Design Technology at ASF
Do you want a career in the media arts? Are you interested in designing a better future? If so then you will probably not only enjoy but benefit from taking one of the following courses listed below:
- Industrial Design, Prototyping & Fabrication, I & II
- Transmedia & Creative Technologies, I & II
- Video Production, I & II
- Design Technology DP (Two year IB course)
Design Technology courses allow students the opportunity to work with critical design methodologies and enhanced research processes to understand and create a better, more human-planet-centered future. The courses have a strong focus on technology so that students can take their design solutions further, speculate, develop and virtually or physically prototype their designs, and also the ability to not only imagine a better future but to experience it.
Index Project video on what Design can do.
Industrial Design, Fabrication, and Prototyping I & II
Industrial Design, Prototyping, and Fabrication offers students the ability to speculate, innovate, conceptualize, build and test the viability of their designs. The course is an interdisciplinary space for Making where students will learn digital 3D modeling and fabrication tools. They will have the opportunity to work with 3D printers, laser cutters, and hand-powered tools to prototype and fabricate original designs in a variety of materials including wood, bioplastics, textiles, and other hybrid materials. Students will also have the opportunity to digitally simulate their designs and interact with them in a virtual environment using VR technology.
The course challenges students to push the boundaries of what is possible through speculative design and identify opportunities to produce meaningful and sustainable user/planet-centered design solutions.
Students will learn the history and practice of how design changes the world. They will understand how design relates to every aspect of life. An important part of the course is learning about the importance of designing a more sustainable future. They will look at designing with bioplastics within a circular economy. Students will begin to apply what they learn by conceptualizing, designing, and prototyping their own products.
Students will have the opportunity to learn about: Design, Product Design, Furniture Design, Speculative Design, Illumination Design, Physical & Virtual Prototyping, Fabrication, 3D Modeling and Simulation, Custom Art Matting & Framing, Textile Silk Screen Printing, Product Packaging Design, User/Human-Centered Design, Sustainable and Ecological Design, Circular Economy Design, Bio-Materials
Students will have the opportunity to work with the following software: Fusion 360, Cinema 4D, Redshift, Unreal Engine, Adobe Dimension, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Cura
Students will have the opportunity to work with the following hardware & materials: Pen, Pencil & Paper, HTC Vive Pro VR Headset, 3D Printer, Glowforge Laser Cutter, Hand & Power Tools, Silk Screen Printing, Wood, Acrylics & Resins, Textiles, Bio-Materials, Modeling Clay, and more
Students will be preparing for careers in the following areas: Design, Industrial/Product Design, Art & Design, Interior Design, Architecture, Marketing & Advertising, Engineering, Environmental Design, Museum Exhibit Designer, and other related professions part of the Creative Economy
Transmedia and Creative Technologies I & II
Transmedia and Creative Technologies is an interdisciplinary course that focuses on experimental and innovative technical approaches to time-based art and design. In this course, students will implement practices such as video production, sound design, performance, virtual interactivity to design and produce advanced visual storytelling experiences. Transmedia means changing or moving media so naturally, it resists a conventional approach to art and design so it challenges students to apply hybrid strategies and a critical approach to problem resolution. The course fosters research around the history of media in art and design as well as contemporary practices and methodologies that implement emerging technologies.
Students will have the opportunity to work collaboratively to design meaningful experiences for audiences beyond the classroom. They will explore and push the limits of their abilities using software and hardware.
Students will have the opportunity to learn about: 3D Modeling and Animation, Speculative Design, Advanced Visual Storytelling, Interactive Design, Experience Design, Audio-Visual Performance, Installation and Immersive Design, Virtual Production, Green Screen, Video Projection Mapping, Lighting & Illumination Design, Basic Coding & Scripting, and other related practices related to new media
Students will have the opportunity to work with the following software: Cinema 4D, Redshift, Unreal Engine, MetaHuman Creator, Rokoko Studio, Mixamo, VC Element 3D, VC Saber, VC Orb, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Photoshop, MadMapper, Adobe Audition, Garageband
Students will have the opportunity to work with the following hardware: HTC Vive Pro VR Headset, RTX Quadro 5000 GPU, Rokoko MOCAP System, MIDI Controllers, Video Projectors and Monitors, 4K Camera, DSLR Camera, 360 Camera, Audio Recorder, Tripods, Dollys & Rigs
Students will be preparing for careers in the following areas: Art & Design, Communications Design, Marketing & Advertising, Game Design, Immersive Experience Design, Entertainment Industry, Television & Film, Data Visualization, Theatre/Performing Arts, and other related professions part of the Creative Economy
Video Production I & II
This course introduces students to the principles of video production and allows them to learn and engage in advanced & critical visual storytelling through their own productions. It aims to teach students how to plan, produce, and publish professional-grade videos implementing some of the latest technologies and practices in the industry today. Students will fulfill their creative ambitions as they are introduced to 21st-century media making using cutting-edge methods helping them to become critical media citizens.
