Digital Design and Development

Media can be instantaneous, and once it’s in the digital space it’s not always easy or possible to remove it. The information shared digitally has consequences to the author and others. Critical thinking in terms of being able to predict and assess these consequences, both legally and ethically, is paramount to success in the digital sphere. This course examines the importance of setting purpose, goals, voice, ethics and protocols behind storytelling and images both on and offline. Students explore issues around codes of conduct that address copyright, creative commons licensing, digital piracy, defamation, quality of content, and speed of delivery, while still creating compelling content in an ethical manner. In addition, students will gain awareness of the importance of creating content that is culturally diverse, reflects tolerance and appeals to national and international audiences.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

COMM 1100 is designed to give students basic listening, writing and speaking skills that will allow them to prepare written and oral reports for BCIT courses and to proceed to more advanced communication courses.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course introduces the students to the basics of front-end web development. Students learns how to utilize HTML 5 and CSS 3 in order to create web templates. Topics include Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) 5, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 3, and an introduction to JavaScript. This course is the foundation for subsequent web development courses covering web development.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

Students explore how to craft and compose a compelling story that captivates and wins the hearts of an audience. Mastering the art and craft of effective storytelling helps to engage the reader’s attention and persuade them to become loyal customers. It is for this reason that, increasingly, brands, artists and businesses try to identify and communicate a story. A good strong, riveting story engages, motivates and inspires an audience. The story can then become an effective business tool to communicate a message.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course teaches students the best practices for design fundamentals across media, producing results suitable for web, mobile applications, and other interactive environments. Students will learn how to present the client’s message or objective in a manner that resonates with the target audience and enhances overall communication, human interaction, and usability. The design fundamental course provides a solid foundation for delivering interactive and engaging content for web and mobile applications. This course also includes screen-design principles, digital colour theory; typography; web and mobile page layout and design; correct use of white space; web and mobile graphics, images, and interface design. Students will have hands-on practice developing a series of conceptual projects that demonstrate their work towards creating a website in collaboration with other courses in this program.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course teaches students the purpose of the Photoshop tools. Students will work with layers, adjustment layers, channels and selections. Students will apply different tools to create selections and learn why some selection tools work more effectively than others, depending on the tonal range and composition of the image. Students will use painting tools and change brush sizes and tips along with natural media brushes. The course also discusses resolution issues, canvas sizes, masks, filters and cloning techniques.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course provides an in-depth exploration of the current Mac operating system and explores the best methods for installing operating systems. The course offers a combination of lectures and hands-on case study exercises to provide students with practical real-world experience. Students will create user accounts, change passwords and privileges, create and change usernames, re-format drives, and troubleshoot common operating system problems. The course also discusses security and system integrity for Internet-accessible computers and networks.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

Good product design incorporates a number of timeless principles for human–computer interaction. This course is designed to explain how humans interact with technology interfaces. Human–computer interaction (HCI) is an interdisciplinary field concerned with people, computer technology, and the ways that these interact and influence one another. Software products and websites that are created without considering human factors are often more difficult and less efficient to use. In this course, students will study the basic elements of people-friendly interactive design. Students will develop interface designs from original concept creation through to fully functioning prototypes. Through collaboration with other courses in this program, students gain a clear understanding and practical application of the web and mobile application interface design process.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

