The Role of Analytics in Digital Design

Another thing that makes digital design different from print design is the role of data and analytics. While it might be difficult to directly track the performance of a physical flyer or brochure, in the digital realm you have direct insight into your design’s performance through metrics such as likes, shares, downloads, and pageviews. As a digital designer, you might find yourself accountable for creating high-performing designs. This means that, beyond just creating an attractive visual, you will need to keep in mind your desired audience and how to capture their interest. In some cases, you may be asked to test several different iterations of a design to see which one performs the best

Interactivity in Design

Digital design is also different from print design because it is interactive. Not all types of digital design are interactive. In some ways, an infographic plays much the same role as a poster—it’s a static image. However, when it comes to web design, users are often dragging, dropping, and clicking on the elements you create. Interactive design is more complex than static design. Beyond being aesthetically pleasing, your design will also have to be usable—this is the focus of UX designers

Graphic Designers

While the term “graphic designer” is very general, for the purpose of this article we can think of graphic designers as digital designers working with static images. These designers might be creating an infographic, a report, or a digital illustration. Their main concerns are aesthetics, readability, and branding.

Web Designers

Web designers focus on the layout of websites, and may also design some of the interactive elements that appear on them. They should have a basic understanding of coding and the functionality of websites or apps. Web designers need to understand the prevailing trends in web aesthetics, and they also need to consider accessibility and ease of use.

UX Designers

UX designers focus specifically on usability. Among other things, they design preliminary plans for websites, apps, or products (known as “wireframes”). UX designers are often expected to collaborate with researchers and to create several different versions of their designs for testing with real users. Their designs should be primarily based on data, as well as aesthetics.

Workplace

One of the great things about working in digital fields is that the work can be done remotely. As a freelance digital designer, you will have a lot of choices when it comes to your workspace. You can work from a home office, a co-working space, a cafe, or even from abroad as a digital nomad.

Client Work

Most of a freelance digital designer’s day will be taken up by client work. This could mean working on long-term contracts (for example, collaborating with a client to design their new website) or one-off projects (like creating a single infographic).

Administrative Responsibilities

As mentioned above, being a freelance digital designer involves some administrative work. This might include:

• Creating and maintaining a portfolio website

• Reaching out to clients through job boards or cold emails

• Networking

• Creating and sending invoices

In-House Digital Designers

“In-house” digital designers work directly for a company, designing their products or creating marketing materials and other assets. In-house designer roles are more likely to carry a senior-level title (like “creative director”), or a title that requires a specific technical skillset (like “UX designer” or “product designer”).

Workplace

As with agency work, in-house designers generally work full time at their company’s office, although some companies may also hire remotely.

Responsibilities

As an in-house designer, you will spend all your time working on your company’s projects. You will be responsible for helping your team execute its vision, and ultimately driving the success of your company.

Positive Points and Main Challenges

While the in-house design has a reputation for being more repetitive than agency work, of course, this isn’t always true. As an in-house designer, you’ll have the chance to explore a single type of work more deeply and can become more invested in the success of your company. An in-house position can provide a great opportunity to deepen your design knowledge in a specific field.

Average Salaries for Digital Designers

You’ve now seen that there are many different ways to build your career as a digital designer. With that said, what is the average digital designer’s salary?

Salaries can vary widely based on specialization, of course. Most freelance graphic designers charge anywhere from $15-$65 an hour (according to PayScale), while senior UX designers can make up to $137,000 per year.

That said, PayScale reports that the salary for digital designers of all kinds in the U.S. ranges from $39,000 to $79,000 per year, with an average of $53,855 per year.

University In House Color Grading Suite

University color grading suite is a fully equipped digital lab where films are graded before final export. The majority of color correction and audio finishing is carried out in other specialist post-production facilities also located in the Media Academy. Students and external clients check the final grade in this carefully designed space using the latest calibrated reference monitor to ensure the finished product is correct and make final changes before distribution.

We support resolutions up to 4K and a multitude of color spaces but mainly use SMTPE C, REC 709, or the newer REC 2020. We support two of the most popular color grading packages available - DaVinci Resolve and Baselight - with the facility to export to Digital Cinema Package (DCP) format, if required, for cinematic playout and distribution. As well as a professional reference monitor, the suite is equipped with hardware video scope, secondary OLED monitor, output standards converter, professional control surface, and two Dell precision color monitors. The space also has a large monitor and sofa to invite clients or the director to view the final grade in real-time.

Specialist equipment with University

• Canon (1019C003AA) DP-V2410 - 24 inch 4k reference display.

• Mac Pro 3Ghz 8-Core Intel Xeon E5,64GB DDR3, Dual AMD Fire Pro D700 6144MB.

• Tangent Element (Tk Mf Kb Bt) control surface.

• Sony 17inch Trimaster OLED SDI monitor.

• Black Magic Design UltraStudio 4K thunderbolt capture and playback.

• Black Magic Design SmartScope Duo 4K.

• LG 55inch EF950V OLED Wide Gamut (director's monitor).

• Colour balanced D65 lighting and grey walls.

• DaVinci Resolve with easy DCP export.

• Avid Media Composer with base light grading software.

