Multimedia Careers Tools, Ethics, and Opportunities PDF

AS2401 NAVIGATING CAREERS: TOOLS, ETHICS, AND OPPORTUNITIES I Multimedia is seen as a complex field by many. It includes careers like Graphic Design, Animation, and Digital Arts. Deciding on a career can be challenging for many due to various factors. They may need to consider their financ...

AS2401 NAVIGATING CAREERS: TOOLS, ETHICS, AND OPPORTUNITIES I Multimedia is seen as a complex field by many. It includes careers like Graphic Design, Animation, and Digital Arts. Deciding on a career can be challenging for many due to various factors. They may need to consider their financial prospects, workplace location, and existing qualifications, among others. Attending career talks, workshops, and training and staying updated on industry news are some things you can do to help you make a good decision. This module discusses the different professions associated with multimedia arts and their key duties and tools to help you hone and develop your interests and skills. Graphic Design (Flavin, 2023) When discussing graphic design, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? A tech-savvy iPad kid who has big headphones and eyeglasses? Or an introverted artist? Moreover, what does graphic design mean? Is it just about posters? Is it just about graphics on a website? While these do fall under the scope of what a graphic designer might create, the realm of graphic design is still much broader. The portfolio of a graphic designer can range from posters to infographics, book covers, layouts, product labels, packaging designs, brand logos, and many more. Graphic design aims to communicate ideas visually, guide perceptions, and inform the audience. If you can remember the five (5) multimedia elements, graphic design is under two elements—Texts and Graphics, because of its wide variety. According to the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA, n.d.), “Graphic Design, also known as communication design, is the art and practice of planning and projecting ideas and experiences with the visual and textual content.” In simple terms, visual content aims to communicate specific messages or ideas. Careers in Graphic Design (Fleck, 2021) Sometimes, people think of graphic design as a specific field, yet within the field, various specializations align. Here are the specialized fields in graphic design and their respective responsibilities. 1. Brand Identity Designer – Beyond branding, identity designers are responsible for a business’s overall visual presence and look. They specifically work on brand kits such as the logo, color palettes, icons, typography, and other visual elements. 2. Marketing and Advertising Designer – These designers are the key to the success of any business’ promotional strategy. Their responsibility is to create advertisements and marketing plans that would make a customer sign up for a service or buy a product. They need to focus on specific areas, such as understanding the customers’ behavioral psychology of purchasing behavior. They work specifically with print and digital advertisements, social media engagements, podcast covers, banners, marketing emails, brochures, posters, pitch decks, etc. 3. Packaging Designer – They design everything from cereal boxes to clothing tags. Packaging designers must be proficient in color theory and typography, as well as the laws or regulations about the information that needs to be on the packaging (e.g., nutrition information). 4. Web and User Interface Designer – These designers design websites and applications where they practice user experience and basic coding principles. These designers specifically work on landing pages, marketing websites, application designs, and game interfaces. 5. Print and Publication Designer – They design elements in the print world; their primary responsibility is to understand the principles and technicalities of creating print-ready files. They 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 8  AS2401 must be knowledgeable about color theory, typography, and images that would work best in print or digital environments. Their main areas are book covers, magazine, newspaper layout, menu design, album covers, merchandise and apparel, brochures, flyers, and stationery. 6. Lettering and Type Designer – They create everything from typefaces to hand-lettered designs. Understanding typographic principles, such as kerning, line height, and hand lettering, is a must. 7. Graphic Illustrator – Graphic illustration is also known as product illustration, and these illustrators create illustrations for commercial and editorial purposes, live illustrating on web designs, and managing social media. They specifically work on digital products, blog posts, articles, books, games, and apparel. 8. Data Visualization and Infographic Designer – They are responsible for presenting accurate data in ways where audiences will understand it more easily. They typically work on big data and translate it into easy-to-understand visuals. Tools in Graphic Design (Dabner, 2023) This introduces you to the software applications and tools used by many industry graphic designers. New applications and updated versions of the ones we use now will continue to be adopted into the practice of graphic design. Therefore, the best way for you to prepare yourself is to continuously learn and practice so you can master the needed skills for the profession that you want to achieve soon. 1. Adobe InDesign – It is an industry-standard page assembly and desktop publishing application. The software allows you to bring all your creations in composition, page layouts, contrasts, and typography into play. The elements you create in vector software or Adobe Illustrator or the images you edit in a raster-based application or Adobe Photoshop can be combined with texts and images to create brochures, magazines, posters, or multi-volume publications for print and interactive applications. 