Marketing 1102 is an introduction to the fundamentals of marketing. In addition to the "four Ps" of marketing—product, price, place, and promotion—students will be introduced to how marketers create customer-driven marketing strategies based on their research and understanding of the marketing environment and customers. Students will plan a strategy for and compete in an online marketing simulation. After the simulation, students will evaluate their performance and deliver a marketing plan for their simulation company, which will be assessed on students' application of marketing terminology and processes and in the professionalism of their work. Additionally, students will complete assignments, quizzes, and exams.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course introduces the fundamentals of Project Management. Includes the unique characteristics of projects and fundamentals of project planning using techniques such as WBS, Gantt charts, CPM, dealing with people and team issues, maintenance and control of projects using check points and milestones, communication, and common sources of difficulty in project management. This course includes the use of MS Project, in order to familiarize students with typical PM software aids.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course introduces basic techniques for creating/producing audio/video media for web and mobile applications. Students import, edit and produce basic audio pieces utilizing industry standard audio editing software. Students will also be exposed to the cables, connections and microphones used to record professional quality audio. Students will perform the basic techniques of digital video production, including camera operation, framing and composition. Students will use industry standard non-linear editing software and multi-platform output for mobile applications. The final assignment in the course will be to produce a mobile application project that utilizes audio and video.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course continues from Web Development 1 and introduces the students to client-side programming with JavaScript. Students learn how to use JavaScript to make changes to pages, style, create animations, do form validation, and connect to a web server. Topics include JQuery, AJAX, event handling, validation constraints API, local storage, and the Document Object Model (DOM).
Prerequisite(s):

• COMP 1170

This course focuses on content management system design and development. Students will develop either a Drupal or WordPress site that meets specific business requirements. Requirements of this project include site navigation (which must be well defined and usable), site theme (must be associated with the business needs), vertical or horizontal sidebars, and implementation of CSS style sheets. The project will focus largely on design and functionality. Students must incorporate all of their development skills to successfully complete this project.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course covers the creative design process, including UI design principles, researching and conceptualizing an idea, resourcing materials, creating graphic user interfaces (GUI), designing for UX through prototyping and testing, presenting a design to the client, creating the technical artwork, making revisions, and outputting a final design project for a collaborative desktop, web or mobile application. The course also examines the 2D and 3D art, typography, imagery, colours, objects, and signs in UI/UX design. With consideration for diverse audiences, we will introduce students to rules and theories about user perception and its influence on user experience.
Prerequisite(s):

• MDIA 1106

This course will help students express their creative vision as they design and create pixel-perfect interactive content with exceptional typography, flexible layouts, and smooth animation. Students will develop cross-platform web applications and content in an integrated development environment that offers intelligent coding tools based on current industry standards. Students will use standard animation and scripting web-design platform as primary tools for their interactive and dynamic projects. Students will streamline their workflow by testing, debugging, and publishing content in HTML5 and CSS3 format, compatible with multiple desktop and mobile platforms. By the end of this course, students will be able to produce visually rich interactive interface that contains expression, motion, animation, responsive assets, and interactive components.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course teaches students how to create crisp vector graphics and text with precise shape building tools, fluid painterly brushes and advanced path controls for digital printing, web and mobile devices. Students will create vector artwork with an array of sophisticated drawing tools to create resolution independent Bezier curves. Students will create their artwork on multiple art boards and use natural brushes, layers, shapes, colors, blends, alignments and transformations to develop their artwork. This course will also teach perspective drawing using perspective grids to draw shapes and scenes in accurate one, two or three point linear perspective, creating a look of realistic depth and distance.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

In this course, students will take footage of virtually any size and format, photographs, and 3D renders with text, vector artwork, and music, and make it all come alive. Students will create high-impact, culturally sensitive communications by combining still imagery, graphics, and text in 2D or 3D space and animate virtually any aspect of each element. Students will also add sound for further impact. As a final project, students will work in teams to produce an audio/video piece in collaboration with another course and prepare and optimize it for their web and mobile application project.
Prerequisite(s):

• MDIA 2190

In this course you will develop skills to analyze, implement and test new digital interactive marketing platforms and learn how to integrate them into your overall strategic marketing efforts. Among other topics, you will examine social media, online advertising, mobile marketing and digital marketing analytics.
Prerequisite(s):

• MKTG 1102

This course provides further instruction and practice in the principles taught in COMM 1100. It concentrates on more sophisticated forms of written communication: the job application package, indirect correspondence, and reports. The course might also include modules on graphics, questionnaires, telephone techniques, and organizing and running meetings.
Prerequisite(s):

