MASTER MODULE

NEW MEDIA
COMMUNICATION
& INTERACTION
DESIGN
IAAD

HISTORY, MISSION

AND DIDACTIC

APPROACH

European hub of higher education in design, Istituto d’Arte
Applicata e Design - IAAD is capable to fulfil the demand of the
market for highly qualified designers thanks to its 35 years
expertise in design education, its cross curricular approach
and its international dimension with its branches in Italy
and France. Thanks to the partnership signed in 2012 with
the French Écoles de Condé, the group counts on over 5.000
students, 400 professors, 7 venues - 5 in France in Paris, Lyon,
Nancy, Nice, Bordeaux and 2 in Italy (Torino and Bologna). An
integrated system offering more than 30 courses ranging from
Bachelor and Master courses, from transportation design
to fashion and textile design, from restoration of cultural
heritage to marketing and management of arts and design.
In Italy, in Torino, the new academic year 2013-2014 began in
the new IAAD premises inside the future Lavazza headquarter,
with 3.000 square meters available for didactic, with spaces
for expositions and conferences.
numerous IAAD alumni over the course of 35 years. In terms
of concepts, projects and style, IAAD's philosophy is to
address the great tradition of Italian design, whose cultural
and industrial value is recognized all over the world.
IAAD was born in 1978 with the objective of offering a new
approach to training and education, by analyzing creative
professionalisms effectively required by the job market
and structuring specific learning paths. IAAD, through the
years, has remodeled its educational offers numerous times,
and is also doing so today with considerable commitment,
addressing an historical moment characterized by deep
cultural and socioeconomic transformations. Specifically,
technological evolution is quickly redesigning the whole
range of "creative jobs".

According to IAAD, design is "project culture", a cultural and

intellectual process founded on the core idea that in order to
create a serious and prepared professional it is mandatory
to unite the rigor of academic research with a practical,
experimental method based on planning, and typical of
advanced professional training. This methodological
approach has proven to be the best in creating successful
professionals, as demonstrated by the brilliant careers of

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NEW MEDIA

COMMUNICATION

AND INTERACTION

DESIGN

MASTER PROGRAM

Contemporary society moves its first steps towards "artificial

intelligence".
This expression may sound bombastic, but the essence of the
phenomenon can be synthesized in a few words: many tiring
activities that today weigh mainly on human intelligence are
steadily being transferred to computers, which are finally able to
read the semantic meaning of raw information, creating a vast
network of benefits and profits.

Modern digital environments, and the "artificial" intelligences

that are developed in and from them, are deeply changing jobs
in every sector, at every level. Many new professions are being
developed in this setting, and it's not a case that most of the EU
funding being placed in 2014 and onwards is going towards a
"digital agenda".
IAAD Master in New Media and Interaction Design has been
conceived to help fill the gaps in the current educational system
regarding this very strategic sector, answering the growing
demand from companies, private and public organization for
professionals with specific and diversified skills linked to the
development and the new opportunities of the digital world.

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MASTER OBJECTIVES
AND METHOD
The Master's key objective is to form professionals capable of
dialoguing through digital media, who comply with "netiquette"
and community participation modalities, and, above all, are
able not only to realize an integrated platform or a digital
marketing campaign, but also to evaluate their performance and
development potential.
The Master's ambition is to work as an innovation hub, a place
in which aspiring communicators can be trained in a continuous
interchange between theoretical, practical and experimental
phases, allowing comprehension and management of all stages
of new media design.
To train young professionals, IAAD recreates a professional
environment in its didactic plan. One of the distinctive traits of
IAAD method is the constant collaboration with sector-specific
companies and firms in order to realize bound projects. Both
the partner companies' business requirements and IAAD's
teaching requirements converge in these projects, creating a
situation that is doubly positive: aspiring designers have the
opportunity to work with companies that are leaders in their
sectors and companies can monitor and invest on future talent.
This system also allows to simulate working conditions in a
professional environment: work is conducted under specific
deadlines, correcting projects during their execution phase by
following client feedback, through team and objective-oriented
work. The Master Program is structured in 3 macro areas. One is
focused on specifically "creative" skills (Creativity Techniques,
Art Direction in New Media Environments, Content Editing in
New Media Environments, Web Platforms Design, Mobile App
Design, Audiovisual Broadcasting Design, Digital PR & Social
Media Networking), another on the cultural and informative
background necessary to those looking to perform these new
professions (Digital Economy Sociological Models, History of
New Media, Digital Marketing Models, Big Data &Internet of
Things), and the third one on technical skills and competences
(User Interface Design, Project Development Techniques,
Web Platforms Development, Mobile App Development, Edge
Interactive Technologies).
A strong focus is also placed on Semantic technologies
(Semantic Web, Semantic Engineering, Ontology Application
Development) representing the culmination and the fulfillment
of all the didactic path.
These disciplines are taught and examined in depth not only
from a theoretical-conceptual point of view, but also looking
at their actual application in media, marketing (R&D, design,
advertising), educational and entertainment.
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FACULT Y

