DESN244 - Design for Social Media

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Unit rationale, description and aim

Social media platforms, content creators and digital media producers have expanded the online contexts in which those working in the creative and commercial industries operate to engage and build new audiences and support. This unit focuses on content creation and digital media production through producing a social media design package that understands the technical, presentation and ethical requirements appropriate to the social media space.

Assessment tasks are built around a marketing campaign brief for a real-world client or speculative re-design and promote critical thinking and acquiring new technical skills. At the end of this unit students will have gained an understanding of the purpose of a social media graphic package and built fundamental competence with design software as a foundation from which to effectively create new design outcomes.

The aim of this unit is to help students gain an understanding of current social media graphic structures and trends and to develop technical capability with a variety of industry design software options. Students should be able to produce illustrations, innovative image treatments, animations and motion graphics that utilise storytelling in creating impactful and innovative visual communication in the social media space.

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 - Explain the design process steps in the planning and production of a social media design package (GA2, GA5)

LO2 - Evaluate and justify design approach, purpose, context and message in written, verbal and visual forms (GA4, GA5, GA9)

LO3 - Create a social media design package outcome that meets the standards of professional practice through the application of appropriate design principles and elements and is fit for purpose (GA5, GA7, GA10)

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 will include:

• Interpretation and presentation of design briefs and social media marketing campaigns
• Development of content strategies
• Discussion of ethical issues in the social media space such as representation, re-posting and intellectual property and copyright, filters, oversharing, appropriation
• Development and use of digital illustration and storytelling in graphic design practice
• Development of illustration, video and animation skills using industry design software
• Content development, design research, critique and evaluation
• Learning to visually communicate within the limitations of social media e.g. 280 characters in a Tweet, boomerangs on Instagram, scheduling software etc.
• Create complete graphic design project

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit uses an experiential learning approach. Students will learn about designing for a social media marketing campaign though the learning activities, group critiques and assessments. This will provide them with the foundation to apply graphic design principles to the creation of content designed for use on social media and other online platforms.

Students undertake this unit in workshop classes that consist of a) an explication of the requirements and practices associated with producing a graphic design package for a social media campaign b) discussion and reflection on the standards and ethical issues in social media and graphic design projects in the Australian creative industries and c) work designed to further the needs of students’ own projects.

The learning and teaching strategy and rationale for this unit is to create experiences through the assessment items that enable engagement with the graduate attributes addressing written and oral analysis and visual communication and presentation. Participation in class critique and discussion allows students to test and express values, knowledge and skills to think critically and reflectively and develop design thinking strategies.

Assessment strategy and rationale

This unit allows students to develop their expertise in the graphic design discipline. It provides opportunities to demonstrate skills and knowledge of the practices, materials, technologies and techniques in design practice. Students will be expected to work independently and will have the opportunity to show creativity throughout the process of developing a project brief.

The assessment strategy used allows students to progressively develop their knowledge and skills to the level of sophistication where they are able to produce their own designs for print and digital media. In order to develop this level of design capability, students first understand the design process through design briefs that further develop their understanding of graphic design concepts, techniques and software. The assessments are designed to address the learning outcomes relevant to graphic design in addition to instructional exercises in class to acquire technical design skills. This approach is designed to appeal to students with a preference for learning within a physical social environment and allows for essential skill development with expert support.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Bancroft, J. M., & Bancroft, B. (2015). The eagle inside. Little Hare Books.

Barnes, A. (2017). Telling stories: The role of graphic design and branding in the creation of ‘authenticity’ within food packaging. International Journal of Food Design, 2(2), 183–202.

Bladow, K. (2019). Framing storytelling: indigenous graphic narratives. Journal of Popular Culture, 52(1), 35–52.

Drucker, J. (2008). Graphic devices: Narration and navigation. Narrative, 16(2), 121–139.

Grennan, S. (2017). A Theory of Narrative Drawing. Palgrave Macmillan US.

Heller, S., & Vienne, V. (2015). 100 ideas that changed graphic design (Enhanced Credo ed). Laurence King.

Junaid, O. (2015). “Listening” in social media and market research [Video]. Sage Publications Ltd.

Lankow, J., Ritchie, J., & Crooks, R. (2012). Infographics the power of visual storytelling. Wiley.

Marshall, E. (2016). Counter-Storytelling through Graphic Life Writing. Language Arts, 94(2), 79–93.

Murray, J. H. (2012). Inventing the medium principles of interaction design as a cultural practice. MIT Press.

Sun, H. (2020). Global social media design: bridging differences across cultures. Oxford University Press.

Warner, J., & LaFontaine, D. (2014). Social Media Design for Dummies. Wiley.

Zagala, A. (2008). Redback Graphix. National Gallery of Australia.