This is a studio course about designing digital products for the screen, with an emphasis on designing with systems in mind. This syllabus will be updated with more information throughout the semester. I'll let you know in class about updates.
Questions? mattk@ku.edu.
We're all adults here, let's act like it. Put your phones and laptops down unless we're using them for something in class.
KU Design has rules about attendance and we'll follow them. We're all working together here so it's important that you actually show up. Don't be late, it's rude to everybody. This is a studio course, which means we're learning by doing, and experiencing that all together. We've got a fairly small group, so this should be pretty manageable.
The canonical list of assignments and due dates will be on the schedule here.
You're going to turn everything in by posting it on your own website.
You'll be maintaining your site throughout the semester, and making choices about information architecture, design, and layout. It will be a daily tool that you use to submit work, but also a final document showing your work for the semester.
This means: you will need to find a website tool! We'll walk you through some options. You can use an off-the-shelf website builder or you can code your own.
Don't be afraid.
Periodically I will assign a text for you to read and respond to. Details here.
Here's my policy on AI tools: you should absolutely be using them. Use it, love it, and TELL us about it. I WANT you to use any AI tool you can find, but the tradeoff is that you must disclose and demonstrate for us. Show and tell, please. There are tools available now that weren't three months ago, and new stuff will come out while we work together this semester. Please use any kind of generative AI you want, just show us how you did it and don't pretend that you did something yourself when you didn't. Help us all learn to work with new tech!
Once per week, I'll randomly select one person to tell me something they think an old person doesn't know. You'll need to have this prepared in advance, so figure out your thing now.
Take a couple of minutes and explain something to me that you think I - a 40-something white dude, married, kids, full-time job, mortgage, etc - doesn't know or understand. A niche subculture on instagram? Some piece of slang? Some kind of technology? Music? Art? You don't need to prepare anything besides your idea, just have something ready when you walk in the door. You'll need to do this about twice per semester.
Consider this an exercise in designing for an audience. You'll get better at this as we go.
Grades will be based on performance and participation. Show us all that you're working hard and you'll be fine. Turning things in on time is important; we're going to move along with deadlines, so if your work falls behind you'll lose points for this.
We'll follow the regular KU Design departmental policies: Please reference them here.