What You'll Learn

User Experience Design & Research

This module will also equip students with fundamental knowledge of User Experience (UX) Design. Students will immerse in understanding of culture, industry, and people in relation to Digital Products such as mobile applications and websites. They will learn methods to uncover the motivations and expectations of users, and design useful and delightful interfaces to create the best user experiences. Students will learn a variety of prototyping methods such as wireframing, sketching, though hands-on learning, and also industry standard tools to create high fidelity wireframes. This module also introduces students to the research tools needed to understand their stakeholders, analyse data and communicate their findings. In this module, students will develop fluency in deriving insights to tackle the problems and issues at hand through research. They will practise teamwork and develop problem solving skills when analysing data.

Visual Design & Photography

This module exposes students to the theory and practice of digital photography within the framework of an integrative digital workflow in content creation, including the finer points of digital image enhancement, manipulation & compositing. Students will be taught product and portrait photography and learn the essentials of controlling and balancing artificial lights with natural lights to achieve impactful aesthetics for photography. Students will focus on studio and outdoor digital photography, and be equipped with the fundamentals of preparing digital images and intermediate techniques of image manipulation & compositing. By the end of the module, students would have created a portfolio of photographic fine prints and digital content for commercial applications.

Motion Graphics 1

This module is fundamentally designed to translate and apply the language of motion. Students will interpret and demonstrate the principles of animation as applied motion graphics. Students will be familiarized with industry tools and processes and will eventually be able to employ these principles and processes in motion design projects.

Data Fluency

Data can help you gain insights into the UN SDGs. Learn to employ data-handling processes such as formulating data-based questions, pre-processing data and analysing data using numerical and graphical summaries. This module will allow you to demonstrate your competency to use data to examine one aspect of a UN SDG and/or generate some insights to support a theoretical solution to a UN SDG.

Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact

You will get a broad overview of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and its societal and ethical impacts in modern society. Learn to build a simple AI model with online tools, discuss how to promote good ethics in AI, and consider how the use of AI can address your chosen UN SDG in this module.

Problem Solving With Creative & Computational Thinking

Focused and diffuse thinking, problem identification and analysis, lateral and creative thinking, and the four pillars of computational thinking will be covered in this module. These give you the baseline creative and computational thinking skills for problem solving. You will brainstorm and apply creative and computational thinking techniques to tackle problems related to the UN SDGs.

Polywide Elective 1

Students have the exciting opportunity to shape their own educational journey this semester by choosing from a diverse range of available electives. Each elective is designed to broaden knowledge, foster new skills, and ignite passions in various fields

3D Fundamentals

This class aims to provide the learner an understanding on what is 3D and how to apply 3D for content creation. Its provide a scaffolding for the learner to understand what can be achieved from 3D techniques.

Design Studio 1

This module provides a key overview of applied design within real world commercial context, focusing on brand experience that goes beyond the visual context to an integrated multi-sensorial immersion in communication design. Students will learn to infuse creative concepts with two to three-dimensional forms of design solutions such as, Publication and Packaging Design. Practical sessions on Desktop Publishing tools will equip students with the technical aspects of design visualisation. Pre-press skills, production knowledge, as well as introduction to various forms of paper and other materials will also be taught to ensure that students have a thorough understanding of the communication design ecosystem.

Design History

In this module students will start to combine motion design into brand design and how it contributes to the brand manifesto. Students will be introduced to distinctions between time-based and static design using audio, intonation, and combining art and design principles with creative storytelling.

Sustainable Innovation Project

Work in multi-disciplinary groups to apply the design thinking method and tools backed by research and qualitative data, to tackle local issues mapped to the UN SDGs. You will also tap on what you have learnt in the CCC modules that come before this module to create sustainable and innovative prototype solutions for real-life issues faced by a local community in need. In the process, you will develop empathy for the community you have identified for your project and a better understanding of yourselves.

Polywide Elective 2

Students have the exciting opportunity to shape their own educational journey this semester by choosing from a diverse range of available electives. Each elective is designed to broaden knowledge, foster new skills, and ignite passions in various fields

Creative Video Content Creation

Video content is booming, and it’s everywhere. Brand realise the value of video and its success can give the organisation a powerful lead over their competitors. This module exposes students to the theory and practice of digital video production for video content creation. Students will be taught the importance of video content creation through learning social media marketing. Students will learn the essential form of scriptwriting, story structure, film grammar, video camera techniques, audio capture techniques, set art direction, non-linear editing techniques and learn the essentials of controlling and balancing artificial lights with natural lights to achieve an impactful aesthetics for videography. Students will focus on pre-production, production and post-production and be equipped with the fundamentals to prepare a digital video in various formats for different platforms. By the end of the module, students will be expected to create a showreel of commercially viable work.

