Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Cogswell College, which offering a curriculum fusing digital art, engineering and entrepreneurship, is marking the one-year anniversary of its MediaWorks initiative. MediaWorks is a project-based learning course in Cogswell’s Digital Audio Technology (DAT) program. MediaWorks produces short audiovisual pieces in collaboration with students of the Digital Art and Animation (DAA) program, for various real-world businesses and organizations based in Silicon Valley and beyond.
Since its launch in Summer 2013, MediaWorks students have developed nine audiovisual pieces, including logo animations, branding pieces, promotional videos, PSAs and other corporate communications media for a number of companies and organizations. Completed projects to date include a product presentation film for Panasonic, original sound design for a Panasonic product, a PR/communication film for ALearn, a corporate logo film for Argus Insights, and a promotional video for Redux Labs. MediaWorks students have also created a logo film for Cogswell College, as well as in-house agency logo animations for the MediaWorks program itself.
“Cogswell’s MediaWorks students created a very powerful minute,” said Kathryn Hanson, CEO and co-founder of ALearn. “With only 46 percent of California students qualified to enter the university system, this production dramatically illustrated the problem we have with education in California, and how ALearn works to address the challenges that minority youth face.”
Celebrating the first anniversary of this initiative, Julius Dobos, lecturer and director of the audio and music program for Cogswell MediaWorks, said: “We are very proud of our MediaWorks program, which provides a ‘real-life client’ working experience to a diverse group of students. These students take part in the entire process, from the first client meeting, through formulating a creative brief and concepts, pitching, production and revisions, to the final delivery – all under tight deadlines.”
“One of my biggest challenges has been to rein in the intense creativity of my students in order to maintain an appropriate scope relative to our deadlines,” said Anthony Dias, instructor of digital audio technology and visual director for Cogswell MediaWorks. “We have benefited tremendously from interacting with real clients and collaborating with our Audio counterparts. These are real-world activities that most other students never have a chance to experience until after they have graduated. The MediaWorks program gives our students a real leg-up in this competitive and dynamic industry.”
Completed films produced by MediaWorks are available to students for immediate use in their portfolios. Currently, MediaWorks is producing audiovisual pieces for a Prairie Rainbow Company/Cogswell Game Studio joint venture, and for Bookshare, a global literacy initiative.
