About the Course
Concept
This course teaches students to use sequential presentation of visual information--storyboards, diagrams, maps, prototypes, and simulations--as tools for developing and evaluating information systems. The course draws on theoretical approaches to various forms of visual explanation, including information graphics, filmmaking, animation, and comics. Having laid the groundwork in traditional, linear forms it advances into interactive and "emergent" media such as computer software and digital simulations. Through a series of practical projects students learn to apply sequential visualization techniques both to interface design and content development.
Course Objectives
| Conceptual | Practical |
| Understand relationships of space and time implicit in description and narration, especially in sequential media. | Build expertise and sophistication with storyboarding as a tool for analysis and planning. |
| Probe the intersection of images, words, and data in information graphics, especially as they apply to complex problems and systems. | Attend to problems of information design involved in sequential graphics. |
| Extend sequential visualization beyond storyboards, strips, and timelines into simulation and emergent systems. | Develop strategies for presenting information in multiple or emergent sequences. |
Course Requirements
Students are expected to attend every scheduled class, except in case of illness or emergency, complete the reading assignments, and participate actively in discussion (10% of grade).
There are four assignments, assigned at the end of each major unit in the course, and a final project. Here are brief, preliminary descriptions. Detailed instructions will be given out as the course progresses.
- Assignment 1: Project Leksvik
- Given a set of non-verbal instructions from IKEA, render these into non-graphical from. (15% of grade)
- Assignment 2: Narrative Storyboard
- Using only images, construct a coherent and meaningful narrative. (15% of grade)
- Assignment 3: Complex Process
- Describe (and implicitly, analyze) a complex, multi-part event or process involving multiple actors and multiple, simultaneous actions. Both words and images may be used for this assignment. (15% of grade)
- Assignment 4: Web Map
- Using words, images, and symbols, map the structure of a reasonably complex Web site, or relationships among several sites. (15% of grade)
- Final Project
- Details of this assignment will be published about 6 weeks before the due date. You will probably have several options, including a project of your own invention. (30% of grade)
Additional Policies
A statement of General Policies can be found on my personal Web site. That statement extends this document. Please read it, especially the sections on Incompletes and administrative withdrawals.
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