DART400/411: CAPSTONE STUDIO 1/ADVANCE NEW MEDIA


Description


DART 400 Digital Art and Design Capstone I Provides digital arts and media design students an opportunity to conceptualize an undergraduate thesis. Each student will have the opportunity to identify the primary issue of theoretical concern based on their personal interest, and pursue research in a rigorous, in-depth manner. The preparation and initiation of the undergraduate thesis will occur within a collaborative team-based studio environment. Students in DART 400 will begin to research and synthesize disciplinary and interdisciplinary understandings through the exploration of critical, theoretical, and historical perspectives of digital media. This understanding will foster the spirit of in-depth arts and design inquiry and research, and will build upon arts and design awareness, skills, and methods introduced in previous courses. The student will integrate studio and theory while creating a significant work of digital art or design. The student will work with a faculty adviser(s) in addition to the instructor(s) of record for the course towards the completion of design documents, proof of concepts and prototypes for the undergraduate thesis.

DART 400 Capstone I (Fall) and DART 401 Capstone II (Spring) provide a culminating undergraduate thesis and capstone experience for B. Design majors in the Digital Arts and Media Design Program.
Enforced Prerequisite at Enrollment: DART 301 Enforced Concurrent at Enrollment: ART 476

Course Objective


Digital Arts and Media Design Capstone I is a capstone level studio for digital arts and media design majors.
The course will help students to:
︎︎︎Begin to synthesize their understandings of the languages, aesthetics, histories, and concepts of digital media through studio based projects.
︎︎︎Further refine their heightened and critical awareness of the relationships between digital media and the ideas from which they are derived and their relationship to evolving technologies.
︎︎︎Establish an extensive awareness of the contemporary context of the work of digital media artists and designers in a range of disciplines.
︎︎︎Apply their understandings of the value of collaboration and team-based work through the conceptualization of an undergraduate thesis.
︎︎︎Complete the preliminary research and studio investigations required for completion of the thesis in DART 401: Digital Arts and Media Design Capstone II

Areas of Study


︎︎︎ Undergraduate thesis project

Weekly Plan


This course is a senior thesis class, so it primarily consists of individual meetings. The 15-week schedule is flexible and not fixed.

DART100: INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL ARTS AND MEDIA DESIGN


Description


DART 100 Introduction to Digital Arts and Media Design is a studio course that focuses on emerging technologies and their interdisciplinary application in electronic media. We will concentrate on design foundations, time-based media, interactive design, and sound design. Assignments are given to engage students in the technical, conceptual, and aesthetic aspects of digital art and design media. Students will employ a diverse range of techniques and software, as they become familiar with key moments in media history, contemporary artistic processes involving the use of the computer, and other technologies. The material and design strategies introduced in this class will have direct application in future digital design problems that will be introduced in the beginning, intermediate, and advanced courses in the Digital Arts and Media Design(DAMD) program.

Course Objective


The objectives of this course offer students the development of basic skill sets necessary to create art and design using a variety of different types of computer software. Students will begin to see digital art and design as a conceptual practice, rather than a means to create nice looking images. This course will cover how current work is being created by artists and designers in the field. These discussions help to broaden the student’s understanding of digital art & media design and their relationship to contemporary society and discourse.

Areas of Study


︎︎︎ Design foundations (visual composition and concept)
︎︎︎ Time-based media (motion graphics, sound, and typography)
︎︎︎ Interactive media (creative coding)
︎︎︎ Sound (sound editing and design)

Weekly Plan


1. What is Digital Art and Media Design?
2. Compositional Strategies (Gestalt Principles), Illustrator Basic, Sound Composition
3. In Progress Critique
4. Speculative Design, Photoshop Basics, Speculative Design Ideas
5. In Progress Critique
6. Typography, Verbs In Motion
7. After Effects Basics, Moving Posters
8. In-Progress Critique
9. In-Class Activity
10. Processing (Shapes and Colors), Interactive Painting
11. Processing (Data Input), Data Self-Portrait Pattern
12. In-Progress Critique
13. Sound Design (Music Concrete), Sound Editing/Effects Basics, Sound Collage
14. Final Project - Abstract Visual Music
15. Final Project - Abstract Visual Music

DART205: CREATIVE CODING


Description


This course introduces object-oriented programming fundamentals for the production of expressive interactive experiences such as animations, interfaces and games.

DART 205 CREATIVE CODING: SCRIPTING FOR ART AND DESIGN introduces object-oriented programming fundamentals for the production of expressive interactive experiences such as animations, interfaces and games. This course focuses on creative work that is exploratory and experimental and engages students in research methods to advance their skills and critical competence in new media.

