“New Media Capstone students work together to build a new media solution that addresses a specific client problem. Students call upon all of the skills gained throughout their certificate journey to develop, design, and debut these projects at the end of the semester.”
nmi.cool/nmc
For my final course in the New Media Certificate, my team and I were assigned a client to work with. We were paired with Laura Hall, a Landscape Architect currently working at Oconee River Land Trust, a local land conservation non-profit. She is also the owner of Piedmont Preserve, 50-acres of land located in Athens, Georgia. The land is home to Wild Earth Camp, a spring and summer camp that Laura runs.
Laura wanted our team to build a website for Wild Earth Camp since a website for the camp was nonexistent before working with us. She specifically asked us to create a sign-up page that would allow parents to easily sign their kids up for camp, a resource page with books she recommends and an interactive map, and a staff page.
As the creative director of our team, I was responsible for the visual identity of the website. I designed the logos for Wild Earth Camp and put together a brand guide that included a color palette and typography. Laura mentioned that Wild Earth Camp utilizes Coyote Teaching, a form of learning to live by example, with the kids during camp, and she wanted to incorporate that somehow in the logo. She showed us some sketches with ideas we had for the logo, and I used that as inspiration when designing the logo.
I also was responsible for creating the trailer video for our project. My teammate, Savanna Smith, wrote the script for the trailer, and I filmed and edited it.
This course taught me what it’s like to work on real-life projects with a group for a client from start to finish. It was amazing working alongside my team and seeing how much the visual identity and website for Wild Earth Camp developed throughout the semester when we started with nothing.
Capstone also taught me how to be more comfortable with public speaking. Throughout the course, we had various checkpoints where we had to present our work. Because we had to do 5-minute presentations about 4 times throughout the semester, I became more comfortable with speaking in front of a crowd.
Overall, I really enjoyed the New Media Capstone course. Working with our client, Laura, to build her a website that she will use for her business was very rewarding and satisfying. To view our project website that shows each checkpoint deliverable, click the link below.