Professionals working in the respective academic subject

sectors, who know the main players of the sector and the
skills needed to be competitive in the job market, make up
IAAD teaching staff. Lecturers will be instrumental in helping
students improve and comprehend which aspects of one's
professionalism need to be perfected to enter the job market
with a lead.

VISITING PROFESSORS
IAAD believes in the value of cultural and experiential
contamination, opening the doors of the university to
professionals known nationally and internationally, experts
who contribute to the didactic, leading workshops, seminars
and lectures. Students will have the unique opportunity to
interact with "gurus" of the sector, who will join IAAD faculty as
Visiting Professors.

MASTER COORDINATOR
Massimo Morelli
Born in Turin, philosophy graduate, owner of a media agency
specialized in digital marketing (Pensativa) and coordinator
of IAAD Communication and Graphic Design department.
Throughout the years he has directed numerous projects
between digital communication and technologies: from
virtual reality (immersive environments) to public displaying,
to the development of dedicated applications and semantic
ontologies. In the Master Program, he is professor of SEO and
SMO and of Semantic Web.

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MASTER PROGRAM

STRUCTURE

Graduates and postgraduates in:

// Computer Science
The New Media and Interaction design Master is a 9-month, full // Economy
time course. // Humanities
// Communication Sciences
// Liberal Arts
The key objective of the Master is to provide the participants // Educational Sciences and professionals seeking a specialization in new media
with the indispensable skills needed to work in a conscious and // Any other degree will be evaluated individually
efficient way in a professional environment characterized by a
considerable complexity, a strong correlation of the parts at play
and a very elevated rate of change.
Admission only with
The Master focuses on the material application of every single CV and Portfolio evaluation
instrument and methodology in the different fields available:
media, marketing (R&D, design advertising), educational and
entertainment.

