TITLE OF COURSE: Multimedia Project Lab
COURSE NUMBER & SECTION: MMP460-1100, Spring 2023
SCHEDULE: Mondays & Wednesdays, 11AM-1:15PM. This is a hybrid class – please review the dates on which we will be meeting in person carefully below. We will have 4 in person sessions (about 1 per month). These dates are highlighted in green below – please save them in your calendar. Attendance in person on these dates is mandatory. We will meet in 199 Chambers Street S-608 (the Makerspace) (unless otherwise stated). The recurring link for online, synchronous Zoom sessions will be posted on Blackboard (to insure privacy). Please email me at apinkas@bmcc.cuny.edu if you cannot find the link.
PROFESSOR: Anna Pinkas | email: apinkas@bmcc.cuny.edu | Office hours on Zoom: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9:30AM – 11AM. The recurring link for these sessions will be posted on Blackboard (to insure privacy). Please email me at apinkas@bmcc.cuny.edu if you cannot find the link or if you’d like to schedule a different time to talk.
CREDITS: 4| CLASS HRS: 3| LAB HRS/WEEK: 2
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Students will work collaboratively to plan, design and create a complete interactive, multimedia project. Projects may be drawn from such applications and tools as: media campaign; information kiosks; websites and mobile apps; physical computing, and digital fabrication.
PREREQUISITES: MMP200 and any 200-level MMP or MMA course.
Course Student Learning Outcomes (Students will be able to…) | Measurements (means of assessment for student learning outcomes listed in first column |
Students will work in a group to plan, design and produce a complete, interactive multimedia project. | Campaign project |
Students will apply advanced digital skills, and combine several types of media to create a cohesive project. | Campaign project |
Students will carefully assess their target audience and design their project accordingly. | Campaign project |
Students will assess and improve their portfolio to assist them in meeting their educational/career goals. | Portfolio assignment |
REQUIRED TEXT
- This is an OER course. All resources are provided on the class website: https://openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu/mmp460-1100-s23/
RECOMMENDED TEXT
- A good HTML5/CSS book
- The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition by Don Norman
- Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition) by Steve Krug
- 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk
OTHER REQUIRED RESOURCES
- Cloud storage (Dropbox or Google Drive). You can claim your free CUNY dropbox account by following these instructions: https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/cis/technology-services/dropbox/trainingresources/
USE OF TECHNOLOGY
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The preferred software for this course require the use of a computer (laptop or desktop) with certain specifications as well as a WiFi connection. If you have any concerns regarding access to a computer, software or Internet please email me at apinkas@bmcc.cuny.edu to make me aware of the situation ASAP. We will work together to find a solution.
You can get a free license for Adobe software for the semester by following these instructions: https://servicedesk.bmcc.cuny.edu/TDClient/KB/ArticleDet?ID=1070
Alternatively, you can access the remote labs by following these instructions: https://servicedesk.bmcc.cuny.edu/TDClient/KB/ArticleDet?ID=2084. If this isn’t working, please email me too: apinkas@bmcc.cuny.edu).
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In person labs are open on campus. You can find more information here: https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/students/lrc/lab-services/
- You will use a variety of software applications to work on your interactive, multimedia projects. Here is a list or recommended software (and open-source/free alternatives when available):
- UX Design: Adobe XD or Figma
- Raster imaging: Adobe Photoshop (preferred), GIMP (alternative)
- Vector imaging: Adobe Illustrator (preferred) or Inkscape (alternative)
- Audio editing: Audacity
- Animation: Adobe After Effects and Adobe Animate
- Code editors: Brackets or Sublime Text
- You will need to access Blackboard to submit certain assignments. I will upload grades and comments there as well. To login to Blackboard, go to https://cunyportal.cuny.edu/, login and click on the Blackboard menu item. If you do not have (or cannot remember) your id and password, contact the BMCC helpdesk right away: 212-220-8379; helpdesk@bmcc.cuny.edu ; RoomS141 (199 Chambers Street). You may also try reseting your password by going to https://cunyportal.cuny.edu/ and clicking on “Account & Password Reset.
- All Students are required to use their full BMCC email address when signing into the computers, Wi-Fi, BMCC Portal and other BMCC IT Services requiring authentication. (For example, John Doe would now sign in as john.doe@stu.bmcc.cuny.edu)
- You can access tutorials on Lynda.com on a variety of topics related to this course. While I will not assign Lynda.com tutorials, it’s a great place to learn techniques that can be useful for your portfolio and campaign project. Please follow these instructions to login for free.
TUTORING
Take advantage of BMCC’s one-on-one tutoring services (free!).You can find more information on online tutoring on this page (https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/students/lrc/online-tutoring/)
CLASS PARTICIPATION
Participation in the academic activity of each course is a significant component of the learning process and plays a major role in determining overall student academic achievement. Academic activities may include, but are not limited to, attending class, submitting assignments, engaging in in-class or online activities, taking exams, and/or participating in group work. Each instructor has the right to establish their own class participation policy, and it is each student’s responsibility to be familiar with and follow the participation policies for each course.