2. Adobe Photoshop – It is the industry-standard software for raster graphics editing and manipulation, and it is frequently used for collecting images and selecting elements for montage or photo retouching, both for print and digital. It also has the ability to perform 3D modeling, basic animation, and a variety of output-for-web options. 3. Adobe Illustrator – It is the vector-based illustration software that allows us to create vector art without loss of detail from its “point and line” function. It offers a clean, crisp edge to the produced objects and brushes, and mapped along “paths” can be moved, edited, and recolored easily. It allows a variety of image-making techniques, objects, edits, and custom typography, which makes it an excellent software for creating illustrations. Animation (Maio, 2023) Do you recall the animated series you used to watch every morning before heading to school? During our childhood, most of us have our own favorite animated shows. These shows held a special place in our hearts as they accompanied us during our morning routines, providing us with happiness and entertainment. Animation involves capturing a series of successive drawings, models, or puppets to convey the illusion of motion through a sequence. The rapid display of multiple images exploits the brief retention of the human eye, resulting in the brain perceiving a continuously moving image. There are two types of animation: traditional animation and contemporary animation. Traditional animation utilizes transparent celluloid sheets for hand-drawn or painted pictures; contemporary animation produces films that predominantly employ computer-generated imagery or CGI. For an animator to achieve a smoother 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 8  AS2401 motion in animations, whether these are hand-drawn or CGI, will depend on the frame rate, which is the number of consecutive images displayed per second. Typically, characters in motion are captured "in twos," meaning one image is shown for two frames, resulting in 12 drawings per second. While this frame rate provides motion, a smoother appearance is often achieved with a frame rate of 24 frames per second in films. The evolution of techniques in animation remains an exciting prospect for the future. Therefore, aside from the previously mentioned kinds of animation, other varieties are still worth noting. Similar to graphic design, animation is a wide field. The other types of animation include the following: 1. Anime – It is a term denoting animation from Japan, and it can be viewed as a subset of traditional animation. 2. 2D Vector – It encompasses both traditional animation and a distinct form known as vector-based animation. An example of this is the early Disney classics such as Pinnochio, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the like. 3. 3D Animation – It is a computer-generated animation that has become pervasive, replacing traditional hand-drawn methods. 4. Motion Graphics – It refers to the digital visuals designed to simulate movement, commonly employed in advertising, film title sequences, and other multimedia projects that convey information. 5. Stop Motion – It encompasses various techniques such as Claymation, pixelation, and object motion. However, instead of drawings, stop motion involves adjusting physical objects frame by frame. 6. Cutout Animation – It involves the manipulation of cutout shapes in a 2D stop-motion process to stimulate motion. Careers in Animation (Career Pathways, 2024) Similar to Graphic Design, Animation is often viewed as a specific sector within the multimedia industry. Many people mistakenly assume that it solely involves animating only, yet it has a diverse range of specific careers within the field. 1. 2D Animator – They use a script or a storyboard as a guide, creating one frame at a time to bring characters, props, and machines to life in a 2D form. The projects they work on range from a 5- second short brand logo to more extensive projects such as film, 2D video games, and TV series. 2. 3D Animator – They play around with digital characters, props, and objects to make them interact with their environment, whether digitally or in a real-life setting. They bring to life the characters, creatures, and objects by carefully following the step-by-step process using a rigged 3D model. 3. Character Rigger – They are responsible for the internal structure and controls of a 3D model, determining how animators manipulate it. The main objective of their job is to establish a skeleton that animates the character physically. 4. Character Animators – They are the subset of 3D animators as they infuse vitality into 3D characters by shaping their movements, gestures, facial expressions, and interactions within the environment. 5. Previs Artists – They are also known as visualization artists as they generate 3D digital content to outline and visualize scenes, sets, or actions of filming. 6. Storyboard Artists – They transform written scripts into a sequence of 2D images, forming a storyboard, which serves as a visual guide for live-action and animation production. 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 8  AS2401 7. Layout Artist – A 3D layout artist sets the virtual cameras for each scene. They are responsible for figuring out how things will look from different angles, distances, and depths. 