GA 101

This studio course introduces students to the expressive capabilities of digital games and the significance of game art in generating meaning and aesthetic experiences in gameplay. Students will learn how to think and talk about games as both designed media objects and artworks in order to create game art that facilitates meaning, feeling, and perception in gameplay. Through analysis of game examples, designing game art concepts for fictional projects, and making functional art for a small game in collaboration with peers, students will learn how to engage critically and creatively with the process of game-making. Students will make art for a "game mod," modifying a self-selected commercial game, and contribute original art to a small game project created for the class. Project and media-based learning experiences will be supported by readings and short topical lectures that provide conceptual resources and language necessary for communicating aesthetic strategies and design choices as game artists.