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Critical Making Foundations: Finding Your Superpower Through Digital and Physical Making

Description

Critical Making Foundations is a first semester project-based studio course that provides a foundation in the creative process of making with new and emerging digital and physical technologies responsible for shaping society and culture through products and services.

In this course students work towards becoming fluent with digital and physical tools and technologies supporting their creative visions for new products, services, and experiences. This includes working with modern web technologies (languages, frameworks, API’s) to produce functional prototypes, surveying Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools for 3D modeling and visualization and leveraging digital fabrication tools (3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Milling) to rapidly produce physical objects and prototypes.

The course will culminate in a final project leveraging the various digital and physical tools, techniques, skills, and knowledge gained throughout the semester. Project examples include web-based applications, connected experiences, smart devices, everyday / enchanted / functional objects, media-based installations, and product-based experiences.

Day & Time

APRD-5005-001 / AM Section - Monday, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
APRD-5005-002 / PM Section - Monday, 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Location

CMCI Studio
1301 Walnut St
Boulder, CO 80302

Instructor

RJ Duran
rj.duran@colorado.edu
Slack: @rjduran. #cmstudio on cmcistudio.slack.com
Office hours by appointment. Feel free to reach out to me via slack or email.

Syllabus

This website is a real-time version of the course syllabus. It is updated weekly throughout the semester. A static version can be downloaded here.

Themes

  • Building creative habits and practices
  • Deconstructing problems and exploring solution spaces
  • Analyzing systems of logic
  • Development and design skills building
  • Rapid prototyping toolsets
  • Digital fabrication workflows
  • Emerging tech

Workload

  • This course is 3 credit hours. You should expect to dedicate at least 2-3 hours per credit hour. This translates into a 6-9 hours per week. Consider 6 hours a minimum expectation for one studio course and plan accordingly with your other studio courses.
  • Assignments for the course consist of weekly blog posts demonstrating project-based and process oriented research and explorations in making. Assignment parameters will be based on the topic of the week and "due" the following week by the start of class time.
  • The course is organized into weekly meetings consisting of instructor led project-driven topics organized as workshops and studio work sessions. It is expected that all students are active participants in each session.

Deliverables

This course is a project based course and largely driven by student research and interests. As such, each deliverable is expected to vary based on the project parameters and requirements. The following outlines the general criteria for course deliverables throughout the semester.

Assignments

  • Assignments are given weekly and need to be submitted as a blog post published to your Critical Making blog. A minimum of 1 blog post per week is the expectation.
  • Medium has been widely used by students in the past but you are free to use anything you like.
  • Posts are to be submitted via slack #cmstudio by the specified due date each week.
  • It is recommended that a post includes a variety of media and content to support the subject matter. For example: text, images, video, graphics, photos, mockups, screen captures, tutorials, 3d model viewers (sketchfab), sketches, code, gifs, references, etc. Anything that is required to effectively communicate the details of a project, process, prototype, or idea.
  • The subject matter is in response to the topics of the week. Ideally, it falls in line with your interests, research area, project, creative process, etc. For example, you might consider doing a series of tutorials on a topic that interests you or a process/workflow you are currently exploring through the course.
  • Posts should be written to the best of your abilities and for a public audience. The post and any accompanying visual content (images, video) may be shared on social media.

Final Project

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