8. Cleanup 2D Artists – They are crucial in refining roughly drawing sketches from the concept stage to polished line drawings. 9. Gameplay Animators – They bring digital characters, creatures, props, and vehicles to life in a game by using key-framing and motion capture techniques. They are responsible for making characters perform well, and they enhance the overall gameplay experience. Tools in Animation (Mitchell, 2023) As aspiring multimedia practitioners, you have unique preferences and needs, and there is no one-size-fits-all software, graphic design or animation. However, it is crucial to test different software options to determine which aligns best with your artistic style and workflow. To help you find your interests and motivate you to gain your skills in animation, here are a few applications that you can practice on. 1. Procreate – It is designed to work with an iPad, iPhone, and Apple Pencil. It gives artists all the benefits of working digitally. This application has the ability to make easy revisions, create art on the go, and share the work instantly – while getting to recreate the familiar experience of traditional brushes, pens, and pencils on an iPad. 2. Blender – It is a free and open-source 3D creation suite. It covers the entirety of the 3D process, such as modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, motion tracking, and even video editing and game creation. 3. Adobe After Effects – It is an integral part of Adobe Creative Cloud, and it is oriented toward video and film production. It provides a wide range of visual effects and is used to create video files as the final output. 4. Adobe Animate – It is also an integral part of Adobe Creative Cloud, and it is designed for crafting traditional cartoons. It offers a lot of techniques, such as frame-by-frame animation, hand-drawn animation, and puppet animation, allowing the artists to manipulate character rigs. 5. Cinema 4D – It is a professional 3D modeling, animation, simulation, and rendering software solution. Professionals highly favor this software due to its robust capabilities and ability to meet their sophisticated requirements. 6. Autodesk Maya – It is a 3D visual effects software with powerful character creation, rigging, animation, and simulation tools. It creates realistic characters and blockbuster-worthy effects. 7. Toon Boom Harmony – it functions as an all-in-one animation tool. It guides users from initial sketches to the final rendering phase. Throughout the animation process, the artist can manipulate the characters’ muscles and stimulate interactions of air with textured surfaces, offering advanced features. 8. Krita Animation – It offers features such as drawing assistants, layer management, and comprehensive color management. 9. Houdini Animation – It is designed to be accessible for beginners. Its procedural workflow allows real-time generation of animations, facilitating the simulation of intricate elements such as fire, water, smoke, clothing, fur, etc. 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 8  AS2401 Digital Arts (Adobe Creative Cloud, 2023) Any artwork that utilizes digital technology as an essential part of its creative process is called digital art. It contains a wide list of techniques, such as digital drawings, paintings, illustrations of photos, videos, sculptures, and game environments, among others. These can all be called digital art as long as they are created, enhanced, and displayed digitally. Digital art finds diverse applications in the art world. Some artists exclusively use digital tools for drawing, painting, and modeling. Others digitize and enhance their physical artwork with computer programs. Some creations are entirely computer-generated, relying on data, fractals, and algorithms. All creations crafted using digital tools fall under the category of digital art. However, if you are wondering what else digital art covers, below are the different types of digital art. 1. Digital Drawing – This modernizes old-school tools like pencils and sketchbooks by using a stylus pen and a tablet. It is like bringing the art of drawing into the digital age, where you can create lines and shading just like you would on paper. The sketching software combines the comfort of hand drawing with the convenience of effortlessly adding layers, details, and colors. 2. Digital Painting – artists use brushes to create shapes, textures, and colors, while those who draw rely on pens and pencils for lines, shading, and outlines. In the world of digital art, drawing and painting seamlessly blend together. All you need is a stylus and tablet, allowing you to effortlessly switch between drawing and painting. With just a simple click, you can explore various brushstrokes, colors, and layering options. 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 8  AS2401 3. Digital Sculpture – By crafting digital sculptures, artists get to utilize unique tools in creative software, molding 3D models with a touch of skill. This approach provides a more organic and gentle vibe compared to techniques centered around geometric patterns and vectors. You can spot these striking sculptures in video games, movies, and online spaces. 4. Animation – Back in 1972, the first digital animation, “A Computer Generated Hand,” was created by Edmund Catmull and Fred Parke. They crafted a virtual hand using polygons and fed the data into a computer. The virtual hand started moving, contracting, and rotating on the computer screen. Catmull later co- founded Pixar, a famous animation studio that has been operating since the 1980s. 5. Pixel Art – This type of art is created using software and tiny image building blocks called “pixels.” It is closely tied to the charm of 8-bit and 16-bit gaming consoles, which many people fondly remember as a golden era in gaming history. During this time, game developers brought iconic characters such as Pac-Man and Super Mario to life, making it a memorable period for gaming enthusiasts. 