• 50% in COMM 1100

​This course continues from Web Development 2 and introduces the students to server-side programming and database connectivity with a relational database. Students learn how to generate dynamic content from a server, connect & store data in a relational database, and send data from all three tiers of a web application. Topics include SQL, session handling & authentication, and sending/receiving data. (3 credits, 36 hours).
Prerequisite(s):

• COMP 2130

Covers the accounting function and the services it provides to the manager. Topics include preparation and interpretation of various financial statements, reports, budgets, etc., in managerial decision-making.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course is based on designing and creating a fully interactive user interface for multiplatform webpages, computer and mobile applications, or video games. The project relies on defined market and users’ needs and requires efficient navigation, functionality, and user-friendly design and interaction. Key objectives of the project are presenting the initial idea, planning, resourcing, team management, and adhering to a budget. The project tasks include an initial proposal, strategy, concept, navigation workflow, prototype and final product. Students will create a user interface that includes user-friendly interaction and workflow, imagery, optimized assets, animation and/or movie content with visual effects, vector graphics, and an online aspect. This project is a collaboration between students in the programming, design, and asset integration courses of the D3 program.
Prerequisite(s):

• MDIA 2003

This course teaches students how to create engaging page layouts for print or digital distribution with InDesign’s creative tools and how to achieve precise control over interface layout, text, and media. Students will integrate interactivity, video, and audio for playback on tablets, smartphones, and computers while taking advantage of previously gained skills by applying aesthetic design principles, imagery, and graphics into their content. InDesign topics will include accessing the new tools and workspace, Digital Publishing Suite, text threading, importing assets, proportional placement, character and object styles, and embedding audio and video files. This course also covers designing and creating interactive documents and applications by reviewing creating buttons and animation, responsive and dynamic environment, and bringing web elements into the project. At the end of the course students will be able to develop content and produce interactive folios and documents for viewing on multiple devices.
Prerequisite(s):

• MDIA 2106

In this advanced course students will move beyond just developing code based tools and applications. In this course students will be developing advanced tools and application that use graphic, animation and dynamic user interface. These applications usually acquire data from outside sources. Some or most of the critical content for the application will be provided by an external service. Such application could be a simple image gallery or navigation menu or a pipeline that puts a Flickr photos onto a Google map. This course looks into different third party services and a significant portion of the programming effort revolves around managing the APIs of these services. The modern developer, no matter whether they are doing their work on the client-side or server-side, needs to develop this style of development. REST, JSON, AJAX and other methods of speaking from a client or server app to a third party service. In addition students will be introduced to several techniques used in the industry for designing and creating graphic assets for this type of project. At the beginning students will be introduced to and start with client side apps in Edge Animate, Flash or plain HTML5 and single server application, then move on to more complex, multi-service mashups while going through essentials and techniques for creating optimized graphic assets for the same projects.
Prerequisite(s):

• COMP 2130 and MDIA 2109

In this advanced course students will select intricate image elements, such as hair, eliminate background colours around selection edges, and automatically vary selection edges to create perfect masks using Photoshop’s different refinement tools. Students will learn how to remove any image detail or object with a content-aware tool that fills in the space left behind while matching lighting, tone, and noise so that the image appears as if the removed content never existed. The course shows how to create photorealistic or surreal HDR images with unprecedented speed, control, and accuracy. Students will save and optimize images for different content environments.
Prerequisite(s):

• MDIA 2190

This course provides the fundamental skills, tools and processes of professional selling. The focus is on “relationship” and “need-satisfaction” selling in a business-to-business environment. Through experiential exercises, practical applications and discussions students develop, deliver and evaluate a wide range of selling methods and presentations. This course is ideal for people in business who want to enhance their selling skills, people new to a sales role, and salespeople at any level who do not have formal training in the field. To be successful in this course, students must be able to communicate well in English.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

