Balance form and function with a UX design degree

This course prepares students to be successful lifelong learners both academically and in their chosen careers. Franklin courses require a high level of self-directed learning and focus on the skills required in the workplace and the classroom that are easily transferrable between the two environments. The course includes strategies for time management, goal setting, reading comprehension, and advancing communication skills, including the use of electronic tools to participate in virtual environments.

This course prepares students to be successful lifelong learners both academically and in their chosen careers. Franklin courses require a high level of self-directed learning and focus on the skills required in the workplace and the classroom that are easily transferable between the two environments. The course includes strategies for advancing communication skills, including the use of electronic tools to participate in virtual environments. The assignments and activities in the course are created to closely simulate teamwork found in the workplace.

By using applied critical and creative thinking, students in this course will develop a set of communication skills that will enhance their personal and professional relationships and endeavors. This course will focus on skill development in key areas such as self, perception, listening, verbal messages, conversations, relationships, conflict management, persuasion, and presentation skills.

This basic public-speaking course intends to improve the student's ability to think critically and to communicate orally. Theory and practice are provided in various speaking situations. Each student is required to speak before an audience, but class work also involves reading, gathering and organizing information, writing, and listening.

This is an intermediate course focusing on the composition of research papers. Students in this course prepare to be active participants in professional discourse communities by examining and practicing the writing conventions associated with their own fields of study and work. By calling attention to the conventions of disciplinary writing, the course also prepares students for upper-division college writing and the special conventions of advanced academic discourse. Course activities include three extended research papers, semi-formal writing addressing interdisciplinary communication, and readings fostering critical engagement with disciplinary conversations.

This course provides an overview of the fundamental aspects of visual design, encompassing features such as contrast, balance, emphasis, movement, white space, proportion, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, pattern, unity, and variety. These design elements synergistically combine to provide a visually appealing and user-centric outcome.

GRPH120 introduces students to the basic principles and applications of digital photography as a medium, a skill set, and an integral part of today's digital literacy needs. Topics covered include capturing images using digital cameras while emphasizing the manipulation of camera controls, exposure, lighting, on-and-off camera flash, essential imaging tactics, digital workflow for photography, print, web and image storage, and archival. Students are required to have a digital camera (point-and-shoot or DSLR).

This course provides a practical approach to understanding the essential principles of typography, including its fundamental characteristics, terminology, and naming conventions. Additionally, it explores innovative applications of typography and its seamless integration into effective design practices. The course delves into various aspects such as the analysis of individual letterforms, typographic categorizations, the establishment of information hierarchies, and the arrangement of elements on a page. Through assigned projects, students are encouraged to experiment with letterforms as graphic elements and vehicles for communication.

The course introduces the student to the most widely used computer software in the field of digital design and graphics. In this course, students will gain a basic understanding of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. Students will also be introduced to electronic publishing, specifically InDesign and typographical command sequences. An emphasis is placed on using the program to build professional-quality publications, such as advertisements and newsletters.

This course provides students with instruction in graphic and image editing software that is widely used in the photography and graphic design fields. The hands-on projects will use image editing tools, selections, layers, color adjustments, local and global tonal adjustments, shapes, and filters to enable students to be able to understand current postproduction techniques for both photography and graphic design applications. These skill sets are basic digital literacy skills for today?s creative workers, and this will be a necessary support for GRPH 210 and GRPH 317.

In this course students will explore the fundamental principles and creative process of graphic design. An emphasis is placed on visual problem solving skills and the creative and aesthetic aspects of traditional graphic design. The course also explores the implications of traditional graphic design in a digital format. NOTE: This is a technology course, in a technology program, and it requires the purchase of software that may be used in subsequent courses as well as being suitable for commercial work beyond completion of degree studies. For specific software requirements, consult the course syllabus.

In this course, a strong focus is placed on preparing students to effectively communicate ideas and information to business and consumer audiences through graphic design. Students will learn to apply these principles using traditional methods supported by computer technology.

This course in creative mobile and web application design and development is a project-driven course where you will build web and mobile applications suitable for portfolio or client presentations. You discover and learn the technologies, techniques, theory, and critical thinking required to be a successful creative designer and developer in the highly competitive mobile and web application design industry. Emphasis is placed on going beyond the basic design and technical concepts and focuses on supporting you in how to analyze a problem, determine resources, and implement a solution. You will explore mainstream technologies, architecture, and design patterns supported by industry-recognized leaders such as Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle, among others.