NEW MEDIA
COMMUNICATION
400 HOURS
& INTERACTION
DESIGN

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MASTER
PROGRAM
Duration:
400 hours // March 2017 - January 2018
Language: English
Framework:
Full time course (active lectures, laboratories and individual
studying) with compulsory attendance classes Monday through
Friday (some lectures and external didactic activities may take
place on Saturday).
MASTER PROGRAM MAIN THEMES
Basic skills
"Creativity techniques" (mind mapping, brainstorming, card
sorting, etc.), project management (Gantt charts, Critical
path, cycle time and gap analysis, etc.) and ITC fundamentals
(Computer Science Basics) are part of the basic skills needed to
work in the digital communication systems environment.
Socio-cultural and technological context
New media and interactive design belong to these times. It this
therefore absolutely necessary to have a clear knowledge of the
sociocultural context of 'postmodernity' and the historical
process that determined birth and assertion of new media
(Manovich). A timely and in-depth knowledge of the most
advanced interactive technologies (NFC, Li-Fi, gesture and
eye-tracking, google glasses and other wearable device, etc.) is
also to be encompassed.
Design & development
In new media, it's very hard to separate the actual design
phase (graphic design, interface design) from the application
development (programming). This is why the Master addresses
these two proficiencies conjunctly, declining them by type of
communication instrument: web platforms, mobile applications
and audiovisual platforms. Particular attention is paid to
interface design, with the goal of enhancing the usability level.
Digital Content Manager & Digital PR
Many new professions, focused more on multimedia content
than on the implantation of technical solutions, are flourishing in
new media: community and social media manager, professional
blogger, e-reputation manager, transmedia web editor, all line
advertiser. Roles and accordingly different work undertones
abound. The Master allows gaining familiarity with the main
skills involved: benchmarking analysis, digital metric analysis,
real time monitoring, influencers selection and hire, etc.
Semantic Web & Virtual Reality
Semantic technologies allow computers to read the meaning
of messages and then act or react accordingly. Among others,
two remarkable relapses take place: it possible to intercept
and analyse huge fluxes of information, often of different
origin and format, to obtain new statistical informations
(big data), and connect entire network of computers to allow
them to communicate and interact without the necessity of
human intervention (internet of things). The master dedicates
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many didactic resources to these branches of knowledge. Thanks to a relation network with the reference environment,
Another important phenomenon is the gradual emergence IAAD possess a regularly updated company database. These
of 'immersive' communication environments. Recently, companies are in constant contact for the selection of young
manufacturers of Interactive gaming console have announced talent to place in their structures.
the upcoming release of immersive 'playstation' through
which players can immerse themselves in the context of
psycho-sensory game. In all likelihood it is the watershed
event that will determine the ultimate success of VR (Virtual
Reality) applications.

During the academic year IAAD will organize didactic visits

to companies, exhibits and museums, special workshops,
meetings with prominent sector professionals (possible costs
will be at the student's expense).

Thesis
Every edition of the Master includes the development of a thesis
in collaboration with a company of the sector.
The project path starts with a briefing with the company, followed
by intermediate presentations and feedback from company
referents, and ends with the final discussion of the Thesis.

JOBPLACEMENT SERVICE
In order to allow students to have access to the best
opportunities in the creative professional job market, IAAD
oversees contacts between students and the professional world,
promoting their graduates and master graduates with the main
players in the market.

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MAIN SUBJECTS OF THE
MASTER PROGRAM
Computer science basics
From transistor to boolean logics from data format to client-server
model, from different generations of programming languages
to relational databases. If it’s true we are leaving in the 3rd big
industrial revolution, it is also true that we can not afford to ignore
the basics.
Newmedia & Digital marketing models
Starting from the general model of multichannel communication
(Nielsen), some of the most successful working models of digital
marketing are described and tested: long tail and market as
niche proliferation (Anderson), biocapitalism and showcasing
(Codeluppi), cocreation, comarketing and code sign, widespread
governance model (K. Kelly).
User interface design
The man-machine interaction concerns the relationship between
the human user and his technological counterpart, which is
often a computer or a digital platforms, but can also be a fridge,
a television, a microwave. What counts the most is how user
interface design ends (or should end) in user-centred design. A
young discipline, which however has evolved enough to provide
useful and interesting instruments and methodologies, and its
own history as well (Cooper, Norman).
Semantic web
Everything that is needed to fully comprehend the semantic web
phenomenon, without any type of obscurity. From the semantic
network concept (Quillian) to graph theory (Eulero); from
descriptive logic to oncological language fundamentals (XML,
RDF, RDFSchema, OWL); from the knowledge graph (google) and
open graph (Facebook) revolution to the material application
benefits.
Project management
All projects have something in common: they are project, literally
visions "thrown forwards", projected in the future and therefore
structured in phases, deadlines, objectives. Some people have a
natural taken for project management, while other can improve
with time and experience. The course addresses the main tools
and techniques for project management, from Pert, Gannt and
Ishikawa diagrams all the way to softwares such as Teamwork,
Artemis, Project.
Web platforms design & development
When working on the web, a separation between design and
programming undoubtedly exits, but it is less marked than
in other environments: for example, the distance between a
graphic project for a printed publication and its letterpress
processing. This is why a web designer doesn't necessarily
have to be a programmer, but still has to know the basics and
the fundamental logic behind html, javascript, css, flash, php,
rdf and owl.
Mobile application design & development
Web technologies and mobile technologies are very different,
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from connection and fruition modes, to the operating systems
used. The mobile world is one of a kind, and it has to be explored
with its peculiarities in mind. The course's objective is the
acquisition of specific skills for Mobile App design, highlighting
the differences with web technologies.
Audiovisual broadcasting design
The course's objective is the transmission of the fundamental
skills needed to design and realise high quality audiovisual
content in the era of electronics and digital platforms: storyboard,
production, scenic design, digital technologies for video
shooting and editing, sound design, special effects, optimised
workflows for art and production goals.
Content editing for digital environments
While traditional media (print, radio, TV) are generally
vertical (from few to many) and generate mid-to-long range
feedback, new media are horizontal (from many to many)
and the feedback is almost always real-time. These simple
facts imply numerous consequences, among which the most
important is the radical transformation of the ways we handle
not only content, but also of our communicational conveyance,
avoiding the many traps and false friends that clutter this new
professional environment.
Virtual reality - Immersive environments
Another important phenomenon is the gradual emergence
of 'immersive' communication environments. Recently,
manufacturers of Interactive gaming console have announced
the upcoming release of immersive 'playstation' through
which players can immerse themselves in the context of
psycho-sensory game in question. In all likelihood it is the
watershed event that will determine the ultimate success of
VR (Virtual Reality) applications.
SEO & SMO
Today all (or almost) have a digital platform (website, mob
app, etc.). It is a necessary but not sufficient condition to make
digital marketing. The real battle, where we compare the most
devious and ingenious minds of the planet, is the placement
(and visibility) in search engines (SEO) and in the socialmedia
platforms (SMO). Not to mention the paid advertising on
the same search engine and social media (SEA and SMA).
Digital PR, influencer marketing, video viralization, keyword
density copywriting, link building, rdf-schema and OGT
mark-upping... There are so many ways, but what matters here
more than in other areas of marketing and communication,
are the results: analytics make no prisoners.
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MASTER