The law touches on many different aspects of journalism, not least because it provides compelling stories touching all aspects of our complex lives. The law also dictates what journalists can and cannot do in the course of reporting, and how they need to conduct their own business affairs. It guarantees freedom of expression, but it also delivers consequences when publication crosses over into defamation. It governs the economic relationships within journalism, through the law of contract and copyright. Journalists working in old media and new media cannot do their jobs well without a working knowledge of legal concepts and the courts. This course will offer a primer on various aspects of journalism and the law, the basics of defamation, the law of copyright and contract - as well touching on ethical issues that may arise within the profession.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

This course is the final level and concludes after Web Development 3. Students utilize all of their knowledge and experience from the previous three courses and place emphasis on designing reusable, easily maintainable code, hosting options, and discussions pertaining to defensible data storage strategies. Topics include design patterns, templating, object oriented programming (OOP), representational state transfer (REST), software-as-a-service (SaaS), and security.
Prerequisite(s):

• COMP 3130

In this advanced course, students go beyond designing and creating web and mobile interactive environment that run on a single client-side platform. This course takes students into the world of multiplatform applications that connect to an online resource to send and receive data and communicate with other applications. This course introduces students to advanced design techniques as well as incorporating scripts so that students will understand the connection between the application and online component. While students create and design most of the dynamic contents discussed in this course, they will also integrate into their design materials and services provided by other sources to increase the usability of their application. Such application could be a simple immersive and interactive image gallery that receives its library from an online source, a mobile app capable of collecting data from multiple sources, a game that stores its data locally on a server, or a social media website.
Prerequisite(s):

• MDIA 2109

In this course, students choose the types of project they wish to develop as part of a high-end portfolio and based on industry standards. The student portfolio may contain graphic design work, web solutions, a computer or mobile app, or immersive and interactive elements (potentially a game) accompanied with business, marketing, and project plans. Throughout this course, students also work on creating concepts for each component of their portfolio and will be developing a cost-effective marketing campaign for a small- to medium-size business, with special focus on web-marketing tactics, tracking with Google web analytics, preparing and presenting a proposal, integrating new media technologies (including social media), designing an efficient user interface, connecting the application to online source (MySQL database, PHP), and integrating dynamic content capable of communicating with a variety of server and client-side APIs, including Facebook and Google Maps.
Prerequisite(s):

• MDIA 3003

This leadership series course will feature industry presentations with guest speakers and panels by an array of industry experts from the rapidly changing landscape of transmedia and content delivery. Possible guest speakers could include leading media content developers, social media experts, critical business thinkers, web designers, sound engineers, videographers, programmers, critical thinkers and web marketers. Students will be assigned a date by the instructor to introduce their presenter. The student teams will be responsible for contacting and helping the speakers to make their presentations. Concluding the course each student will be required to write a paper on their findings of each of the presenters.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

Being an entrepreneur is about more than just starting a business or two, it is about having attitude and the drive to succeed in business. All successful entrepreneurs have a similar way of thinking and possess several key personal qualities that make them so successful in business. This course will help students instil confidence in their ideas, develop presentation skills, develop a business and marketing plan, create a pitch on the fly for a new project, explore possible funding options and demystify venture capital opportunities.
Prerequisite(s):

• No prerequisites are required for this course.

The practicum provides the student with hands-on practical experience in industry. It will be an eight-week (minus one day), non-paid work experience. While noting their skillset, students are responsible to find, apply and secure an approved, practicum opportunity in a relevant field such as, digital arts, marketing, advertising, or web and mobile development. Eligible practicum opportunities offered by industry will also be shared with the students for their consideration. The practicum will provide a real-life working environment for the BCIT student to expand his or her existing knowledge while gaining new skills, practical experience in becoming part of a team, and developing the experience and confidence necessary for employment in today’s workplace. Ideally, the student will be able to measurably contribute to the business by applying their skills. At the completion of the practicum, on Friday of the eighth week, students will return to BCIT to present a practicum report detailing their real-world experiences.
Prerequisite(s):

• Completion of all courses in Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4.