6. Photography – It became easy when modern digital cameras and editing tools were brought to life, as tahey can bring out the best in your photos, allowing you to add a personal touch to your images. Back in 1957, the very first digital photo was a small 5cm x 5cm image capturing the photographer’s son. 7. Video – In the 1990s, videographers gained the ability to move their videos onto computers. This exciting opportunity unleashed a whole new realm of possibilities for crafting effects, collages, and edits that were beyond the imagination of the old-school analog era. Video has evolved into a vibrant and innovative medium with the help of advanced gadgets like smartphones, compact cameras, and user-friendly editing tools such as Adobe Creative Cloud, CapCut, Wondershare, and others. 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 6 of 8  AS2401 Careers in Digital Arts (Careers in Digital Arts, 2023) As per The Art Career Project (2023), the realm of digital arts is quickly emerging as a highly popular and thrilling option for individuals pursuing artistic careers driven by technology that has opened up limitless possibilities for creative innovation. Subsequently, digital art has different types. Here is a list of careers that you can explore. 1. Animators – Animators use specialized computer software to create characters and scenes for animated movies. They are responsible for designing and producing the necessary drawings to bring the movie to life. Digital arts involve using a variety of techniques, such as 2D/3D modeling, animation, projection, texture mapping, and more. 2. Book Illustrators – These designers are responsible for crafting illustrations exclusively for books, comics, and even medical illustrations. This creative vocation involves infusing the illustrator’s unique ideas, personality, and creativity into each project, ensuring that every illustration complements the original texts of the book. 3. Cartoonists – These artists are engaged in the creation and illustration of cartoons. They typically work with group projects, with the majority being affiliated with entities such as comic strip syndicates, animation studios, publishing firms, or news agencies. 4. Graphic Designers – These artists use graphics, illustrations, and typography to express ideas or information, crafting layouts and designs for effective communication with their audience. 5. Web Developers – Their primary responsibility entails conceptualizing and implementing website design, encompassing both front-end and back-end tasks, while also addressing any issues in site functionality. 6. Game Designers – They are responsible for the game concept, characters, and game environment. They typically have a background in computer science and mathematics, providing them with a diverse set of skills to come up with various game designs. Tools in Digital Arts (Cass, 2024) Picking the right software for each artist can be quite a challenge. The market is filled with numerous companies offering digital art software solutions, creating a potentially overwhelming situation. The main challenge artists face when choosing software is assessing its versatility and whether it suits their specific needs in the industry. According to Jacob Cass of Just Creative (2024), there are various software tools that you can try to gain the required skills. 1. Corel Painter 6. Corel Draw 2. Adobe Fresco 7. GIMP 3. Adobe Illustrator 8. Krita 4. Affinity Photo 9. Procreate 5. Rebelle 4 10. Adobe Photoshop References Adobe Creative Cloud. (2023). What is Digital Art? Adobe. Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/illustration/discover/digital-art.html The Art Career Project. (2023). Careers in Digital Art. The Art Career Project. Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://theartcareerproject.com/digital-art-careers/ Career Pathways. (2024). CGSpectrum. (2024). Animation Careers. Retrieved January 31, 2024, from https://www.cgspectrum.com/career-pathways/animation 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 7 of 8  AS2401 Careers in Digital Arts. (2023). Retrieved from The Art Career Project: https://theartcareerproject.com/digital- art-careers/ Cass, J. (2024). The Best Software for Digital Arts in 2024. Retrieved from Just Creative: https://justcreative.com/best-software-for-digital-artists Dabner, D. (2023). Graphic Design School: The Principles and Practice of Graphic Design. New Jersey: Quatro Publishing Plc. Flavin, B. (2023, October 17). What is Graphic Design? A Beginner's Guide to Creative Career. Retrieved from Rasmussen University: https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/design/blog/what-is-graphic-design/ Fleck, R. (2021, December). 8 types of graphic design careers. Retrieved from Dribble: https://dribbble.com/resources/types-of-graphic-design Geronimo, B. E. (2023). How She Became: Kim Petras. Pop Stars 2023, 6-9. Maio, A. (2023, May). What is Animation. Retrieved from Studio Binder: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-animation- definition/#:~:text=Animation%20is%20a%20method%20of,into%20a%20single%20moving%20imag e. Mitchell, K. (2023). 9 Animation Software Platforms for Beginners. Retrieved from Skill Share: https://www.skillshare.com/en/blog/animation-software-platforms-for-beginners/ 03 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 8 of 8