Foundation level course

2011

GK5 Identity and interaction
Course code	GK5IDE
Department	Institute of design
Professor in charge	Associate Professor Nina Bjørnstad
Additional staff	Adjunct Professor Rachel K. B. Troye, Assistant Professor Hans Gerhard Meyer
Prerequisities	The course is mandatory for all 5th semester industrial design students
Instruction language	Norwegian
Max no. of students	25
ECTS credits	30

Course description

This is a course in brand building that emphasizes communication through physical and visual product identity. The course has a focus on theoretical and practical issues related to the brand and the experience of the products. The knowledge of the basic principles and instruments in branding and visual identity, is both of analytical, strategic and practical character.

Interaction design is a relatively new design discipline, which design the relationship between people and technology they use. There will be given a basic introduction to interaction design and screen-based dialogues. You get the opportunity to understand the digital materiality that designers use in digital projects.

The school's focus is to create engaging user experience through interaction with products and services, and an understanding of this is central to this course.

Learning outcomes

The students who complete this course have learned what a brand is and the role of brands in today's society. Students will have developed critical thinking around the subject and mastering the basic principles in developing their own brand concepts and implementation of these in products. Moreover, the student will have learned to define target groups for their brand and be able to communicate effectively with them. In addition, the student will be able to define the potential competitors to their brand and position it in relation to these. Students will develop a visual identity for their brand. They will develop and define the design elements like logo, colours, fonts, visual expression, etc. These should be implemented in the relevant touch points as the product itself, brochures, website, etc. They will gain an understanding of the fact that the product itself is a central piece of the brand.

Students will have a great understanding of the fundamental challenges associated with this field and have an overview of different perspectives and approaches to interaction design. Students will understand the technical challenges and design constraints within the interactive media. They will be able to prototype simple interaction problems. Students will develop their aesthetic skills and understanding of user quality in visual abstraction, typography and movement of digital media. Students will develop a richer and more reflective language for interaction design and be able to evaluate and provide design criticism with regard to the interactive properties.

Contents and teaching methods

The main course is divided into 3 sections;

Section 1 - Identifying - inspiration through theory and tools, identify the brand's identity, values and messages.

Section 2 - Anchor - development of a new brand concept and anchoring the concept of new knowledge.

Section 3 - Communicate - the design of the product, digital modules and visual identity.

The course consists of a series of lectures, seminars, visits to exhibitions and workshops. In addition to the industrial design, it includes disciplines such as graphic design and interaction design. The course invites guest speakers from business and research in branding.

The autumn includes a two week module called Shapetank. Two dimensional form and colour is mainly what we focus on here. In continuation of this module we work intensively two more weeks with a related project.

The most important digital tools in the course is CreativeSuite3 including Flash and eventually video. 3D animation is a part of the answer this semester. Where it is needed it will be given introductory training for these programs during the semester.

The course includes an introduction of the range of interaction design and aims to teach core skills in the discipline.

The course will cover the following:

Different perspectives on interaction design
Action and response
Graphical interfaces and engaging user experiences

The course is based on Flash for the presentation. We will provide an introduction to these tools, but also expects students to learn through independent study.

Exams and assessment methods

To pass the course all sections inside the main project and all additional modules must be approved. Submissions for the main courses three sections, will be oral / visual presentations. Attendance at lectures, reviews and guidance is required. The students deliver a final project report that includes all sections. The presentation will include several digital effects and communicate an interactive solution. The brand is also represented through a physical object.

The final grade is based on an overall assessment of all deliveries.

It requires a minimum of 80 % attendance in lectures and reviews.

The course evaluated by AF grading scale, where E is the poorest pass mark, as stated in the Regulations for Master's degree programmes at Oslo School of Architecture and Design, § 6-14.

Literature

Mandatory reading

Branding is a multidisciplinary field and therefore curriculum consists of lectures and articles from marketing and graphic design - and of course brand theory.

Lindstrom, M. (2005). Brand sense: how to build powerful brands through touch, taste, smell, sight and sound. London: Kogan Page.

Neumeier, M. (2006). The brand gap: how to bridge the distance between business strategy and design. Indianapolis, Ind.: New Riders.

Samuelsen, B. M., Peretz, A., & Olsen, L. E. (2007). Merkevareledelse på norsk. Oslo: Cappelen akademisk.

Saffer, D. (2007). Designing for interaction: creating smart applications and clever devices. Berkeley, Calif.: AIGA.

Recommended reading

Aaker, D. A., & Joachimsthaler, E. (2000). Brand leadership. New York: Free Press.

Bjerke, R., & Ind, N. (2007). Organisasjonsdrevet merkebygging. Oslo: Cappelen akademisk forl.

Chapman, J. (2005). Emotionally durable design: objects, experiences and empathy. London, Earthscan.

Hestad, M. (2008). Den kommersielle formen: merkevarekonteksten som utfordring for industridesignernes behandling av form. [Oslo], Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo.

Holt, D. B. (2004). How brands become icons: the principles of cultural branding. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.

Jensen, I. S. (2002). Ona fyr: for deg som vil lykkes sammen med andre. [Lysaker]: Dinamo forl.

Jensen, R., & Hebsgaard, M. (2003). The dream society: hvordan det kommende skift fra facts til følelser vil påvirke erhvervslivet og vor hverdag. Viby: JP Bøger.