E & PP

Research

What is New Media?

Although there are several ways that New Media may be described, The New Media Reader edited by Wardrip-Fruin and Montfort defines New Media by using eight simple and concise propositions:^[4]

1. New Media versus Cyberculture – Cyberculture is the study of various social phenomena that are associated with the internet and network communications, whereas New Media is concerned more with cultural objects and paradigms.
2. New Media as Computer Technology Used as a Distribution Platform – New Media are the cultural objects which use digital computer technology for distribution and exhibition. e.g. (at least for now) Internet, Web sites, computer multimedia, Blu-ray disks etc. The problem with this is that the definition must be revised every few years. The term “new media” will not be “new” anymore, as most forms of culture will be distributed through computers.
3. New Media as Digital Data Controlled by Software – The language of New Media is based on the assumption that, in fact, all cultural objects that rely on digital representation and computer-based delivery do share a number of common qualities. New media is reduced to digital data that can be manipulated by software as any other data. Now media operations can create several versions of the same object.
4. New Media as the Mix Between Existing Cultural Conventions and the Conventions of Software – “New Media today can be understood as the mix between older cultural conventions for data representation, access, and manipulation and newer conventions of data representation, access, and manipulation.” e.g. In film, software is used in some areas of production, in others are created using computer animation.
5. New Media as the Aesthetics that Accompanies the Early Stage of Every New Modern Media and Communication Technology – “While ideological tropes indeed seem to be reappearing rather regularly, many aesthetic strategies may reappear two or three times…In order for this approach to be truly useful it would be insufficient to simple name the strategies and tropes and to record the moments of their appearance; instead, we would have to develop a much more comprehensive analysis which would correlate the history of technology with social, political, and economical histories or the modern period.”
6. New Media as Faster Execution of Algorithms Previously Executed Manually or through Other Technologies – Computers are a huge speed-up of what were previously manual techniques. e.g. calculators. “Dramatically speeding up the execution makes possible previously non-existent representational technique.” This also makes possible of many new forms of media art such as interactive multimedia and computer games. “On one level, a modern digital computer is just a faster calculator, we should not ignore it’s other identity: that of a cybernetic control device.”
7. New Media as the Encoding of Modernist Avant-Garde; New Media as Metamedia – Manovich declares that the 1920’s are more relevant to New Media than any other time period. Meta-media coincides with postmodernism in that they both rework old work rather than create new work. New media avant-garde “is about new ways of accessing and manipulating information” (e.g. hypermedia, databases, search engines, etc.). Meta-media is an example of how quantity can change into quality as in new media technology and manipulation techniques can “recode modernist aesthetics into a very different postmodern aesthetics.”
8. New Media as Parallel Articulation of Similar Ideas in Post-WWII Art and Modern Computing – Post WWII Art or “combinatorics” involves creating images by systematically changing a single parameter. This leads to the creation or remarkably similar images and spatial structures. “This illustrates that algorithms, this essential part of new media, do not depend on technology, but can be executed by humans.”

Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which is a French word meaning “one who undertakes an endeavor”. Entrepreneurs assemble resources including innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity. The most obvious form of entrepreneurship is that of starting new businesses; however, in recent years, the term has been extended to include social and political forms of entrepreneurial activity. When entrepreneurship is describing activities within a firm or large organization it is referred to as intra-preneurship and may include corporate venturing, when large entities spin-off organizations.^[1]

According to Paul Reynolds, entrepreneurship scholar and creator of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, “by the time they reach their retirement years, half of all working men in the United States probably have a period of self-employment of one or more years; one in four may have engaged in self-employment for six or more years. Participating in a new business creation is a common activity among U.S. workers over their course of their careers.” ^[2] And in recent years has been documented by scholars such as David Audretsch to be a major driver of economic growth in both the United States and Western Europe.

Entrepreneurial activities are substantially different depending on the type of organization that is being started. Entrepreneurship ranges in scale from solo projects (even involving the entrepreneur only part-time) to major undertakings creating many job opportunities. Many “high value” entrepreneurial ventures seek venture capital or angel funding in order to raise capital to build the business. Angel investors generally seek returns of 20-30% and more extensive involvement in the business.^[3] Many kinds of organizations now exist to support would-be entrepreneurs, including specialized government agencies, business incubators, science parks, and some NGOs. In more recent times, the term entrepreneurship has been extended to include elements not related necessarliy to business formation activity such as conceptualizations of entrepreneurship as a specific mindset (see also entrepreneurial mindset) resulting in entrepreneurial initiatives e.g. in the form of social entrepreneurship, political entrepreneurship, or knowledge entrepreneurship have emerged.

