Abstract
To help students expand their knowledge beyond a traditional graphic design programs focus on print and user interfaces, I taught a three-week January term course focusing on music videos. The course began with a visual history of music videos, using YouTube playlists as a reference. Students were assigned out-of-class projects that each focused on different themes of music video production, such as choreography, lighting, lip-syncing, and visual style. They created storyboards, selected shooting locations to enhance their concepts, captured video, and edited the final product using Adobe Premiere Pro. In-class exercises like group choreography (the “Stairwell Shuffle”) and lighting experiments (set to Justin Bieber’s Beauty and a Beat) helped them learn the principles and also loosened them up. This help bolster their confidence to perform on screen in front of their peers. For many students, this was their first experience using body movement and physical expression to convey a concept. They were immersed in a creative world of narration, storytelling, costumes, storylines, glamour, and choreography, building on and moving beyond traditional design basics like image, text, color, and pattern to develop a fuller expression of their ideas. This paper reviews the initial course planning, pedagogy, successes and challenges, learning outcomes, student feedback, and showcase a selection of music videos produced by the students.
Presenters
Neil WardAssociate Professor of Graphic Design, Art & Design, Drake University, Iowa, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Thinking, Learning, Doing: Plural Ways of Design
KEYWORDS
Music Video Production, Graphic Design Education, Visual Style and Aesthetics
