Interactive Media Design
Interactive Media Design Course
For those aiming to make a career in the Interactive Multimedia Design industry, entry into one of the vast range of multimedia design courses is essential. However, the quality of courses varies almost as much as their content and those seeking to study towards a multimedia design degree should take the time to research exactly what is on offer from the range of interactive media design degrees.
With IDI, the aim of our multi media design course is straightforward, we focus on the creative use of digital media to produce multimedia content.
Multimedia design is about making interactive media. Our students can expect to gain extensive experience of producing interactive media such as:
Websites, interactive guides to places and products, online art and advertisements, new forms of comics and films, online social sites, casual games, and experiencing visionary design at the cutting edge of multimedia communications.
As a student with IDI, you will be involved in designing and making interactive content for mobile phones and portable media players on desktop and laptop computer screens, with the experience and needs of the user in mind.
Multimedia design is about the pleasures of using computers to work, play, entertain and communicate ideas and information. Using interactive digital technologies, multimedia design finds new ways of telling stories and new forms for expressing ideas in a networked world.
Our interactive media design course develops your knowledge and skills about creative media in the modern world and enables you to build a challenging and exciting career in a variety of fields such as web and multimedia development, mobile multimedia applications design, e-Commerce and website development.
This is a fully accredited Interactive Media Design course which leads to a Diploma of Higher Education (Dip HE) in Interactive Media Design from the University of Hertfordshire. Studying this course online with IDI offers you a flexible and affordable way to achieve an internationally recognised qualification in Interactive Media Design from one of the UK’s leading modern universities. You can choose to study full time or part time and the certification you receive on successful completion of your studies is awarded by the University of Hertfordshire; it is identical to the certification awarded to students who have studied the same course at the University, with no mention of distance or online learning.
This is not a correspondence course; in fact it’s unlike any other distance learning or online course in design. When you become an IDI student you can expect to have lots of regular communication with your tutors and fellow students. You don’t need to post work away or wait for study materials to arrive. Instead you’ll have access to your own, secure online studio and comprehensive study materials. As you work through practical, project based activities, you’ll benefit from the unlimited expert advice, feedback and guidance provided by specialist tutors. Our tutors are all fully qualified specialists in Interactive Media Design and their job is to support you every step of the way, from enrolment to graduation.
*Please note: The Interactive Design Institute currently delivers this course to the level of Certificate in Higher Education (Cert.HE) and Diploma in Higher Education (Dip.HE) online. Subject to approval, students will have the option of completing their interactive media design degree either online or through attendance at the University of Hertfordshire.
We offer discounts and flexible payment options. You can save £400 on your course fees if you pay for one level in full by 31st May 2013.
The programme specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the course and the intended learning outcomes that you might be expected to achieve.
Module Descriptions Level 4 (Year 1 of Degree) click here
Media Histories and Culture
The Media Histories and Culture module aims to develop an understanding of the contexts and conditions that enabled the development of media in Western culture.
Both traditional media and new media are shaped by a number of processes and contexts. Understanding the key concepts and theories for examining media culture and its artefacts will enable you to locate your own work within broader cultural and professional structures.
In addition to applying key media theories and concepts you will also explore the impact of social and political events and technical innovations on the development of media texts and artefacts.
The theoretical study provided by this module will benefit your practical work and provide you with a range of skills including the ability to research effectively, evaluate ideas and sources and engage in the process of critical analysis.
Media Histories and Culture Document
Principles and Practices of Interactive Media
The relationship between word and image is one of the fundamental principles of communication. This module explores the theory and practice of what is meant by interactive media. You will be introduced to the role that visual literacy and communication can play in the design of interactive media.
You will develop an understanding of visual language by applying words to visual experiences and creating visual images to illustrate verbal ideas. The interaction of word and image will form the backbone of your brief, both in theory and as a means to explore graphic design and its role in Multimedia.
In particular you will be required to examine how the use of good typography relates to the role of graphic design in the creation of interactive media. You will also be asked to produce examples sourced from published and blogged research and analysis of theoretical contexts for interactive media.
Principles and Practices of Interactive Media Document
2D Animation and Video Practices
This module is designed to introduce you to animation and the use of digital video and will include creative, theoretical and technical theory.
Your brief will require you to create an animation and a video to illustrate the concept of the ‘Object’ This module will enable you to make the unbelievable believable through the production of animation. This production will involve the creation of concepts in drawing and motion with an audio track to support your ideas. As animation involves the exaggeration and metamorphosis of reality, this will enable you to develop you skills in creativity.
Video enables you to think differently about your object and you will explore and experiment using this media to depict a different understanding of your object.
2D Animation and Video Practices Document
Pixel Image and Sound
This module is about the development of basic skills that will help establish good art and design practices.
You will be required to create a number of visual and sonic responses to the notion of making journeys from an urban context to a rural one. This is designed to develop your basic technical skills associated with the production of digital image and sound including combining sound and image, creating digital collage and using a camera.
Pixel Image and Sound Document
Module Descriptions Level 5 (Year 2 of Degree) click here
Traditions and Locations
This Module is designed to develop your understanding of your own work in context within a wider computational aesthetic and within the traditions of art and design. You will examine the contemporary and historical relationship between art, science and technology by exploring this unique territory.
Particular attention is given to the analysis of ideas that specifically relate to your work and this will be achieved through a range of theoretical activities. Assessment is typically based on the submission of an extended study of a particular practitioner, genre, group, form, theme, theoretical perspective or cultural issue.