Students apply computation concepts based on readings and discussions of key texts about interactive design, media art, and game design to the creation of original interactive projects.

The course offers a series of scripting exercises in which students learn to develop applications using both a top-down and bottom-up design process. Students also develop a series of more ambitious computational projects using an iterative design process. They produce detailed design treatments and working prototypes before turning in final applications developed using an object-oriented programming language.

Course Objective


Students will:
︎︎︎ Use object-oriented programming techniques to implement computational concepts through prototyping and iteration.
︎︎︎ Ideate and design expressive applications such as non-linear animations, interactive projects and games using procedural computation.
︎︎︎ Appropriately use effective visual design for interactive applications, dynamic animations and games.
︎︎︎ Create detailed design documents with flowcharts, wireframes and visual comprehensives based on original ideas for interactive projects and games.
︎︎︎ Develop a vocabulary from readings and discussions to provide constructive critique of their own work and the work of their peers.

Weekly Plan


1. Processing 
2. Pixels and Basic Shapes
3. Drawing
4. Interaction
5. Variables
6. Transform and Conditionals
7. Conditionals
8. Loops
9. Functions
10. Object
11. Arrays 1
12. Arrays 2
13. Algorithms
14. Media
15. Debugging

DART300: PORTFOLIO ELEMENTS


Description


DART 300 Introduction to Digital Portfolio Elements will focus on two main components: completing a self-driven studio project and creating professional development materials. Projects may be individual or collaborative and will be directed by your particular skills and creative research topic. Through the iterative design process, projects will illustrate high levels of technical, aesthetic, and conceptual rigor. Professional development elements will focus on creating an online portfolio, developing written materials (resume, cover letter), and completing an application for a professional opportunity accompanied by a mock interview. The material and design strategies engaged with in this course will act as useful guides to future design problems introduced in advanced courses in the DAMD program.

Course Objective


Students will:
︎︎︎Integrate previously learned technical skills in digital media and identify areas in which to strengthen and learn additional skills in order to complete self-driven projects.
︎︎︎Gather and analyze information from research sources to identify and apply relevant content that can aid with concept development.
︎︎︎ Demonstrate communication skills by creating and presenting ideas, concepts and designs in written, verbal, and visual forms.
︎︎︎Develop professional written materials.
︎︎︎Arrange and refine previous projects for inclusion in a web-based portfolio, displaying the skills needed to secure career-based opportunities. 
︎︎︎Research professional opportunities and cultivate applications tailored to the specific position.
︎︎︎Prepare for and complete a mock interview for a professional opportunity.

Weekly Plan


1. Introduction to a concept pitch presentation
2. Brainstorm & Art/Design Research
3. Written Materials (Resumes, Cover Letters, and References)
4. Concept Pitch Presentation (Individual Projects)
5. Written Description (Individual Projects)
6. In-Progress Critique
7. Website Portfolio
8. Visual Forms
9. Midterm Critique
10. Individual Check-Ins
11. A Job Search Preparation Process
12. Presentation (Website Portfolios and Visual Forms)
13. Individual Mock Interviews
14. Individual Mock Interviews
15. Presentation (Individual Projects Final)

ART101: INTRO TO WEB DESIGN


Description


We live in a world where automatic website builders are ubiquitous, and creating web pages from scratch may sound challenging. However, web design is one of the most important topics in visual communication design because it requires foundational visual design concepts, such as understanding layout, grid systems, typography, and the use of creative images. Moreover, web design nowadays is informed by user-centric design, including user interaction design, user experience design, and user interface design. In other words, web design is a combination of traditional and contemporary visual communication design theories.

This course is an introduction to web coding, and we will learn the elements and structure of HTML and CSS. Firstly, web coding gives the artist/designer access to the foundation of web design and allows them to create a place where they can express themselves. Later, even if we use website builders such as Webflow or Squarespace, the HTML/CSS basics we learn here will give us the ability to further customize our website in more unique and flexible ways.

