Digital Media Events

THE 2009 DIGITAL MEDIA FESTIVAL AT UMASS DARTMOUTH

The Funny Hat Fashion Show

Friday, November 20, 2009, 7:30 PM
College of Visual & Performing Arts, Recital Hall Room 153 North Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Department of Design announces the Seventeenth Annual Digital Media Festival. The 2009 festival will bring a variety of student-created works from the Digital Media major at UMass Dartmouth to the big screen. Two and three-dimensional animation, still images and interactive web design from classes at all levels will be featured. Digital Media Professors Harvey Goldman, Mark Millstein, Scott Ahrens and Shawn Towne will introduce and discuss the work. The festival admission is free and open to the public, however seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. Visitors are advised to park in lot number 7 or 8 and follow the signs to the College of Visual and Performing Arts Recital Hall on the first floor.

This year's animated portion of the festival will be highlighted by the always popular three-dimensional animated character sequences from Professor Harvey Goldman's junior-level Digital Media class. Each year a new challenge is presented to the students. This year is no different, and the future animators' are proud to present “The Funny Hat Fashion Show”. Each unique animated character will walk the runway to show off a new hat design. The student projects are designed with the same software used in the professional animation industry. Their creations shown on this evening will have taken no less than one full semester to create, and each will likely be part of the portfolios that students are assembling for their postcollege job search. The program will conclude with a brief introduction to the “Teotihuacan: Virtual Reality Project” led by Professor Scott Ahrens.

Also included in the evening's festivities will be the announcement of the student winner of the Thomas and Carolyn Curry Scholarship, and the presentation of the 2009 Digital Media Distinguished Alumni Award. This year's recipient of the Digital Media Distinguished Alumni Award is Joan DeCollibus. Born in Framingham, Massachusetts, Joan earned her BA degree from UMass Dartmouth in 1981.

Joan DeCollibus, along with partners Glenn Johanson and David Willoughby, founded Boston-based Planet Interactive, one of the country's first interactive design studios in the early 1990's. At that time the Internet was still in its formative stage and computers were relatively primitive compared to what we know today. Planet Interactive secured important clients including the Smithsonian Institution, Lotus and Gillette to help them to grow, hire several UMass Dartmouth Design alumni, and eventually attract the attention of Jack Morton WorldWide, who purchased Planet Interactive less than ten years later.

One of the most highly regarded marketing and advertising agencies in the world, Jack Morton WorldWide has won industry awards including fifteen Emmys, nine US international Film and Video Awards, eleven Broadcast Design Awards and seven International Communication Awards. Joan is currently Senior Vice President, Director of Creative Services at Jack Morton Worldwide, in their New York City office.

Joan DeCollibus will be on campus to accept the award that evening, and perhaps deliver a few words of inspiration to future digital media designers. The following is from an interview with Joan DeCollibus recently conducted by Harvey Goldman, Professor of Digital Media at UMass Dartmouth.

Do you have any memories or reflections upon you time spent at UMass Dartmouth and how it may have influenced or helped you?

When I came to school at SMU there was no dorm space available. I moved to County Street in New Bedford and lived with my roommate, Sherry. We had the best of both worlds. We lived in a beautiful apartment in an old whaling captain's home and could access dorm life when we visited friends on campus. As it turned out, life off campus proved to be very interesting. We became involved with the rich immigrant community in New Bedford and learned how political organizing can change people's lives. Today I work for the All Stars Project in NYC and continue to develop my skills to organize youth and adults in the city's poorest communities in a performance based program that helps kids to grow and develop.

I also became an avid runner while living in New Bedford. I placed third in New Bedford's first half marathon... I think there were four women entered in the race. My advisor, Dietmar Winkler, asked me why he kept seeing me running on Drift Road when I had a project due. Running and now cycling have become my life long problem solving activities. Many a design solution comes off of a long run or ride.

What do enjoy most about your current position?

I really enjoy building a team that can do great creative work together. What is the most difficult or challenging part of your current position? Building a team that can do great creative work together!

Where do you draw your inspiration?

Living in NYC, I am tripping over inspiration on a short walk. The Internet inspires me in the content I can explore as well as the Internet itself and our ability to be infinitely connected to each other and the world.

What advice would you give young students interested in careers in design and media communications?

My advice to young people interested in careers in design and media is to treat everyone with respect: your clients, your mentors, your peers and the young people who follow in your footsteps.

For more information, or questions about the evening's festivities, please contact UMass Dartmouth Professor Harvey Goldman at (508) 999-8563. For driving directions or more information about the Digital Media program and the College of Visual and Performing Arts, please see the university web site at www.umassd.edu.

For directions and maps: http://www.umassd.edu/directions/maincampus.cfm