Traditions and Locations Document
Teamwork Practices
This module will carry on from the previously established theme of interpreting the physical world in a virtual way by considering, in detail, the range of different skills and disciplines required to build new and multi-media environments. By their nature, the development of web sites, apps, mobile interfaces and other forms of digital content requires a range of disciplines, including creative and technical skills.
It is rare to find a developer who operates exclusively as an individual. Therefore it is important to learn good team working and collaborative skills. Through a range of theoretical activities and practical project work this module will give you the opportunity to work online in teams to develop a finished project.
Teamwork Practices Document
Authoring Interactive Narratives
This module will look at how we can translate given narratives into an interactive and hypermedia environment.
Your studies will include the exploration of the origins of narrative theory including the study of theorists such as Aristotle, Propp, Todrov and Freytag.
You will be required to create an online project that illustrates the interplay between poetry and the visual image. This will form a database and a gallery and act as a facility for artists to upload New Media examples of poetry. This briefs requires you to consider the use of sound text image, animation and video as a range of potential media sources.
The module forums provide a platform from which you can engage in critical thinking and debate with your peers to develop reflective and analytical thinking in regards to contemporary debates in interactive media.
Authoring Interactive Narratives Document
Content Management for Network and Mobile Media
In this Module you will explore the relationship between real and virtual space.
This module takes you through the complete development lifecycle of a content driven website for network and mobile media, enabling you to gain an awareness of the technologies, principles and dynamics involves in the industry. You will be required to take factors such as user needs, functionality and the constraints of current popular web browsing devices into account while designing your interface. Practical aspects of the module will allow you to plan, design, build and test a website that is powered by an Open Source Content Management system. Throughout the module you will be required to fulfil a variety of roles, which will enable you to gain an insight into your preferred choice of future career.
Content Management for Network and Mobile Media Document
Elective Module Options click here
Level 4 (Year 1 of Degree) Certificate of Higher Education
Study at Level 4 will enable you to develop skills and an understanding of the processes used to create interactive media.
The different modules will introduce you to the methodologies and practices of a Multimedia Designer. In addition, you will carry out analysis of user experience, responses and needs to inform your own creative work. At this level of study you will also be introduced to the fundamentals of interactive design and ActionScript programming. Modules will also cover topics such as authoring and coding software designed to control the flow of images and sounds. The acquisition of these skills will enable you to experiment with animation, audiovisual production and interactive narrative.
Study at Level 4 will instil the knowledge needed to begin your journey towards becoming a Multimedia Designer.
Level 5 (Year 2 of Degree) Diploma of Higher Education
Level 5 study of Interactive Media Design enables you to cultivate previously gained skills while beginning to specialise in the areas of multimedia which most interest you. The briefs provided at this level aim to mirror projects that you would expect to complete in the multimedia industries through group work and ‘live projects’.
Course materials and set briefs will challenge you to extend your knowledge of multimedia applications to reach a suitable solution. You will also be encouraged to explore professional studies of the multimedia industries and current media debates to inform your chosen career path.
Through set briefs you will explore theories of narrative, gaming and interface design. One such brief asks you to create an online project that illustrates the interplay between poetry and the visual image. Another asks you to plan, design, build and deploy a responsive website that uses a Content Management System.
Level 6 (Year 3 of Degree) BA
*Please note: The Year 3 (Level 6) programme described here is that currently available through attendance based study at the University of Hertfordshire. Subject to validation, students may also have the option of completing a year 3 (level 6) programme online. However, the content and award title of this programme may vary from the one described here.
Year 3 is the 'portfolio level' with the emphasis at this level being on building a portfolio of work as part of the preparation required before entering the design profession. You will have the opportunity to enter national design competitions, and will work to a series of professional briefs. You will also be able to negotiate personal projects in order to develop your personal creativity.
Interactive media designers create the overall look and feel of a wide range of interactive communication products. Using text, data, graphics, sound, animation and other digital and visual effects, they may work on projects such as internet sit, electronic games, online learning material and interactive television.
The interactive media sector employs 53,100 people, with a high concentration of jobs in London and the South East. Most designers work for graphic design, advertising, marketing and communications agencies. Some work for larger private or public sector companies. This is a fast growing industry, but competition for jobs is high.
There are no set academic requirements, most entrants are graduates. A degree or post-graduate qualification in an art and design-related subject such as graphic design or multimedia design is particularly useful. It may also be possible to start in a more junior post directly from school.
Salaries may range from around £15,500 to over £50,000 a year.
What is Audio?
Aim
On completion of this activity you will have developed an understanding of how sound works and how it can be recorded.
Objective
During this activity you will be expected to use your sketchbook and blog to record research needed to complete your sound journey.
Duration
The suggested time allocation for this activity is 120 minutes.
Resource Requirements
An A4 Sketchbook and a sound recorder.
Audio refers to a range of frequencies detectable by the human ear – we know this as ‘sound’. The highest pitch the human ear can hear is about 20 kHz, and the lowest (bassest) pitch we can hear is about 20Hz. Working with sound can involve the production, manipulation, recording and reproduction of soundwaves. But what are ‘soundwaves’? How are they produced and how do we hear them. In this section we will also look at sound equipment, understanding different components, find out what they do, and decide on what equipment we need, and how to use it properly.
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