Visual Systems: Advanced Visual Design for Video Games

Catalog description

Visual systems are forms of graphic presentation governed by rules. All mediums (forms and materials) have inherent qualities that we endeavor to explore and ultimately seek to exploit. The computer, as a visual medium and tool, offers the unique ability to impose ultra fast order and structure to a dynamic presentation process. From elegant and simple to tediously complex, systematic processes lay at the very heart of computer graphics and interactive art. This course will examine both the technical and aesthetic qualities, affordances and limitations of several low and high end visual systems. Students will be encouraged to explore new tools, and even consider developing their own, as they engage with class assignments. Two weeks will be given for each assignment, followed by a presentation of the work and a constructive group critique. Additionally, this course will provide a time and place for students to bring forward specific visual design problems from their thesis projects for critique and discussion.