2005 Handbooks

This unit explores the practice of multimedia from the point of view of the user. The focus will be on information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly web sites, though reference will be made to other texts that exploit multiple modes of communication.

The exploration comes from two different and complementary perspectives: the choices made by designers and authors in order to communicate with users, and the choices made by users as they negotiate the meanings of multimedia texts and incorporate them into their everyday lives. In relation to the textual practices of multimedia authors, this unit explores the different modes of semiosis used in production such as words, images, sound, movement, touch. We look at how these different elements of the designers craft make their meanings - aesthetically, textually, philosophically, socially - and how they come together to make a text.