REQUIREMENTS & EVALUATION OF STUDENTS
Grading is based on the successful completion of workshop exercises, a web-based portfolio, the campaign project, and on class participation. Students are expected to attend every synchronous session, to follow the workshops and discussions (in-class and online). Failure to do so will affect the “class participation” grade (see below). Projects must be handed in on time. Points will be deducted for work that is handed in late. It is your responsibility to contact me in the event of an absence or of an issue with meeting a deadline. I will do my best to help you catch up, but I must be notified. You may also re-submit workshop exercises to improve your grade.
- Workshop exercises: 25%
- Portfolio: 15%
- Campaign project: 50%
- Class participation: 10%
OUTLINE OF TOPICS
- Digital media workshops (four from the following list: Typography, HTML/CSS, Bootstrap, WordPress, UX, Design Systems, Designing for Social Media, Kinetic typograph, AR/VR, Physical computing, Digital fabrication)
- Portfolio review and enhancement
- Teamwork/collaboration strategies
- Campaign project – Project research
- Campaign project – User Experience
- Campaign project – Visual Design
- Campaign project – Development
- Campaign project – Presentation
WEEKLY BREAKDOWN (subject to change)
Week One (Wed 1/25 & Mon 1/30)
- Intro to course
- Portfolio review
- Intro to OpenLab
Deliverable: portfolio review: gathering, organizing, describing + OpenLab portfolio creation and link
Week Two (Wed 2/1 & Mon 2/6)
- Crit: portfolio review
- Campaign project overview
- Wed 2/1: Presentation by FFAC (Factory Farming Awareness Coalition) (https://ffacoalition.org) . Teams are invited to create a campaign for this initiative for their campaign project, in which case they will receive feedback from FFAC several times throughout the semester.
- Creating groups for the campaign project
- Brainstorming ideas
Deliverable: team contracts + shared folder creation and link + pitch presentations
!!! NO CLASSES ON MON 2/13 – Lincoln’s Birthday!!!
Week Three (Wed 2/8 & Wed 2/15)
- Brainstorming ideas
- Creating a pitch
- Planning the digital media workshops
Weeks Four (Tue 2/21 & Wed 2/22)
- Digital media workshop I (Makerspace)
- In-class workshop: portfolio review update + working on your pitch presentations
Deliverable: portfolio review – formatting
Weeks Five (Mon 2/27 & Wed 3/1)
- Pitch presentations (2/27)
- Group meetings to debrief the pitch feedback
- Debrief Pitch presentations
Week Six (Mon 3/6 & Wed 3/8)
- Digital media workshop II & III (Typography & Designing for Social Media)
- Target audience
- Creative Brief
- Time management
Deliverable: persona, creative brief, task analysis
Week Seven (Mon 3/13 & Wed 3/15)
- All workshop exercises are due (3/15)
- Mon 3/13: Please fill out this survey to help the MEA department assess our offerings: https://bmcccuny.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_02kehjYvhxgLOlM
- Sketching and developing ideas
- Writing and presenting project proposals
Deliverable: text, start sketches (due on week 10)
Week Eight (Mon 3/20 & Wed 3/22)
- Color
- Typography
Deliverable: style guide
Week Nine (Mon 3/27 & Wed 3/29)
- Preparing the preliminary design presentations
Deliverable: preliminary design presentations (including sketches)
!!! NO CLASSES 4/5 – 4/13 – Spring Break!!!
Weeks Ten (Mon 4/3 & Mon 4/17) Eleven (Wed 4/19 & Mon 4/24), Twelve (Wed 4/26 & Mon 5/1), Thirteen (Wed 5/3 & Mon 5/8)
- Last touches to design presentations
- Preliminary design presentations (4/17)
- Revising and finalizing the design
- Portfolio reviews
Deliverables: Revisions based on feedback received during the design review + portfolio requests for feedback (last chance)
Week Fourteen (Wed 5/10 & Mon 5/15)
- Final Portfolios due (Mon 5/15) (in the form of a live URL on Blackboard AND on Open Lab (+ post it on this page: https://openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu/mmp460-1100-s23/category/week-11-13-final-portfolio/). We will look at 5-6 portfolios together in class (please consider volunteering – this can help with your class/participation grade)
- Campaign project finishing touches + final presentation preparation
Deliverables: campaign project assets + presentation prep + final portfolio submission (in the form of a live URL on Blackboard)
Week Fifteen (Wed 5/17 & Mon 5/22)
- Deliverables: Final campaign projects presentations
General Education Learning Outcomes | Measurements (means of assessment for student learning outcomes listed in first column |
Communication Skills- Students will be able to write, read, listen and speak critically and effectively | Class presentations, critiques and project briefs. |
Quantitative Reasoning: Students will be able to use quantitative skill and the concepts and methods of mathematic to solve problems. | n/a |
Scientific Reasoning– Students will be able to apply the concepts and methods of the natural sciences | n/a |
Social and Behavioral Science– Students will be apply the concepts and methods of the social sciences | n/a |
Arts & Humanities– Students will be able to develop knowledge and understanding of the arts and literature through critiques of works of art, music, theatre and literature. | Design assignments and class critique discussions. |
Information & Technology Literacy– Students will be able to collect, evaluate and interpret information and effectively use information technologies. | Design assignments and project briefs. |
Values– Students will be able to make informed choices based on an understating of personal values, human diversity, multicultural awareness and social responsibility. | Design assignments, project briefs and class critique discussions. |
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