I still remember that when I applied for these universities, I packed my homework and sent it to the school in three folders: plane, 3D and game (I didn't know the concept of interaction design portfolio at that time). Frankly, I was overjoyed to get so many offers at that time, and I thought I was awesome, especially when I got the offer of interaction design between the University of Sydney and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (when you got the offer, you would also think so). But to sum up, the first thing I want to say is that no matter how good you get the offer, it is just the beginning. Whether you can graduate or learn knowledge depends on how hard you work next.

Every time I see this picture (which I took secretly), it reminds me of the fun life in Sydney.

But that was 10 years ago.

Ten years ago, I came to Sydney and successively got the University of Wollongong, AIT College, Swinburne University, Griffith University, RMIT and The University of Sydney（ University of Sydney ）And other universities.

Sharing of interaction design courses for studying abroad in Sydney University

　　 The only Chinese student

Foreign universities generally adopt the elective system. Each major has required courses (core unit) and optional units. At that time, I was the only Chinese student in several required courses. I can really train people in such an environment. Because I can't find a person who can communicate in Chinese, I met many difficulties at the beginning of my study. Not only do I often fail to understand what teachers and classmates say, but also I feel very "desolate". But then again, this environment is also good, and it is this environment that makes people feel that they are studying abroad. If all the students are Chinese, what's the difference with studying in China?! (There are many Chinese students in some majors and schools.)

　　 The first award (school level)

What exactly is the interaction design course for studying abroad at Sydney University? Let's take a look at the truth. Taking the course Dgigtal video design and production as an example, this is a film and television creation course. Students need to create a film about Australian aborigines.

A course usually lasts for three months, during which there will be three presentations. In retrospect, there will be three presentations for a course and four courses for a semester, which will basically require more than 10 presentations. So, students, the second thing I want to say is that we must practice English and oral English well in China, otherwise what should we do with so many presentations?

In this course, my partner Shayley and I intend to make a documentary film in memory of Michael Riley, a native Australian artist who has passed away. First, we interviewed Sandy Edwards, the director of the Stills Gallery, to learn about Michael Riley's works and life. Then we drove to Dubbo, more than 200 kilometers away from Sydney, to interview Michael Riley's sister Wendy Hockley to learn more about Michael Riley's life story. In addition to these, we also interviewed many well-known artists and Michael Riley Foundation principals. In this course, video editing skills are not important. What we learned most is a kind of life experience. How to communicate with others and artists abroad is the most valuable experience. With this experience, you will feel more confident in your future life and work. Because the content of the film is very meaningful, it won the Best Editing and Cinematography Award of the school.

(Sandy Edwards, director of the Stills Gallery)

　　 Only one week

If you think that the courses of Sydney University are as "simple" as film and television creation, you are wrong. Now let's introduce a super difficult and fun class - Studio (interactive device). First look at the curriculum!

Is it a surprise to see the interactive device schedule? This course is a major core course, which is equivalent to double the credits of the film and television creation course just mentioned. But the study time is only 10 days (full day study). What's more, the knowledge learned in this interactive device course is new and has never been heard of before. For example, processing, max/msp, audio analysis, etc., most of which are programming knowledge.

The specific learning process, omitting 10000 words here, is basically learning every day, and learning very late. Take the last subway home every day. On the first day, the teacher introduced the course, showed a lot of content, technical explanation and support, etc. The next day we will make a personal presentation, and then the teachers and classmates will give you comments and discuss (similar to the process of our interactive design installation portfolio project). In the following days, I mixed with my teachers and classmates to discuss and solve technical problems together. The entire interaction design course is like a large-scale activity, where everyone works together to do something interesting, rather than reluctantly learning for credit. The interaction design teachers and students of Sydney University are very good, and you will get help from many people. If you have any problems, just communicate with them. As long as you speak, there will be no problems that can not be solved. Of course, although I said it simply, if you don't have a certain programming foundation, it is still very difficult to learn. Therefore, the third sentence I want to say is that interaction design involves programming courses in many foreign schools, and we must lay a good foundation in China. This is really important. I have many students Study in Interaction Design in the United States Everyone is learning programming hard, especially schools like New York University, Parsons, Rhode Island, Lunyi, Sydney University, etc.

After more than a week's hard work, the final exhibition was very exciting, including works, beer, snacks, and beautiful women. All the things we did were very creative. There were 13 students in this course, and they were divided into 6 groups. What I do is an interactive device that combines dominoes with music. Some people do interactive music games, others do interactive magic squares, and so on.

Australia Interaction Design Application Summary:

The interaction design and electronic art major of Sydney University is a very interesting major, where you will learn a lot of knowledge and fields that are not available or weak in China, such as processing, interactive device art, sound, light and electricity. If you want to take this major, I have the following suggestions, hoping to help you:

1. Learn English well, because there are a large number of presentations in foreign courses, which can be more than 10 times a semester. Communication is essential.

2. Processing and arduino need to lay a foundation. In fact, these two programming languages are not difficult. They are designed for art students, so they are much simpler than computer professional programming languages.

