Digital arts majors to show off their work
POTSDAM — Clarkson University will showcase with an exhibition next weekend the school's first graduating class of digital arts and science majors.
From animated digital shorts to product designs, the eight graduating seniors will show off the skills they have gained in their presentations.
Nicholas A. Machia of Watertown was making final touches to the 3D animated short he's creating with two other students, Chad M. Smith and Timothy J. Penderghest, both of Brasher Falls, recently.
The group designed 7,000 slides to create an animation called "The Amish" that will last about five minutes.
"Where we live up here, the Amish community is pretty prevalent, so we were interested in creating a superhero like that. Abe is our main character, and he's protecting humanity from robots that work at the mall," Mr. Machia said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to show people how much work goes into something like this."
Massena native Spencer D. Nowak has helped prepare an entire product launch for an eco-friendly bicycle for which he and Jacob D. Swain of Machias, Maine, created a design concept.
The students' Halcyon bicycle design looks like a cross between a tandem bike and a toy car. Their project includes illustrations of their bike, as well as an advertising campaign, an interactive Web site, a promotional video and business cards.
"We're both big bikers and are concerned about the environment, so our idea was to get people who wouldn't normally be riding down the road hunched over in spandex on a bike," Mr. Nowak said. "We're hoping to do a product-launch-style presentation."
Other projects that will be featured include a 3D animation about the life of a social recluse as a man slips into madness, and a video documentary about the desire for violent entertainment.
David R. Beck, an assistant professor of communications and media who directs the Clarkson program, said there are jobs for his students in the rapidly growing fields of design.
"The video game industry has now surpassed the film industry in making money. Just watch the commercials on TV. Whether it's for Coca-Cola or the History Channel, I'm willing to bet my lunch money that every other one uses digital technology," Mr. Beck said. "Even product design, everybody's doing that on the computer now."
Clarkson's digital arts and science curriculum consists of classes in communication and design as well as computer science, math and physics.
The exhibition will run like a film screening, with the students presenting and explaining their projects before playing them for the audience. It will take place at 9 p.m. Saturday in the Cheel Campus Center.
