MFA in Interaction Design: Home

Summer Intensive

Curriculum

This July, spend your evenings in a deep exploration of interaction design at the School of Visual Arts. In addition to evening courses, the summer intensive includes tours of the most energized New York studios. Bringing together designers and doers through hands-on work and theory-based lectures, the intensive allows flexibility for students to focus on one track or all three by unifying the program with a single theme.

Details and registration

Practice of Interaction Design
Carla Diana

This course will explore the relationship among people, objects, and information through the field of interaction design. Beginning with an examination of case studies, students will gain a sense of the breadth of interaction design practice. In a series of hands-on, studio-based exercises, students will gain exposure to critical parts of the design process while learning specific methods for human-centered concept exploration and the development of product behaviors. The course will culminate in a final project that incorporates major principles of interaction design and fits within the context of a larger, track-independent theme.

Mondays, July 9-30, 6:00-9:00PM

Leaving the Screen: Introduction to Programming for Interactive/Reactive Systems

This course will be a gentle but thorough introduction to code, and how students can use computation to build new systems for interaction that move away from the screen and into physical space. It is taught using openFrameworks (openframeworks.cc), a cross-platform c++ library for creative coding, but also looks at other toolkits and frameworks that helps the creative process and how different systems are connected. We’ll cover the building blocks of code, computational logic, and object-orientated programming, then start putting those pieces to work with systems of computer vision, signal processing, and interfacing with physical devices. In the latter half of the course, participants work to code creative and expressive prototypes based on these approaches.

In addition to the technical side, students weave through examples of the aesthetic and practical applications of the medium, looking for sources of inspiration and challenging our notion of what is possible. Students are recommended to have some familiarity with code (i.e., know what a variable and a function is), but beginners, who are prepared to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty, are totally welcome.

Wednesdays, July 11- August 1, 6:00-9:00PM

Research Methods (4 weeks)
Nate Bolt

A review of critical movements in design from the second half of the 20th century to the present is the focus of this course. We will consider how much of the craft that designers have valued historically is important for what we do today. Using insights grounded in history, students will evaluate what separates good design from “other” design in digital media, and review case studies of why certain products and companies have risen triumphant over others.

Thursdays, July 12 - August 2 6:00-9:00PM