your concept and construct sequences which imaginatively incorporates original imagery, sounds, texts and exploit (or subvert) the hierarchical/navigational structures of interactive media. The study of related creative and practical projects within visual culture will assist you in situating your work and realising its potential.

The group project phase

* Project unit: * Cultural networks: design and practice - 30 credits


* Context unit: * Project management - 15 credits



This phase enables students to
* prepare for employment by evaluating contextual design requirements
* design a functioning web-based knowledge base in a live context
* organise the continuing process of negotiation with client requirement
* practice skills in interaction design, marketing and self-promotion, management and networking
* conduct a creative experiment to develop a new direction in digital media
* to extend visualisation and editing skills and techniques
* design an effective interface for presentation
* maintain and make effective use of workflow and user evaluation documentation
* develop a business plan based in accurate and informed budget forecasting
* build, maintain and adjust an effective set of functional teams

The group project at the centre of this semester requires you to investigate the surrounding social and cultural factors which could influence your academic and creative investigations and to consider how these factors are reconfigured in technological and virtual environments. Particular emphasis is placed upon the critical understandings and applications of the internet, allowing you to gain practical experiences of project work in this area, whilst acquiring a deeper understanding of remotely connected users.

The major project phase

* Project units: * Major project definition and development ORIndustrial study definition and development - 30 credits
* Major project resolution ORIndustrial study resolution - 30 credits


* Context units: * Advanced interface design theory - 15 credits
* Professional practice forum - 15 credits



This phase provides students with the opportunity to
* work to live client project (industrial study) or self-defined project (major project)
* define a research programme capable of producing problem-solving and/or knowledge-extending solutions
* experience the process of working within the constraints of industrial and commercial limitations (industrial study) or approved individual contextual constraints (major project)
* negotiate with client/employer (industrial study) or with approved context stakeholders (major project)
* project manage an independent and innovative brief
* demonstrate as a reflective practitioner, advanced skills in evaluation, judgment and decision making
* produce an extended research project culminating in documented practical impact and digital media artefacts
* develop professional portfolio for self-promotion
* contribute to team working through exchange of knowledge and professional capabilities
* submit work placement or work experience for assessment (industrial study)
* place your contribution within a critical understanding of the field, expressed discursively