welcome to spring 2012 semester!

Whether creating an animated graphic, an interactive kiosk or an entire Web presence, excellent design is central to a communicator's success. Multimedia design combines the basics of visual layout with several media such as still photos, video, audio, graphics and text. The results can be extremely powerful.

This course is about being a knowledgeable journalist, a media artist, an informed designer and an innovator. A passion for ethical communication, creativity and design is essential to your success. This new, immersive form of presentation opens many possibilities, some of which we are yet to discover. The goals of this class, therefore, are to familiarize you with multimedia design concepts and allow you the opportunities to experiment, create and explore.

the essentials

Class time and location
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1-2:50 p.m., 60 Carroll Hall

Instructor
Associate Professor Laura Ruel, Carroll 78, 919-448-8864, lruel@unc.edu

Office hours
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3-4 p.m., and by appointment

Required purchases

• Textbook -- Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (second edition) by Steve Krug

• Sketchbook for tracking ideas, storyboarding class projects and brainsorming.

• Subscription to Lynda.com training library. (Subscription accounts set up specifically for this class. Details will be provided during second class period. Approximate cost $33.)

You also will be given readings from PDF files that are on the class server.

Recommended items
• USB memory stick (1G minimum) or portable hard drive to save your work. Please be aware that you are responsible for backing up your own work.

Personal headphones. You will need to supply your own headphones in the lab for Web site viewing.

headphones