The module introduces students to fundamental concepts and knowledge in visual design practice that form the basis of two-dimensional visual communication works. Through theoretical and technical studies, students will be guided to explore and relate basic design principles to effective interaction of visual elements in design compositions. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include design elements, figure and ground relationship, colour theory, design principles, visual interactions and hierarchy, etc.

The module introduces students to fundamental knowledge and skill sets, as well as professional practices, in digital illustration for visual communication. Using the industry standard vector editing app, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of vector based drawing and painting, with emphasis on creative visual effects and effective composition. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include vector shape and stroke creation, manipulation and experimentation, vector graphic effects, digital typography, etc.

The module introduces students to fundamental knowledge and skill sets in drawing. With emphasis on observational skills, students will be guided to explore the technical and aesthetic aspects of drawing, ranging from compositional techniques to contemporary practices. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include observation of light and shadow, tonal range, shading techniques, perspective drawing, gesture and figure drawing, conceptual drawing, etc.

The module introduces students to fundamental knowledge and skill sets, as well as professional practices, in digital image processing for visual communication. Using the industry standard graphic editing app, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of digital image creation, enhancement, and manipulation, with emphasis on creative visual effects and effective composition. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practical experimentations, and critique sessions. The components of the module include image adjustment, retouching, and transformation; painting and masking techniques; filter effects, etc.

The module introduces students to fundamental concepts and approaches in solving visual design challenges. The core study encompasses the classic three-step Creative Problem Solving process, as well as the more human-centric form of Design Thinking methodology. With emphasis on the creative process, students will be guided to explore the important stages in the development of effective design solutions involving creativity. The guidance will take the form of lectures, demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include problem defining, visual research basics, creativity tools and techniques, prototyping and evaluation, etc.

The module introduces students to fundamental knowledge and skill sets, as well as professional practices, in typography and page layout. Using the industry standard page design and layout app, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of typesetting and composition involving type and imagery in both single- and multi-page contexts. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include type terminology, classification, anatomy, measurement and spacing; relationship between typographic contrast and hierarchy; principles in page layout; grid system and application, etc.

The module provides students with essential knowledge and skill sets to gain fundamental understanding of image capture through digital photography. In the module, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of photography as a contemporary medium of expression in visual communication. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include familiarisation of digital photographic equipment, technical correlations of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO in exposure, common genres of photography, natural and studio lighting, digital photography workflow, etc.

The module introduces students to fundamental knowledge and skill sets, as well as professional practices, in 3D graphic creation and manipulation. Using the industry standard 3D computer graphics software, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of 3D model making and rendering, with emphasis on creative and realistic representation. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the modules include techniques and principles in modeling, shading, texturing, lighting, camera control, rendering, etc.

The module provides students with essential knowledge and skill sets to build a solid foundation in the development of effective interface design. Through theories and practicals, students will be guided to plan, strategize, and design a system of human-centric interfaces with emphasis on accessibility and usability in the context of user experience. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include user behavior patterns, information architecture, planning and sequence mapping, GUI, visual hierarchy and navigation, prototyping in low, medium, and high fidelity, user interaction in interface system design, etc.

The module provides students with the essential knowledge and skill sets to build a solid foundation in motion graphics and effects design. Using industry standard vector based animation and motion effects tools, students will be guided to explore various animated interactions between motion elements in screen media, ranging from simple shapes to complex forms; from pictorial marks to symbolic logos; from type to imagery. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practical experimentations, and critique sessions. The components of the module include stop motion animation, animated web content, typography in motion, and comprehensive motion graphics design, etc.

The module provides students with essential knowledge and skill sets to build a solid foundation in web design. Using industry standard web development tools, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of front-end website creation with emphasis on accessibility, usability, and user experience. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include website structure analysis, content flow, information navigation and hierarchy, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), creative implementation of web standard interfaces, etc.

The module provides students with the essential knowledge and skill sets to gain fundamental understandings of capturing moving images through digital videography. In the module, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of videography as an contemporary medium of expression in visual communication. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include video production workflow from storyboarding to audio integration, art directions in videography and cinematography, video editing and compositing with industry standard tools, effects treatment in post-production, etc.

The module provides students with the historical overview of graphic design as the anchor of visual communication from early twentieth century to present. In the module, students will be guided to trace the evolution of graphic design, from both the cultural and technical perspectives, and the contextual factors from which it arose. The guidance will take the form of lectures, discussions, visual analyses, and critique sessions. The components of the module include investigation of traditional and contemporary forms of graphic designs from various key movements, exploration of the role and influence of graphic design in modern society, introduction to the important graphic designers of different generations, etc.

The module provides students with an opportunity to develop a solid foundation in mark design. With emphasis on meaningful communication, students will be guided to explore semiotic studies and creative application of mark making techniques in areas of visual communication such as interface graphics, signage system, and visual identity. The guidance will take the form of lectures, demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include semiotics in mark making, visual simplification and abstraction, pictogram and ideogram, signage system design, logo design approach in visual identity, etc.

