Tarek Fahmy: Cultural Critic

Digital Design, Des 622
Tom Klinkowstein

Klinkows@mediaa.com

Purpose
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the core ideas and
technologies surrounding contemporary approaches to Image Design, Sound
Design, Motion / Interactive Design, with additional emphasis on the importance
of a broader knowledge of society and the design profession.

Projects (subject to change)
There will be three project modules, each with a number of steps.

In addition to technological and design challenges, assignments have
conceptual themes, including:
Descriptive / Suggestive
Storytelling
Interactivity and Drama

From a media and tools point of view the assignments include:
Digital Photography
Sound Design
Digital Video and / or Web Design

There are important directorial, and process procedures we will also be
exploring, such as:
Ethnographic Research (direct observation)
Community generated content
Experience Design / Touch Points

While working on the assignments, try to understand both the “why” as well as
the “what”. In other words, try to figure out, “the big idea” behind each project;
don’t just focus on the tool being employed to solve the given assignment.

Try to learn how to think, perceive and judge differently and translate these
perceptions into engaging results.

Required Materials
- Digital camera (use your own or borrow the department’s)
-Video camera or still camera with video capabilities (use your own or borrow
department’s)
- External storage media such as a Firewire drive

Grading
Based on the successful completion of all assignments and their sub-sections,
as well as vigorous class participation and your blog (including networking and
reading requirements; see below).

Class Structure
A short lecture or discussion, students showing work and their blogs, individual
or group critiques, followed by time to work on the assignment.

Blog
Set up a free blog at blogspot.com and make it accessible to everyone or at least everyone in the class. Make commenting possible to your blog.

Use this blog to document all of your written, photographic, sound and video materials from the course.

Throughout the semester, review my recommended design links on Tarek’s class blog, and add at least five of your own to your blog.

Networking
Every week, meet 1-3 new people and get their business card(s). Post a 15-50 word description of the meeting and the person, a simple sketch or cellphone photo of the person and their scanned business card on your blog.

A good place to meet these people is Starbucks or other cafes.

This will help broaden your understanding of the world-at-large and get accustomed to presenting yourself to people you do not know. Such encounters often lead to new insights and knowledge and can become a source for rich professional and personal contacts.

Every week, you must also read an article from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist or Scientific American and post a review about why you choose it (20-50 words and a link if available) to. Reading quality publications will help you better talk with the people you meet for the networking requirement (above), as well as give better ideas on your career.

Every week, also read and summarize a blog post from one of the design blogs posted on Tarek’s blog or one of the design blogs you add to your own list.

Assignment One
Denotative / Connotative (Descriptive / Suggestive)
Media: Digital Photography

Part A
-Photograph a common activity in a denotative manner, with final application of the images to be more connotative.

-Choose a common activity (e.g., drinking a cup of coffee).
Photograph the activity in a realistic (denotative) series of 10-15 images were you control the action and use “Talent” you choose and direct. DO NO USE FLASH.

-Include in your original photos:
Establishing shots
Medium shots
Close-ups
Extreme Close-ups

Post the images on your blog.

Write 30-60 words about your experience and post that to your blog as well.

-Pick the best images (three or more), or create multiple images (three or more) from one or more of the original photos using cropping. Use Photoshop to make the images connotative (suggestive), using dodging, burning, blurring the background, etc. (do not use “overt” filters that add harsh or unnatural effects).
.
-Crop to 720 x 480 px. All photos should be horizontal.

Part B
-Make a 3 second long video from the manipulated
(connotative) files. Use simple video transitions. Fade from black at beginning
and fade to black at end.

-Choose an existing company who’s tone and logo would seem to fit your
altered images. Further alter the images as needed to make them appropriate
for the chosen company.

-Show the logo at the end of the spot superimposed on the last 1-2 sec. of the
spot and/or partially on a black background.

-For the soundtrack, choose existing instrumental music with a very dramatic
last note to use at the end of the video. If needed, you may also use an
appropriate sound effect as the final note.

Setting up Blogs

Blogger makes it simple to create a basic blog. Here are the steps we went over in class.

Step 1: Using the Mozilla Firefox browser (you can use other browsers for now, but only Firefox supports the video upload feature you will need later this semester) go to www.blogger.com

Step 2: Create your blog.
• First, you will set up your account information. You will need to setup a gmail account if you do not already have one. To create a gmail account (it’s free) go to www.gmail.com.

• Second, create a blog name and a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Each URL is unique, so you may have to try a few different URLs before finding an available one (example: there can be 1,000 blogs named Pratt Digital Design but only one blog can have the URL http://prattdigitaldesign.blogspot.com/).

• Third, choose your template – this can be changed later.

Now you have a blog.

Step 3: Change your blog settings.

To change anything in your blog you will use the three tabs at the top of your page: Posting, Settings, and Template. Under the Posting tab, you can create new blog entries (aka: posts), remove posts, edit posts or moderate comments. Under the Settings tab, you can modify features on your blog. These features include everything from who can comment or even look at your blog to the format of the date/time stamp on your posts. Under the Template tab you can change the appearance of your blog. This includes layout, color, typeface…etc.

Blogger has many customization options. These are at your discretion, however, your classmates must be able to submit comments on your blog. Click Settings >> Comments >> Who Can Comment. >> Select the “Anyone” option.

A useful setting is under
Settings >> Comments >> Show Word Verification for Comments >> Seclect “Yes”. This prevents people from spamming your comments section with unwanted automated messages.

Step 4: Post on your blog

To post on your blog, click Posting >> Create. Here you can insert images, video and text. If you are comfortable using HTML code, you can create your post in the Edit HTML tab, otherwise format your post under the Compose tab.

When you’ve finished composing your post, click on the orange “publish post” box to put it on your blog.

Note: You can preview your post before publishing it by clicking on the “Preview” link on the upper right corner of your screen.

• Removed repetitive closeup scene
• Lightened the mid-tones and increased the highlights in a couple of darker clips
• Changed the logo’s color and made it a bit 3D; beveled it a little.