DESN240 - Design for Multimedia

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

In our digitally connected world, practical skills in graphic design for multimedia are essential in a wide range of businesses and organisations. The aim of this unit is to introduce skills, and gain knowledge and experience necessary to design for screen-based media suitable for projections/film, monitors/television and web-based contexts viewed on phones and computer screens. With a focus on story-telling, the unit aims to develop skills in animation and motion graphics, the assessment brief explores approaches to developing strategies, communicating concepts and producing realised design solutions through engaging the design process steps in stages over the semester to produce a major design outcome for screen. 

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - demonstrate competency in technical skills applicable to graphic design for multimedia. (GA4, GA5, GA10) 

LO2 - demonstrate the ability to use design thinking strategies in a collaborative and iterative design process. (GA4, GA5, GA7) 

LO3 - communicate concepts, design solutions, and arguments clearly and concisely through visual, verbal and written means in a multimedia context.(GA4, GA5, GA9) 

LO4 -interpret, represent and respond to the socio-economic and cultural contexts of communication design and the ethical responsibilities of the professional designer (GA2, GA4, GA5) 

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics may include 

• The use and understanding of multimedia development and tools for on-screen presentations and the web 
• Design aesthetics, communicative effectiveness and usability for multimedia  
• Development and use of graphic design in multimedia presentations. 
• Content development and design research 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit normally uses face-to-face instruction during class. The hybridised practical and theoretical nature of the unit is best realised through workshops where new material is ‘chunked’ unto small segments, allowing students to grasp theoretical concepts via immediate application in practical exercises. 

This is a 10-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, to develop skills set out in the learning outcomes. The unit will include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video and practical skills development in theory and practice in sound design. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. 

Assessment 1 requires students to engage with the design process steps to create a written and visual design proposal addressing the development of a design concept in response to a design brief showing experimentation and research addressing target audience, client context and design influences. 

Assessment 2 students are assessed on their engagement with the feedback process towards developing skills of self- reflection and evaluate as an essential step towards developing their design proposal into a credible prototype. Prototype submission is supported by written or oral presentation justifying all design decisions and critically reflecting on their own design feedback process. 

Assessment 3 requires students to plan and produce their proposal into a completed project that fulfils the requirements of the design brief and is ready for use by the target audience and submitted with a design rationale outlining the design journey and solutions. The rationale should include consideration of socio-economic and cultural contexts of communication design and the ethical responsibilities of the professional designer. 

Over a semester students develop individually and collaboratively a designed multi- media package. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Ambrose, G., Harris, P., (2010). Design thinking Lausanne, Switzerland; AVA Publishing London. 

Brandes, U., (2013). Design by Use: The Everyday Metamorphosis of Things. Basel: De Gruyter. 

Bestley, R., & Noble, I. (2016). Visual Research: An introduction to research methods in graphic design (3rd ed., Required reading range). 

Carter, R., Meggs, P., Day,B., Maxa, S.,Sanders, M., (2015). Typographic design: form and communication / 6th edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

Dabner, D., Stewart, S., Zempol, E., & Vickress, A. (2017). Graphic Design School: A foundation course for graphic designers working in print, moving image and digital media (6th ed.). London: Thames & Hudson. 

Dabner D., (2010). Graphic design school: the principles and practices of graphic design. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. 

Klanten, R., Hellige, H., Gallagher, J., (2011). Cutting edges: contemporary collage. Berlin: Gestalten. 

Lees-Maffei, Grace, and Nic Maffei. Reading Graphic Design in Cultural Context. London: Bloomsbury, 2019. 

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, (2009). Corporate diversityDiversity: Swiss graphic design and advertising by Geigy, 1940-1970. Baden : Lars Müller. 

Noble I., (2011). Visual research: an introduction to research methodologies in graphic design Worthing: AVA Academia. 

Roberts L., (2010). Design diariesDiaries: creative process in graphic design. London: Laurence King. 

Saccani, A., (2013). Letterscape: a global survey of typographic installations. London: Thames & Hudson. 

Zegala, A., (2008) Redback Graphix 1st ed. Canberra, A.C.T.: National Gallery of Australia. 

Further references 

http://thedesignfiles.net/ 

http://thedsgnblog.com/ 

http://contemporaryartblogs.com/ 

http://itsnicethat.com