Abstract

Motion design (also called motion graphics) is an underdeveloped subject within design education. Often taught as part of a separate elective course, housed in a computer lab and taught by graduate students or adjunct faculty, this subject is often associated with long planning hours, tedious software exercises, and inadequate formal results. However, at Kent State University, we believe that motion design has significant value for the design student's education and deserves integration into design curriculum. Integration of motion into curriculum has exponential value: it teaches systems thinking, research skills, and information design. We are entering an exciting time in graphic design, when motion, interaction, and information are merging to form innovative products and applications. An understanding and familiarity with motion can help a designer anticipate movement and navigation through an interactive space or a three-dimensional environment. Designers with a clear understanding of motion can think in time and are prepared to clearly communicate information in a way that is applicable to current technology. An understanding of motion can broaden a designer's ability to draft scenarios, prototypes, and visual representation of complex information to the client or audience.

Keywords

motion design, strategies for teaching, information design, sequencing, expressive, and authorship

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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Sep 14th, 9:00 AM

Contextually Teaching Motion Design

Motion design (also called motion graphics) is an underdeveloped subject within design education. Often taught as part of a separate elective course, housed in a computer lab and taught by graduate students or adjunct faculty, this subject is often associated with long planning hours, tedious software exercises, and inadequate formal results. However, at Kent State University, we believe that motion design has significant value for the design student's education and deserves integration into design curriculum. Integration of motion into curriculum has exponential value: it teaches systems thinking, research skills, and information design. We are entering an exciting time in graphic design, when motion, interaction, and information are merging to form innovative products and applications. An understanding and familiarity with motion can help a designer anticipate movement and navigation through an interactive space or a three-dimensional environment. Designers with a clear understanding of motion can think in time and are prepared to clearly communicate information in a way that is applicable to current technology. An understanding of motion can broaden a designer's ability to draft scenarios, prototypes, and visual representation of complex information to the client or audience.

 

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