Interactive and Digital Media

Explore and shape stories

Interactive and digital media are changing how we access information through graphics, photos, video and data visualization. This concentration will provide you with a thorough understanding of the intersection of code, data, research, design and storytelling.

You won’t just learn how to produce the content — you’ll also learn the theory behind it. The program emphasizes the context of digital media storytelling, helping you learn to create focused and comprehensive content tailor-made to communicate an effective story to its target audience.

What you’ll learn

to design for an experience, conceptualizing your work as interactive, data-driven web content
to maximize the efficiency and utility of your creative projects by learning to design for an intended audience
to master basic tools such as web development languages, the Adobe Design Suite and version control
to evaluate digital media on its effectiveness and to perfect your own designs based on testing, critiquing and prototyping

Curriculum

This program will give you a solid grasp of web and mobile technologies.

See concentration requirements

Courses

Your interactive and digital courses will provide opportunities for hands-on creation. Here are a couple noteworthy experiences to look forward to.

Game Art and Sound

Game Art and Sound focuses on the artistic components of game design. You’ll learn the technical craftsmanship to create audio and visual components for digitally created game environments. The course introduces important concepts in animation, sound editing and nonlinear story writing to help you create compelling and one-of-a-kind games.

Journalism Multimedia Storytelling

Journalism Multimedia Storytelling enhances your reporting skills by emphasizing multimedia storytelling techniques and modes such as podcasting, photo stories, web video and audio slideshows. You’ll learn to work with cameras and audio software to find and tell compelling stories in the most accessible ways possible.

Faculty

You’ll take classes taught by experienced professionals, including a former Chicago Tribune designer and a data visualization specialist, ready to prepare you to enter the fast-paced world of media with the expertise you need to succeed.

Meet Media School faculty

Extracurricular opportunities

A student works on the layout of a news article using software and her laptop.

Society for News Design

Student organization

Society for News Design at IU is the student chapter of the Society for News Design, an international organization for visual communicators and news media experts. SND hosts an annual conference, as well as a Best of News Design competition for newspapers and magazines across the globe.

Get involved with SND

Two students interact with a game controller and a laptop at a student club event.

GameDev@IU

Student organization

GameDev@IU is a student-run organization that promotes hands-on experience for students interested in game design. It hosts events such as workshops and game jams, and provides a platform for game development collaboration.

Get involved with GameDev@IU

Careers

The interactive and digital media concentration will give you the tools you need to thrive in any interactive media career path, be it graphic design, multimedia journalism, web design, game development or information architecture.

Explore design careers

Try everything. Find the thing you like. And do more of that. Make stuff. Publish. Repeat.
Larry Buchanan, BAJ’11, graphics/multimedia editor at The New York Times