The module provides students with the essential knowledge and skill sets to gain proficiency in the field of visual identity system as part of the branding practices for businesses or organizations. In the module, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of visual identity design with emphasis on establishing a cohesive brand image across a variety of applications. The guidance will take the form of lectures, demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include branding basics, logo design as the core of visual identity, logo transformation, design approaches of visual identity system, touchpoint. brand guide creation, etc.

The module provides students with the fundamental understanding of screenplay and storyboarding for short films, animations, and video games. Through theories and practicals, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of visual storytelling with emphasis on original scriptwriting and sequential narrative in the format of storyboard and animatic. The guidance will take the form of lectures, demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include the roles of screenwriting and storyboarding in film, video, animation production; film direction and cinematography basics, strategic crafts in screenwriting; creative visualisation techniques and practices in storyboarding, etc.

Building on the foundation of Web Design 1, the module enables students to gain proficiency in the advanced practice of web design. Through theoretical and practical guidances, students will develop specialised skills in creating sophisticated and dynamic websites with focus on functionality, usability, and interactivity. The guidances will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include web CMS (Content Management System), SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor), JQuery application for responsive and dynamic webpage, etc.

Building on the foundation of User Interaction Design 1 and Motion Graphics & Effects 1, the module provides students with an opportunity to examine the creative potentials and possibilities of digital media. In the module, students will be guided to explore the technical aspects of current technology platforms in relation to immersive user experience and creative content presentation in digital media. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, experimentations, and critique sessions. The components of the module include analytical approach to current digital media technologies, exploration of user experience in computer-enhanced real world and simulated environments, understanding of motion based UI, etc.

Building on the foundation of Motion Graphics and Effects 1, the module enables students to gain proficiency in the advanced practice of motion design. Through theoretical and practical guidances, students will develop specialised skills in creating sophisticated motion designs with focus on creative application of animated visual effects to both the conventional and unconventional time based media. The guidances will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practical experimentations, and critique sessions. The components of the module include advanced masking with rotoscoping and motion tracking; simulation effects in various particle systems; motion effects in VR/360 environments, etc.

The module provides students with the essential knowledge and skill sets to develop a personal portfolio, which can reflect their competency and positioning in their areas of specialization. Through theories and practicals, students will be guided to investigate and improve their representative design works in the portfolio design process. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, practical experimentation, and critique sessions. The components of the module includes self-assessment, review and revision of assignments, resume writing, presentation skills for job interview, etc.

Building on the foundation of User Interaction Design 1, the module enables students to gain further familiarization with the advanced practice in user interaction design. Focusing on mobile app front-end development, students will be guided to explore both the technical and aesthetic aspects of interaction design for mobile platforms with emphasis on usability and interactivity in user experience. The guidance will take the form of lectures, tutorials, technical demonstrations, practicals, and critique sessions. The components of the module include key principles of user experience in mobile design; mobile app development, prototyping, and publishing; various mobile features and API (Application Programming Interface), etc.

Progressing towards industry-focused development, the module provides students with a practical training ground to put their design knowledge and skills in practice through engagement in live projects, design competitions, or the equivalent. In the module, students will experience first-hand the “real world” expectations in design from clients or industry partners. In addition, students will gain familiarization with the professional standards in project planning and time management, as well as the fast-paced design process in the creative industry. Facilitated by the lecturer or tutor, students are required to work independently to present a well-considered design solution with emphasis on the fulfillment of requirements in the creative brief.

Parallel to Design Studio 1, the module provides students with another opportunity to put their design knowledge and skills in practice through engagement in live projects, design competitions, or the equivalent. In the module, students will experience first-hand the “real world” expectations in design from clients or industry partners. In addition, students will gain further familiarization with the professional standards in project planning and time management, as well as the fast-paced design process in the creative industry. Facilitated by the lecturer or tutor, students are required to work independently to present a well-considered design solution with emphasis on the fulfillment of requirements in the creative brief.

Building on the prior design knowledge and skills, the module provides students with an opportunity to reflect upon their experiences in previous modules and extend their design development in areas of specialisation that they would like to pursue in greater depth. Within a self-directed problem based framework, students will be challenged their usual understanding of design practices in order to formulate a comprehensive, well considered, and creative design solution. Throughout the module, students will be facilitated by the lecturer or tutor to complete their design projects of choice in adherence to industry standard process and workflow. The priorities of the module include advanced level of analytical and critical thinking, strategic planning and management, competency in creative conceptualisation and execution, etc.

This module aims to provide students with the opportunity to gain real-world industry experiences and professional practices in their chosen discipline. It allows students to establish connections, develop useful contacts, and gain industrial skills and an overall perspective of the discipline. The industrial attachment is intended to enhance students’ educational experience and prepare them for their careers.