DIGICOM

We Get Our Hands Dirty

Lebanon Valley College's Digital Communications department (DigiCOM) is a multi-disciplinary program based on theories and practices in user-centered design and usability. These core concepts serve as the foundation for skills that students develop and apply to multiple areas within the field.
 
While a lot of time is devoted to studying Digital Communications, the main goal of the department is to prepare you to be able to "do" Digital Communications. You will learn the thought process that goes into your projects, as well as the technical skills it takes to execute them. We get our hands dirty, delving into projects that result in actual, usable products. Many of our projects involve actual clients, and many students find themselves "doing" for others on their own time. When you graduate from the Digital Communications department, you will have the knowledge you need to go out and do whatever it is you want to do (and you'll have an awesome portfolio to prove it!)

Concentrations

DigiCOM students gain knowledge in multiple areas of the technological industry. After taking classes in the "Core" of Digital Communications, students get to pick from a variety of different disciplines to concentrate in. This gives students an area of expertise, giving some depth to the large breadth that the DigiCOM program offers. The concentrations are: Business Technology, Communications, Design, Programming, User Experience Design, and Videography.

Glossary

We speak geek, so here are some words you might not understand that we use.

Advertising: Encouraging or persuading an audience to take an action.
Branding: Branding is giving something a distinct look or trait so that people will remember it. Note: Does not involve metal and fire.
Breadth:The span of knowledge and scope learned in the major.
Business Concentration:Students learn how to apply innovations in technology to modern business. 
Client: a person you will be working for, and should be treated as your employer; much to Ritchie's enjoyment he can also make you be your own client- beware.
Communications Concentration:Teaches students how to effectively tell stories through print and digital media. 
Core:Classes dealing with infromation architechture, visual design, and usability that can be applied to any portion of the Digital Communications major.  
Design Concentration:Students develop skills and knowledge of design principles and of the Adobe Creative Suite programs such as Dreamweaver, InDesign, Photoshop,and Illustrator to develop hand drawn and digital work pieces. 
Digital Communications:A program that explores the principles and uses of digital media with a focus on usability and user experience.
E-Commerce:Buying and selling things on networks like the Internet.

Experience Design:Creating an interface or product specifically for a user's needs.
Information Architecture:The art and science of labelling and organizing things. 
Innovation:The development of new things. 
Iterative Design: Making, remaking, and remaking again. The process of creating and testing something multiple times to make a great product.
Marketing:Telling someone how cool something is. 
Medium (Media):A channel to store and communicate information.
Networking:Connections with other people.
Personae:A fake person created based on research. It can then be used to understand the motives of your target audience.
Portfolio:A collection of work.
Programming Concentration:Understanding database and application creation.  
Usability/Usability Testing:How an interface functions/testing how an interface functions.
User-Centered Design (Human Centered Design): Creating stuff for specific users so that they can do what they want really easily.
Web 2.0:All of the things that are awesome on the Internet: cat videos, Facebook, games, and anything else that uses user content and rich media.
Wireframes:Detailed page schematics, which are the visual representations of a website in the preliminary design phase.