ADMISSION PROCEDURES

REQUIREMENTS AND ADMISSION PROCEDURES The result of the application will be communicated by the Career
The Master program can be accessed by graduates and Guidance Office to each candidate.
postgraduates in Computer Science, Economy, Humanities,
Communication Sciences, Liberal Arts, Educational Sciences, SCOLARSHIPS
and professionals seeking a specialization in new media. IAAD offers 5 scholarships to be assigned to candidates
Admission depends on the evaluation of the candidacy, which according to curriculum and portfolio evaluation.
will have to be presented thorough a cover letter, curriculum vitae The available scholarships are:
and portfolio. IAAD reserves the right to ask the candidate, when - 1 worth 100% the tuition fee
deemed necessary, an additional interview at the head office or - 2 worth 50% the tuition fee
via Skype. - 2 worth 20% the tuition fee

Access to Master is possible only with the authorization of

the Coordinator based on the evaluation of academic titles,
professional curriculum and portfolio.
ADMISSION PROCEDURE
Applications need to be submitted by 27 January 2017, via e-mail
or traditional mail.
Applications have to contain these documents:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Cover letter
- Portfolio
The Master Co-ordinator, assisted by an academic board will
evaluate the candidacies received.
IAAD reserves the right to ask the candidate, when deemed
necessary, an additional interview at the head office or via Skype.
Scholarships will be awarded with merit criteria from a board
selected from the Direction and from the Master Program
Coordinator.
- Personal portfolio
- Degree type and work experience
- cover letter
will be specifically evaluated.
Candidates who pass pre-selection will be invited for an interview
at the head office or via Skype. In case of tied candidates, IAAD
can decide to divide the assigned scholarship. Applications
can be sent by e-mail to master@iaad.it or by traditional mail to
Istituto d'Arte Applicata e Design, Via Pisa 5, 10152 Torino - Italy.

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FOR INFORMATION
For further information on master contents, professor board
and scolarships please contact Career Guidance Office:
master@iaad.it
+39 011 54 88 68

Via Pisa 5
10152 Torino - Italia
+39 011.548868
master@iaad.it
www.iaad.it

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