Information taken from http://www.wikipedia.com

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Entrepreneurship & Proffessional Practice

You will be required to undertake an investigation of role definitions, in so much that you will :

Reveal the attributes of the New Media working team.

Address the question

‘Who do you need to run a new media company?’

Example

As a starting place we will examine a New Media company illustrated in the satirical television programme ‘Nathan Barley’.  This will enable you to help define the roles of the composite parts to the organization and how they relate.

Start to think about what staff that are needed to run/maintain a New Media organization.

Examine the nuances of these roles in relation to each other and in relation to creating work.

You may well find that your findings from previous work conducted in your ‘Process’ module will assist you in these definitions, in particular the work of England & Finney, in relation to managing Multimedia.

This is a rough draft of my essay

Entrepreneurship & Professional Practice

New Media is a broad coverage of the emergence of digital, computerised and communication technologies in the later part of the 20th century. There is a range of technologies that are described as ‘new media’. They are normally digital, have characteristics of manipulation, networkable, dense, compressible, interactive and impartial. ‘New Media’ is not television programmes, feature films, magazines, books or paper based publications.

The ‘New Media’ company, Graphic Co DMG states that,

‘We’re not about producing ‘just a website’. We’re about insight, strategic planning, looking at the bigger picture and finding the best way to deliver your message.’

Design companies’ work closely together using the design and management team to develop new ideas and revamp existing projects. There are a range of skills and technical knowledge that all members of the company need to grasp. It is essential for the team of staff have exceptional communication skills, as contact will be needed between themselves and clients. New media agencies are always veering towards a newer technology to help enhance the company profile.

Media companies are growing more popular, targeting different social groups with the use of certain websites, for example Facebook. Material such as newspapers and magazines are taking a drastic decrease as the Internet broadens the horizon for online information. The founders of Google discovered this belief and offered a web service that gave the users a basic web page layout and a search facility. The success of this has earned the company high annual profits. The strategic success of a new media company is down to the fact that they employ people within their social groups. Microsoft founder Bill Gates lived and worked at home, allowing ideas to be constantly thought of which helped refine the business.

New Media companies have a varied amount of role definitions that range from the Director to a junior designer. This section will highlight the key areas and attributes of a team working together. We take your feedback and our suggestions from the concept stage and begin to develop preferred designs to a more finished stage.

Graphic design companies such as Firedog, allow customers and clients to contact them if they require a project to be carried out. Basically, the client contacts the company what exactly needs to be done. In discussion a member of the company will contact the client with an alternative idea on the subject. If the client is happy in proceeding then they will be given an accurate quote of the work. The client will then need to develop a brief for the company; this would include information on the business, objectives and the reasoning of the project. The brief will also contain information regarding project management and design constraints. The company carries out similar principles to that of the university course, a process in which is carried out during every module project.

The team of designers produce initial conceptual designs that fit the design brief and focus on the most important factor, the target audience. The graphic designers play a vital role in making complicated information easy to use and understand. The main aim for the designer is to create good designs that are used as a communication tool. They utilise this method to get more people to visit a client website, brand recognition, advertisement response and to pay for the services.

If there is a web site involved then the company will ask the web designer to carry out the project. The responsibility of the web designer is the layout, visual appearance and the usability of a website. This role can also be related with a Multimedia programmer or web architect. The web designer also liaises with the graphic designer using both their skills and knowledge in creating a web page amongst other projects. They must be in contact with the client or customer at the design stage. The web designer will discuss target audience, leading competitors and why the site is needed. The production of a web site that will attract the target user is essential for the web designer. The understanding. Web designers also need to be to create coding when writing web pages to ensure they work correctly. This means that testing the web sites functionality is an essential factor of their job description.

At this stage of the project, designs can be created using a variety of mixed media such as, pen to paper. The more conventional method of using paper is the easiest way to get an idea and then can be discussed before development. The designers use a range of research methods whilst carrying out the initial design process. They look in areas of market research, the competition and any other way that will help aid the brief. In similar circumstances, this stage of the project is when creative ideas are broadened into another level ready for development. The development stage of a project is where key elements of the initial ideas are merged together, forming a final concept design. The project is defined by the way the designers and other members work together in defining the appropriate design style for the client brief. Maybe a handful of the concepts will be considered, close contact with the client is essential to gain the best solution. The design team will go through different tweaks during the project, to ensure everything is above board. This is where the success of a good new media company lies, if these processes are not carried out then there will failure.

The final design then needs to be signed off before the artwork is to be prepared. In a real life situation this would need to be carried out. As in the work we have produced, this is only shown to the course lecturer. But it is good professional practice to gain knowledge of how the industry works.