Design for Entertainment

HR Giger http://www.hrgiger.com/

In these lectures we will look at the history and future of the design process when applied to entertainment. And by entertainment I specifically mean design outside the standard utilitarian methodologies which have dominated what text books classify as design. In other words this is a series about design driven by sociological and human desire as opposed to the usual problem solving paradigm.

1 – Introduction
A brief introduction to my work as a production designer and also to the nature of this semesters lectures. These lectures are intended to be an introduction to the area of design for the entertainment industries as well as looking at the possible directions technology and entertainment will go and how design will be a key component of new fledgling entertainment technology.

2 - The Visual Futurists Part One
3 - The Visual Futurists Part Two
Starting with the futurist movement in the begining of the 20th century and ending with the new wave of digital artists, this lecture charts the rise of the concept artist as a key player in the film and game production pipelines.

4 - A history of costume and character design Part One
5 - A history of costume and character design Part Two
From the cute to the horrific, we examine how characters and costume design have engaged and transfixed audiences, expressing emotional and psychological ideas through light and latex amongst other methods.

6 - Production design Part One
7 - Production design Part Two
The architecture of the unreal. Production designers set the special and visual tones of game and movies. The sets themselves a character of the ensamble.

* During week 7 students will be expected to hand in a title for research.
This proposal should be one paragraph in length and should analyze an artist, game, film or technology.

8 – Zoomorphic, Emergent and the next generation now
Zoomorphic presents a startling new trend in architecture - buildings that look like animals. Animal resemblances arise for various reasons. An architect may wish to create a symbol, as architects have always done. Or, there may be a functional explanation for why a building comes to share elements of its design with that of some living creature.

9 – Body Modification, Fashion, Fetishism and design Part One
10 – Body Modification, Fashion, Fetishism and design Part Two
A fetish (from the French fétiche; which comes from the Portuguese feitiço; and this in turn from Latin facticius, "artificial" and facere, "to make") is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a man-made object that has power over others. Essentially, fetishism is the attribution of inherent value or powers to an object.

11 – Future Equations, Literature and Design
This is the tale of how science fiction and fantasy writing has influenced the course of scientific and technological research.

12 – Animation and the underground
Details to be announced

13 – Student Presentations *

14 - Student Presentations *

15 - Student Presentations and Review *

*** As part of the course each student will be expected to give a 10 minute presentation to the whole of the class of their research concerning a particular aspect of design for the entertainment industries.