Introduction to Digital Media
Dr. Samantha Krukowski

Project 1: Lines

A. Make, record and collect lines. Bring to class five lines you have made yourself, five physical lines you have collected, and photographs of five lines you have found in the world
B. Replicate your lines using Adobe Illustrator.

Bring all of your lines to class (the second part you will need to print)

Project 2: Figure | Ground

A. Create a physical composition, using only black and white paper, that emphasizes the relationship between figure and ground. The composition should be based on two primary shapes that repeat to form a pattern. Think carefully about scale as you go.
B. Using Adobe Illustrator, re-make this composition, allowing it to evolve based on the shift from analog to digital media.

Bring both compositions to class (the second part you will need to print)

Project 3: Altered Images

A. Start with five photographs that interest you. Scan or download each photograph into the computer at the scale you want to work with at no less than 300dpi. Do not take images off the web for this exercise.
B. Change the content of each image using Adobe Photoshop so that each original image is transformed. DO NOT use filters. Think about the evolution of each image given your alterations.

Bring all ten images to class (the digital five you will need to print)

Project 4: Collage

A. Make a physical collage. DO NOT use recognizable materials or images—focus on the overall composition and the way each part relates to the next. Search for your content in unfamiliar places. This means no models or products, advertisements or loaded stuff. Pay careful attention to what is over and what is under.
B. Make a composition using Adobe Photoshop that is inspired by your physical collage. Your composition should have no fewer than 20 layers. Save your composition in both .psd and.jpg formats, print the .jpg version.

Bring both collages to class (the digital one you will need to print)

Project 5: Image Sequence

Create ten sequential images, each 6”x6”, that explore the effects of time on one object. Step 1: Choose your object. Step 2: Consider it in time. Step 3: Identify 10 moments. Step 4: Depict them. You may complete this project using any tools and media you wish.

Bring your image sequence to class

Project 6: Moving Image Sequence

Using any software program that allows you to make a slide show (iPhoto, Quicktime, etc.), create a short video that includes the ten images in your original image sequence. You will need to make many more images to complete this project—images that fall between your original images and images that extend them. Consider at least the following as you organize the parts of your video: WHAT (lines, forms, icons, motifs, patterns, textures), WHEN (storyboard, minor and major, counterpoint, repetition), HOW (the overall character of your visual and spatial and aural worlds)

Export your movie as a quicktime file, bring it to class on a CD or DVD

Project 7: Stop-Motion Animation

Storyboard and create a stop-motion animation. Invent a world full of characters, motifs, colors, textures, themes...create a one-minute stop-motion animation that takes us into it.

Export your movie as a quicktime file, bring it to class on a CD or DVD

Project 8: Website Critique

Identify and critique two websites made by artists to promote their own work--one which you consider excellent, awesome, fantastic, out there--and one which you consider awful, lame, terrible, worthless. For each site, comment on:

-The work being represented
-Content and its relationship to the site as a whole
-How well or poorly the site suits its purpose
-Design—color, typography, image choices, typography, scale
-Navigation and structure
-Use of any particular technologies you can identify
-Biases which may affect your judgment in each case

Don’t worry if you don’t feel you have the vocabulary to discuss one or more of these categories. Just write down your best responses. Post your critiques on the listserv no later than Tuesday, April 25 at 5pm. Bring one printed copy of your critique to class.

Bring printed versions of both critiques to class (remember to include the URLs)

Project 9: Website

Create a website (using your webspace account) that is a graphical exploration of a fruit or a vegetable. The site’s design and structure should be inspired by your investigations into and representations of your subject.