The video and film production industry is fast-changing with the development of new technologies so students are encouraged to explore in their productions the implementation of visual effects, compositing, green screen, virtual production, and immersive 360 videos. Students can explore and chose to produce a variety of production styles and genres including documentaries, dramas, experimental/art videos, music videos, commercials, animations, opening title sequences, among other special topics.
Students will have the opportunity to learn about: Production Design, Documentary Production, Advanced Visual Storytelling, Title Sequences, Green Screen & Virtual Production, Analog & Digital Animation, 3D Modeling for VFX Compositing, Shot Composing, Audio Recording & Sound Design, Immersive 360 Video, Lighting, Post Production, Editing, and Color Grading
Students will have the opportunity to work with the following software: Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Unreal Engine, MetaHuman Creator, Rokoko Studio, Mixamo, Cinema 4D, Redshift, Adobe Audition, Adobe Photoshop, MadMapper
Students will have the opportunity to work with the following hardware: 4K Camera, 360 Camera, DSLR Camera, Rokoko MoCap System, HTC Vive Pro VR Headset, RTX Quadro 5000 GPU, Audio Recorders, Microphones, Tripods, Dollys & Rigs, Green Screen, Lights, Video Projectors and Monitors, MIDI Controller
Students will be preparing for careers in the following areas: Art & Design, Television & Film, Communications Design, Marketing & Advertising, Game Design, Entertainment Industry, Theatre/Performing Arts, Experience Design, Museum Exhibit Design, and other related professions part of the Creative Economy
IB DP Design Technology
(Two year IB course open to students going into their junior year)
DP Design Technology aims to develop internationally-minded people whose enhanced understanding of design and the technological world can facilitate our shared guardianship of the planet and create a better world. It focuses on analysis, design development, synthesis and evaluation. The creative tension between theory and practice is what characterizes design technology within the DP sciences subject group.
DP Design Technology achieves a high level of design literacy by enabling students to develop critical-thinking and design skills, which they can apply in a practical context. While designing may take various forms, it will involve the selective application of knowledge within an ethical framework.
All Standard (SL) and Higher Level (HL) students complete a common core that focuses on six topics.
● Human factors and ergonomics ● Resource management and sustainable production ● Modeling ● Raw material to final product ● Innovation and design ● Classic design
HL level students examine four further topics.
● User-centered design (UCD) ● Sustainability ● Innovation and markets ● Commercial production
Learn more about the DP Design Technology course on the IB website.
Students will have the opportunity to learn about: Innovation, Speculative Design, Product Design, Prototyping and Fabrication, 3D Modeling and Animation, Human/Planet-Centered Design, Sustainable and Ecological Design, Circular Economy Design, Advanced Visual Storytelling, Virtual Production, VFX Compositing, Interactive Design, Experience Design, Mixed-Reality Design, Immersive Design, and other special topics
Students will have the opportunity to work with the following software: Cinema 4D, Redshift, Fusion 360, Unreal Engine, MetaHuman Creator, Rokoko Studio, Adobe Dimension, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Audition, Garageband, Cura, Element 3D
Students will have the opportunity to work with the following hardware & materials: HTC Vive Pro VR Headset, Rokoko MOCAP System, 4K Camera, DSLR Camera, 360 Camera, Microphones & Audio Recorders, Tripods, Dollys & Rigs, MIDI Controller, Video Projectors and Monitors, 3D Printer, Laser Cutter, Hand & Power Tools, Silk Screen Printing, Wood, Acrylics & Resins, Textiles, Biomaterials, Modeling Clay, Pen, Pencil & Paper, and more
Students will be preparing for careers in the following areas: Design, Art, Industrial/Product Design, Interior Design, Architecture, Communications Design, Game Design, Immersive Experience Design, Marketing & Advertising, Entertainment Industry, Television & Film, Theatre/Performing Arts, Engineering, Environmental Design, Sustainable Design, Research, Data Visualization, Museum Exhibit Designer, and other related professions part of the Creative Economy
Prerequisites: For SL at least two semesters of the following design courses (Creative Coding, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Transmedia & Creative Technologies, Video Production, Web Design) or one year of AP Computer Science Principles with a grade of at least 80%. For HL a student must have taken a level II of Industrial Design or Transmedia & Creative Technologies. /Application/DR