This course explores motion graphic design using Adobe After Effects. The focus will be on creating video that can be used in interactive media projects, web sites, and social media contexts. The course examines common practices and methods of creating professional quality media using current technologies. Students work individually and in teams to design, develop, and implement digital media for projects.

The greatest photographers of the last 200 years have had a few things in common and one of those things is empathy. Empathy is the capacity to deeply understand someone or something by placing oneself in their shoes. The more knowledge you have about someone or something, the more likely you are to be empathetic. This course examines how empathy can help someone become a better photographer or designer. Through the process of creating and analyzing images and illustrations related to empathy, students investigate how images affect the creator and viewers empathetic responses. Each week, students attend critiques where they present images created for a specific purpose and talk about how they elicit empathy and how that empathy may be applied to improve user experiences and viewpoints. Students create several artifacts for their professional portfolios.

The course examines current theories and best practices of working collaboratively in professional contexts. Students apply these concepts to analyze their own work experience, generating strategies for how to improve their performance in work groups. Students will learn basic project management skills and work in online virtual teams to complete a final communication project.

Human-centered design is structured around solving difficult problems for people who desire a more creative approach. In this course, students will utilize a three-phased approach from the design thinking model, beginning with inspiration, followed by ideation, and finally implementation. Once students have completed this course, they will be able to solve similar difficult problems using a user-centered approach.

In this course, students learn about the various types and functions of high and low-fidelity prototyping to generate creative ideas and solutions based on the development of an accurate understanding of the user's needs. Students will learn how prototyping is a key step in the human-centered user experience process and provides the opportunity to re-imagine user experiences that fully meet the needs of the user, and most importantly, how to use prototyping to better process ideas.

In this course, students learn the value of aesthetics on experiential design and why the look and feel of a product or service is vital to the success of the user experience. Students also explore a variety of methods for improving the aesthetics of a design solution and then apply their learning to the creation of a design artifact for their professional portfolio.

UI Animation is a crucial part of modern UI design, enhancing user experiences by adding depth, responsiveness, and visual appeal to static user interfaces. In this course, students learn to enhance user experiences through the introduction of animation that 1), enhances engagement and satisfaction, 2) provides visual cues to communicate the system's responses and actions better, 3) focuses user attention on crucial functionalities, and 4) enhances aesthetics by introducing micro-interactions.

The User-Experience and Graphic Design Practicum is the first course in a two-course series that immerses students in design scenarios pertaining to real-world projects. These courses are designed to provide students with the experience of working as a professional designer. This is accomplished through the course structure, where students begin with an entry position and advance to management in the second course phase. The experience is enhanced by working with real clients who require an experience-designed solution for their product or service. During the practicum course, students utilize one or more human-centered frameworks to solve real problems facing actual users. One of these approaches is "design thinking." Design thinking is a highly effective approach for solving complex user problems because it puts the user at the center of the design process. By applying design thinking principles, students not only develop their skills in user experience and graphic design, but also gain a deeper understanding of the importance of considering the user's perspective in any design project. This approach ultimately leads to more effective and impactful design solutions. The practicum capstone course offers students the opportunity to acquire practical design experience while simultaneously honing their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. The practicum provides students with experience working in design teams, leading and following in design teams, and applying UXGD skills to real problems.

The User-Experience and Graphic Design Capstone is the second course in a two-course series that immerses students in design scenarios pertaining to real-world projects. Students utilize one or more human-centered frameworks to solve real problems facing actual users. One of these approaches is "design thinking." Design thinking is a highly effective approach for solving complex user problems because it puts the user at the center of the design process. By empathizing with users and understanding their needs and challenges, students can generate innovative ideas and create prototypes that directly address those issues. This approach fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills as students learn to approach design challenges from a user-centric perspective. By applying design thinking principles, students not only develop their skills in user experience and graphic design but also gain a deeper understanding of the importance of considering the user's perspective in any design project. This approach ultimately leads to more effective and impactful design solutions. After the project is finished, students deliver presentations of their solutions to clients and stakeholders. This capstone course offers students the opportunity to acquire practical design experience while simultaneously honing their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. Through the application of design thinking principles, students gain the ability to comprehend the requirements and obstacles faced by users, generate inventive concepts, and develop prototypes that effectively tackle these concerns. The ultimate phase of delivering their work to clients and stakeholders allows students to demonstrate their competencies and cultivate a robust professional portfolio that accentuates their proficiency in user experience and graphic design.