University In House Digital Cinema (LT1)

A fully-functioning digital 3D cinema with a professional 2K projector and an exclusive Dolby Atmos sound system. LT1 features a DCi compliant Barco 2K digital projector, able to fill the 8m matt-white screen with the latest films. A Dolby DSS200 digital cinema server hosts the content and is played back using the Dolby Theatre management software, creating automation cues for lights, screen masking, sound, and playback. An Xpand active-shutter 3D system also allows playback of 3D content. Alternative content (non-DCP digital cinema files) can be played back using the same projector via a Barco 2K video scaler to obtain a crisp, bright image, from other sources. Blu-ray and DVD playback are supported using either consoles or a dedicated blu-ray player, a PC/Mac can also be used to playback content or demonstrate software.

The sound system is comprised of the latest format from Dolby: Atmos. Atmos is an object-based audio system allowing for a more immersive sound experience for the film, due to added speakers and improved technology. Extra-wide speakers on either side of the screen allow for smooth panning and movement of sounds of the screen, whereas traditional 5.1 and 7.1 channel-based formats would be missing speakers, creating a ‘gap’ in the sound-field. All surround speakers are also individually addressable, meaning a sound can come from just one speaker, rather than a surround ‘array’ of speakers; this adds another level of detail within sound mixing. With the addition of extra subwoofers and a bass management system, the surround speakers can also replay full-range audio, creating a sonically improved sound compared to legacy systems. To fully immerse the audience, overhead speakers are fixed to the ceiling, allowing for sound overhead.

Using Avid Pro Tools digital audio workstation (DAW), users can edit and mix their session using the Dolby RMU (Rendering and Mastering Unit), from the middle of the auditorium. An Avid S3 control surface and Avid transport control can be placed on a desk with remote operation of the DAW over a KVM. An Adderlink IP-based KVM extends mouse, keyboard, and 2x DVI displays for high-quality remote control, as within professional studios. This allows all noisy equipment to remain within an isolated, temperature-controlled machine room.

Students can use the Pro Tools system to mix and author 5.1 and 7.1 mixes as part of their course and can use the Dolby RMU to gain experience of Atmos mixing and to understand this new workflow for mixing sound for cinema. The room configuration and speaker calibration are set up on the Dolby RMU and the Dolby CP850 Cinema Processor. These are the processors that render a personalized Atmos soundtrack suitable for the room, in real-time. The amplifier control and routing ‘back-end’ side of the audio system is based on the QSC Q-sys IP-based digital audio platform, remotely controlled from a PC within the projection room. This powerful DPS software can also be used as a useful teaching tool due to the visual ‘block’ nature of the design platform.

The University is currently one of only three in the world, and the only UK University to have a Dolby Atmos system. We’re also currently the only cinema south of London to be able to present in the format. With the RMU, we’re within a group of less than 10 in the UK to be able to mix in the format.

LT1 seats 96 for traditional lectures or film screenings. With a shorter than usual throw distance (between audience and screen), viewing films in LT1 makes for a very immersive experience. Sonar Film, the University's film society, presents new films for students and staff every day for £4, and £4.50 for all others. Any profit is put back into the society, for running special events and improving the service provided.

Specialist equipment

• Barco DP2K-15C DCi digital cinema projector

• Xpand Active-Shutter 3D system with 100 pairs of glasses

• Dolby DSS200 digital cinema server

• Dolby CP850 digital cinema sound processor

• Dolby Rendering and Mastering Unit

• QSC Q-Sys Core 500i with 9x QSC DPA-Q digital amplifiers

• JBL screen and surround speakers.

• Avid Pro Tools MADI interface with sync HD

• Focusrite Rednet6 MADI to DANTE bridge

• Mac Pro (2013) running Pro Tools v12 Digital Audio Workstation

• Alternative content sources (PlayStation 3, Xbox-360, Blu-ray player, PC)

Fees and Costs

Tuition fees

UK, EU, and Channel Island full-time fees: £7,600

International full-time fees: £13,700

Optional costs:

Optional film production costs: £330

The course features optional trips to international film festivals. These trips are subject to student demand. Prices will be dependent on the location of the trip as well as the travel and accommodation costs at the time of booking. There are no compulsory production costs that you are required to meet in order to fully participate in the course. Students choosing to raise a budget for their film or tv productions are encouraged to crowdfund and seek advice from project supervisors on budgetary matters where applicable.

Visa Show Money: £9208

Visa Charges: £348

Immigration Health Surcharge Charges: £470 / (12 months) + £235 (1- 6 months)

Please Note: Check the latest Visa, Show Money & IHS charges on https://www.gov.uk/ before applying at UKVFS for Visa.

English Language Requirements

Applicants who do not have English as their first language will be required to demonstrate an approved level of proficiency in the use of the English language. The agreed minimum requirements for this course are:

• IELTS minimum 6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.0 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in reading, listening and speaking

• TOEFL IBT 92 with a minimum of 22 in writing and a minimum of 19 in reading, listening, and speaking

• Duolingo English Language Test - 110 overall with a minimum 90 in each component

• or equivalent

Qualifications are checked before enrolment, and international students must bring their original certificates or certified copies when coming to study at the University.