Course Overview
Background
This course teaches students to use sequential presentation of visual information--storyboards, flowcharts, diagrams, prototypes, and simulations--as tools for the development and evaluation of 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, complete the reading assignments, and participate actively in discussion (10% of grade).
There are four major projects, assigned at the end of each major unit in the course. Here are brief, preliminary descriptions. Detailed instructions will be given out as the course progresses.
- Project 1: Narrative
- Produce an original comic or the storyboard for a cinematic scene. Additional requirements will be given out with the formal assignment.
(20% of grade)
- Instructions and Processes
- Using only images, create usable instructions for a relatively simple task such as setting up a personal computer system. Class members will test and critique one another's work. (20% of grade)
- Software
- Using Macromedia Flash, PowerPoint, or some other visual sequencing tool, produce an animated, sequential description of a Web browsing session or some other software transaction. (20% of grade)
- Complex Systems and Simulations
- Write detailed plans for a cellular automaton, including visual content and transformation rules; or program/prototype such a construction using Flash. I will make at least one Flash template available. (30% of grade)
Texts
|
Marcie Begleiter, From Word to Image A practical introduction to the art and craft of storyboarding, intended primarily for film students. |
|
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics A study of the conventions and conceptual foundations of comics, the "invisible art" of spatial communication. |
|
Edward Tufte, Visual Explanations A classic theoretical investigation of information graphics used for analysis and explanation. |
Additional readings will be distributed in photocopy.
All three required books should be available at the U.B. Bookstore. You may also purchase them from Amazon or other on-line sources.
