USC School of Architecture to Offer An Online Course in Visual Literacy

LOS ANGELES - Dec. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- "Designers are storytellers. Each line we draw or model we build expresses intent," says Lauren Matchison, Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture and Assistant Director of Landscape Architecture at University of Southern California's School of Architecture. Along with Lee Schneider, creative director of Red Cup Agency and founder of Digital Fundraising School,(http://digitalfundraisingschool.com) she is co-leading an experimental and innovative online class in visual literacy. The online sessions begin in mid-January, and are offered exclusively to USC students.

While drawing has been the primary medium of expression in the communication of design ideas for many years, "the audience for design ideas is online now, the medium of expression is digital, and design concepts can be powerfully expressed with video," said Lee Schneider, describing the motivation for developing the experimental course. Students will learn how to create unique and compelling visual stories to support and communicate their design concepts. "Learning to tell an engaging, poignant story that generates real interest, enthusiasm, support and excitement is a vital tool now," said Schneider.

The course, given in 15 sessions, will help the student understand how visual stories can serve as an active tool to critically explore, evaluate, and express design ideas. The course benefits students who want deep and practical uses for visual storytelling, whether they wish to explore new media frontiers, find fresh ways to communicate and disseminate design concepts, or meet course or thesis requirements. In the first half of the course, the emphasis is on telling a visual story effectively. The second half is devoted to presentation and promotion, including crowdfunding. The instructors will evaluate student projects for crowdfunding feasibility and demonstrate how to leverage social capital to create financial capital using crowdfunding. The emphasis throughout is always on the deep structure that is critical to creating an effective visual story.

For more course information and application links, please visit http://arch.usc.edu/courses/599visual

The 15 sessions offered in the course are as follows.

Session 1: Telling Your Design Story

Session 2 & 3: Conducting Interviews and Directing Scenes

Session 4: Leveraging design archive material, existing drawings, plans, images

Session 5 & 6: Production Guidelines

Session 7 & 8: Post-Production and Posting Media Online

Session 9: Promoting Your Work Online Using Social Media

Session 10: Leverage your Social Capital to Create Financial Capital

Session 11:  Pitching a Crowdfunding Project

Session 12:  Video for Crowdfunding

Session 13: Promoting a Crowdfunding Campaign

Session 14: Sustaining the Campaign

Session 15: After the Campaign

More Information about Instructor Lauren Matchison

Matchison is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture and Assistant Director of Landscape Architecture at the University of Southern California's School of Architecture. She holds a Master of Architecture degree from Syracuse University, Florence, Italy and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Arizona. A licensed architect who is passionate about teaching, Matchison teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in both the architecture and landscape architecture programs. She has taught Design, Visual Representation, Culture and Community, Media for Landscape Architecture, and an elective about the socio-cultural impact of the built environment on human behavior.

In addition to her academic pursuits, Lauren is a licensed architect in California and Arizona and is NCARB certified.  She maintains an active practice in the Southern California area specializing in projects that privilege domestic architecture as a critical lens to examine humanity’s relationship to the built environment. A central theme lies in understanding the innate desire for shelter as the motive force behind the vast majority of structures built by mankind. The issues examined are universal but also recognize specific cultural and social mechanisms inherent in any meaningful discourse regarding architecture.

More Information about Instructor Lee Schneider

Schneider is creative director of Red Cup Agency, a communications agency based in Santa Monica and known for its work with educators, social activists, and media-makers. He is executive producer and founder of DocuCinema, a media production company that has created documentaries and series television for The History Channel, Discovery Health, The Learning Channel, ReelzChannel, Food Network and Bravo. Early in his career, Mr. Schneider was a freelance writer for Good Morning America and a staff producer for Dateline NBC. He is the founder of Digital Fundraising School, an online school that helps media-makers, designers and entrepreneurs and tech visionaries become better crowdfunders. He has guest-lectured and taught workshops and classes at USC, University of Minnesota, College of Design, Architecture for Humanity, and Public Architecture.