Teaching Transmedia Practice in a Design School

Abstract

Transmedia design is a response to the contemporary mediascape and an important element of communication curricula. It is a combination of techniques derived from Dena’s transmedia practice framework (2009), and the research through design approach (Frankel & Racine, 2010; Frayling, 1993) that uses workshops and design activities as a source of knowledge. The development of transmedia practice and the planning and distribution of narrative worlds across multiple channels has followed a ‘learning by doing’ approach. This chapter will discuss the Plug Social TV experience as an example of design methodology for conceiving transmedia communication strategies. We will present the concept of transmedia design as a fusion of the evolving practices of transmedia story production and the design approach as taught in design schools worldwide. We also present a refined approach for teaching transmedia design that includes the theory, process, and tools for design courses and workshops. Action research and in-field education activities for this project, on and off the School of Design’s campus of Politecnico di Milano, included multiple participants and perspectives. Design students, design researchers, citizens, and local associations met each other in academic or urban contexts for developing social dialogue and collaboration, weaving factual and fictional worlds.