Course Objective


By the end of the semester, a successful student will be able to:
︎︎︎ Understand the concept of HTML/CSS
︎︎︎ Create layouts, attach images, and use typography on the Web
︎︎︎ Understand responsive layouts
︎︎︎ Think about web accessibility
︎︎︎ Learn how to use online resources

Weekly Plan


1. Get Started
2. Introduction to HTML
3. HTML Elements
4. Introduction to CSS
5. Styling and Decoration
6. CSS Layout 1
7. Midterm Project - Create two column page layout
8. Midterm Project - Create two column page layout
9. CSS Layout 2
10. Flexbox
11. Grid
12. Semantic and Accessbility
13. Responsive Layout
14. Final Project - Create your homepage
15. Final Project - Create your homepage

ART002: INTERACTIVE LEARNING AND WEB DESIGN


Description


This course introduces P5.js, a web-based JavaScript library for creative and interactive coding. P5.js, which is a sibling program of Processing, has been widely used for artists, designers, researchers, and educators who don't have previous coding experience because of its easy accessibility. With flexible and extensive libraries (such as sound, geometry, physics simulation, graph, map, vector drawing, 3D, animation, GUI/UI, joystick, etc), you can easily prototype interactive (web) design, generative art, games, data visualization, and many more. P5.js is also compatible with HTML5, so you can publish the results of your work on the web.

This course is constructed to teach computational design approaches to students with special emphasis placed on the aesthetics of creative coding along with Web design. In this class, you will learn about interactive and generative design and presentation of your work on the Web by using P5.js. It will begin with learning how to use P5.js editors and display P5.js code to Web browsers (like Chrome or Safari). You will first learn basic Javascript grammar with examples of simple drawing techniques and then move to applying interaction, physics, data, sound, and motion. During this class, you will be able to interact with your design with mouse or keyboard inputs and use physics simulating algorithms for interactive and generative design. Later, you will learn how to visualize data, like sound visualizer or creative data visualization with numerical data. All work will be shown on the web. This class is created for complete beginners, so previous (web) coding experience is not required. 

Course Objective


By the end of the semester, a successful student will be able to:
︎︎︎Learn P5.js (JavaScript) basics
︎︎︎Learn the HTML DOM
︎︎︎Get familiar with computational design in connection with Web design
︎︎︎Learn interactive and generative design
︎︎︎Learn data visualization

Weekly Plan


1. Get Started
2. P5.js Basic Structure
3. Forms (Shapes)
4. Generative Animation
5. Interactive Animation
6. Typography and Working with Data
7. Midterm Project: Making Creative Characters with Basic Forms
8. Midterm Project: Making Creative Characters with Basic Forms
9. Images and Pixels
10. Sound Viz
11. Data Viz
12. Data Viz
13. Final Project: Creating Generative or Interactive Visualization on the Web
14. Final Project: Creating Generative or Interactive Visualization on the Web
15. Final Project: Creating Generative or Interactive Visualization on the Web

ART003: VISUAL IMAGES ON THE WEB


Description


In today's digital age, the internet has become the most accessible and powerful platform for artists and designers to showcase their work. Building a strong online presence through websites and social media is essential for any creative professional. However, to stand out in a sea of content, it's important to have a solid understanding of digital image production tools and web publishing strategies.

In this course, we explore the various methods and techniques used in digital image production, including vector- and bitmap-based image creation, photo editing, and image optimization for the web. We also delve into web publishing, focusing on how to build a portfolio website and effectively promote your work on the web.

Throughout the course, we will be using Figma for wireframing and prototyping, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create and edit images, as well as the web publishing platform Cargo to showcase our work. While this course is primarily focused on self-publishing and not web coding, we will cover some HTML/CSS basics to help you build a strong foundation for customizing your website on Cargo.

By the end of the course, you will have gained a comprehensive understanding of digital expression and how to effectively communicate your artistic identity in a virtual world. You will have the skills and knowledge to create professional-looking digital images and websites, and the confidence to promote your work on the web.

Course Objective


By the end of the semester, a successful student will be able to:
︎︎︎ Learn HTML/CSS basics
︎︎︎ Learn Figma/Illustrator/Photoshop basics
︎︎︎ Get familiar with (web-based) website builders and learn how to utilize them
︎︎︎ Research a variety of portfolio templates online and make them fit into your work
︎︎︎ Have a nice-looking portfolio website that you can use for practical purposes

Weekly Plan


1. Get Started
2. Digital Tools for Image Production and Figma for Prototyping
3. Raster Graphics
4. Raster Graphics
5. Vector Graphics
6. Vector Graphics
7. Midterm Project: Information Design
8. Midterm Project: Information Design
9. Typography, Website Builder: Cargo
10. HTML Basics for Cargo
11. CSS Basics for Cargo
12. Portfolio Presentation/Cargo Customization
13. Final Project - Image Preparation
14. Final Project - Present your portfolio on the web
15. Final Project - Present your portfolio on the web