3. Pay more attention to some public accounts of interactive art and cutting-edge technology, such as: Image Knight, Art and Design, 36 Krypton, IT Times Weekly, etc

　　 Work experience sharing: How is a large-scale commercial solution (interactive system) built?

If you are not clear about the solution, let me give you an example, for example, Uber (domestic Didi Taxi, Kuaidi Taxi, etc. are modeled on Uber's operation mode) links passengers and drivers with mobile applications to provide car rental and real-time sharing services. This is a solution that connects passengers and drivers and builds a bridge for them. The final application terminal is mobile APP. Therefore, Uber is not a simple APP, but a set of solutions. The initial conception and design of Uber was put forward and completed by the interaction designer of Carnegie Mellon.

      Australian experience in interaction design and construction process

Smart school/classroom is a set of solutions designed for the future school, which has practical applications in the United States, South Korea, France and other countries. The solution consists of smart e-bag (a large number of electronic resources), interactive display system (interactive display screen, pad terminal), classroom video monitoring system (tracking video), cloud storage system, resource sharing system, etc. Because this system is too large, I will not elaborate here, but I will share with you How to grasp the design process in interactive design Experience in.

1. I first learned about the policies of some countries on paperless teaching and the development of foreign countries (South Korea, the United States). In this process, there will be a lot of market research.

2. Understand the domestic technology situation, and cooperate with Korean technology companies to carry out technical reform and update. The whole testing and improvement process is not generally smooth, which involves different technologies of several companies.

3. Paperless textbooks, teaching contents, and cooperation with content production companies. Content is a big problem that only the classroom needs to face. At that time, there was no electronic production of textbooks for primary and secondary schools in China.

4. Visit schools and find pilot schools. Cooperate with many schools to build and test the system.

5. Participate in major exhibitions and promote sub programs.

　　 It has been a little more than a year since the whole project was proposed and finally completed (including some other projects). I have summed up several experiences about the work:

1. In a team, although self ability is important, personality is more important.

2. Communication ability is very important. In a team, there may be many foreigners from different countries besides Chinese.

3. Technology is a big problem. Many good ideas rely on technological upgrading and innovation.

4. Design, technology or service is a process of continuous upgrading. Technology will always be innovated, ideas will always be improved, and your knowledge will be constantly eliminated and updated. Therefore, learning is very important, and it is always necessary to learn to keep pace with others.

　　 Experience sharing of interactive design portfolio coaching

First of all, let's talk about the collection of works (interaction design, digital media, game design and other majors) applied for art study in the United States. In terms of the number of pages, the collection of American interaction design works is generally 20-25 pages. Although the undergraduate portfolio focuses on creative painting, some good universities such as ACCD, CMU and other interactive Daniel schools also require students to submit professional works, which can be interface design, product design, game design or installation art. It can be seen that if you want to apply for a good university, even if you are applying for a bachelor's degree, you need to have excellent professional knowledge and ability, and also show the artistic level of students.

For graduate students, the interaction design portfolio generally includes 3-4 professional projects. If you want to apply to a good comprehensive university or a top ranked art school.

Specific case analysis of interactive design for art study abroad

        American interactive design case sharing

Zhou, who originally majored in biotechnology, has no artistic background, but has strong analytical ability and research ability (after all, she is from a science and engineering background). Therefore, she maximizes her strengths in portfolio training, focusing on system solutions, and is a subject related to biotechnology. Finally, after half a year's study, Zhou applied to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and New York School of Vision (SVA), which ranked first in American interaction design.

Cui, a senior high school student in the International Department of Beijing No. 80 Middle School, has some painting skills and is a studious student. During her training, I explained to her the interface design (APP), interactive device art, interactive games, etc. In her collection of works, there are also interactive devices, interface design, illustration, creative projects, etc., so she has also applied to many famous interactive schools, such as the Design Center College (ACCD), Pratt Design College, California Institute of Arts (CCA), Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), $60000 scholarship, Parsons Design College, Philadelphia University of the Arts, and so on.

In addition to the United States, there are many students who choose Commonwealth countries (Britain, Australia, Canada, etc.). The requirements of the Commonwealth countries for the interactive design collection of art study abroad are different from those of the United States. It focuses more on the display of the creative process, steps, and thinking. In terms of the number of pages, 40-50 pages is better for works.

　　 Analysis of specific cases of interaction design in Britain

Hao, who was originally a student of industrial design, plans to transfer to interactive design as a graduate student. The first project, based on her industrial design strengths, designed a system to quickly establish social interaction in a strange environment. This system includes interface design, sensor device, product design and other aspects. In addition, they also created the APP for borrowing books and predetermined locations in the university library, the haze visualization device and the art device with the theme of memory in Beijing Hutong. Finally, the result of the application for art study abroad is also very good, and has received the University of Edinburgh, the University of Southampton, King Smith and other well-known British interactive institutions.

I have returned to China and joined in the international art education of natural light, hoping to help more students who love interaction realize their dream of a famous school!

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Interactive Design Application to Australia, UK - Training Case of Interactive Design Studied Works Collection

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