Tinker Lab

​Tinker Lab is part of the Project Core modules that will be offered to all second year MAD students in semester 2. It is designed to strengthen students' skills and mindset as they work in a transdisciplinary team, tapping onto the transdisciplinary framework, process and tools to innovate solutions. Tinker Lab builds on the practices taught in X-Lab to further develop students’ ability to inspire innovation with purpose, encouraging participants to make a meaningful impact through their creations. This module aims to foster a mindset where tinkering is not just about play but about leveraging technology to bring about positive change (e.g. Sustainability Goals). Participants are invited to explore the endless possibilities of using their skills and ideas as catalysts for meaningful impact, whether on a personal, communal, or global scale. Through hands-on exploration, and collaborative projects, participants will uncover their potential as change-makers and learn to embrace creativity, experimentation, and iteration as tools.

Persuasive Communication with Data Storytelling

While data offer the hard facts, they rely on us to give them a clear and convincing voice to call stakeholders into action in tackling the UN SDGs. Attain the skills to craft compelling narratives supported by hard facts that persuade intellectually and effectively, in this module. You will learn to generate data visualisations, and apply narrative elements and persuasive delivery techniques to influence others or shape their perspectives.

Motion Graphics 2

In this module students will start to combine visual design with motion design. Students will be introduced to distinctions between static and moving design. The lessons will focus on communicating meaning through a combination of typography, intonation and movement. Students will be able to identify uses of dynamic and diegetic typography and apply them to creative storytelling.

Advertising Design

This module will allow students to work with a variety of learning objectives tied to Advertising design. They will experiment with ideation sessions and technical skills such as digital imaging to deepen their understanding of the creative processes. The module will be taught using a combination of demonstration, tutorials, hands-on rendering, and critique sessions to familiarise them with creating outcomes relevant to the industry.

Digital Compositing

In this module students will be introduced concepts of CGI lighting and compositing. Students will be introduce to the theories such as qualities of lights, mood and product lighting. Digital compositing techniques such as AOV rebuilt, depth map and lighting separation will be applied as well. Compositing techniques that deals with filmed footage such as chroma keying, prep works and tracking will be introduced as well.

Design Studio 2

This module is an extension of Design Studio 1 and introduces moving design into the framework. Student are expected to engage clients and apply research methods to develop a desired future state. They are expected to gather feedback before ideating and will have the opportunity to propose a cross-platform design based on the requirement of the client.

Final Year Project

In this module students will work in teams to take on a design brief, propose a solution and execute it under the supervision of a lecturer. Students are expected to exhibit a high standard of spoken and written communication regularly between their teammates and with their stakeholders. Students will not only be assessed on their competency and reliability, but also their effectiveness and impact within their team.

Creative Freelancing & Media Law

This module is designed to allow students interested in freelancing to learn how to turn their passions into profit. Students develop practical commercial skills, explore media law for the creatives and experience a taste of the gig economy. Students will learn how to hack it, negotiate it and close the deal. They will engage in professional practices with real clients in areas such as self-promotion, acquiring leads, estimating costs of services proposal writing and invoicing. With a practical understanding of media law and policies, including copyright and censorship, students will also recognise the legal rights and responsibilities they have as content creators, learn how to jump over the legal land-mines and navigate the real-life ethical dilemmas faced by media practitioners. Students will be able to answer common questions for beginning freelancers, including: “Where can I find clients?”, “How much should I charge?”, “Will my creative work get censored?” or “How can I use other’s online works without infringing copyright?”.

Innovation Lab

Innovation Lab is an opportunity for students to integrate, apply and deepen the knowledge, skillsets and competencies (both technical and general) they have gained over the course of their study. Building on the skills taught in Experience Lab and the Tinker Lab, students will work in mixed groups to tackle complex real-world issues through industry projects. They will learn how to research and generate new, innovative solutions that go beyond a single domain, while considering other factors such as meeting a business-end, dealing with resource constraints, as well as taking advantage of social, cultural and economic trends. They will also learn how to communicate with their stakeholders and manage a project. By the end of this module, students will deepen their skills in acquiring and synthesising knowledge from across disciplines and develop resilience in tackling complex problems

Polywide Elective 3

Students have the exciting opportunity to shape their own educational journey this semester by choosing from a diverse range of available electives. Each elective is designed to broaden knowledge, foster new skills, and ignite passions in various fields

Internship Programme

Students are sent to intern at selected local and overseas organisations to further develop their functional and technical skills through working on real-life audio-related projects. Students contribute to the organisations by applying what they have learnt, while also learning and gaining experience from a real-life digital media working environment.

INTS: Personal Branding and Career Agility

INTS: Effective Writing for the Workplace