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Tainan Woman's College of Arts & Technology |
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Tainan Woman’s College of Arts & Technology has, in recent years, committed itself to the art of digital imagery. Doctor Lin Mei-yin, head of the Visual Communications Design Department, has emphasized the development of education in this field, teaching students professional design skills, and providing them with a grasp of the fundamentals of design. Cintiq LCD Interactive Pen displays now provide the college with a truly powerful digital interface.For students of digital art, the use of direct input tools is ideal, as they are relatively easy to use.These tools allow these students, who have already undergone artistic training, to really venture into the digital realm with outstanding results. This is one reason that the Visual Communications Department decided to introduce Wacom LCD Interactive Pen Displays into their digital education program.
Dr. Lin, the Department Head, admitted that there were quite a few difficulties on the road to introducing these Wacom LCD Interactive Pen Displays. One problem was that there were no clear precedents of using these tools in local schools, causing some reservations regarding their educational benefits. However, with wacom, Dr. Lin visited to the Tokyo University of Arts and Design. The visit made her ever more determined to bring Cintiq products into the college’s Visual Communications Design department. |
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Students' Creative Expressions Key to the Educational Process
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| Freshmen in the Visual Communications Department start by undergoing traditional training in drawing skills. In this training, stroke-by-stroke, they experience firsthand how images are created through a variety of visual elements, including space, color, and shading. In sophomore year, students begin the Design Presentation Techniques program. Besides working with traditional tools like pastels, watercolor, and markers, students also have a chance to begin studying presentation techniques in digital art, making use of the Cintiq LCD displays to obtain effects similar to that of drawing by hand.
Tainan Woman’s College of Arts & Technology is the first college in Taiwan to introduce Cintiq and to plan courses on Presentation Techniques in Digital Art. This program, which many thought would take years to show any results, has alreadyreceived quite an enthusiastic responsein a matter of just months, even from students in other departments and schools!
Professor Lin Zhi-hong, one of the main professors in this program and the recipient of a number of awards, told us that having students express their originality is the most important piece of the educational process. It is quite simple to use computer image processing to produce pictures, but it is much more important to make sure that nothing is holding back students’ creativity. The decision to use direct digital illustration tools is useful to this crucial aspect of development. |
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Students Have Responded Enthusiastically, and Learn Faster
The unique characters of these courses and Wacom’s equipment have created quite a buzz within the department. Students are jumping in front of one another to enroll these courses, filling classrooms to the brim. The school has been left with no choice but to order more equipment. Results have also been unexpectedly good, due to a combination of teachers’ professional teaching methods and students’ firm commitment. This type of educational environment, which really cannot be found anywhere else, has even caught the attention of fellow academic institutions.
Direct screen illustration methods, together with 512 extra-sensitive pressure levels, make these LCD displays the pride of all drawing tools. Users adjust quickly to the feel of the Grip Pen in their hands, and learning how to use the pen simply could not be more clear-cut. The interactive screen can also rotate a full 360 degrees, a key feature to support drawing. These units’ careful, ergonomic design is yet another reason that students can learn to use them so quickly. A number of students have also noted that working digitally actually reducethe costs for them in terms of tools and materials, when compared with traditional illustration approaches. |
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Wrap-up Presentation for the 2003 Initiative to Assist the Advancement of Technical and Vocational Educational Institutions' Distinctive Characteristics |
Dr. Lin, the departmental head, gave high marks to these students’ accomplishments, and the works presented by students at the wrap-up presentation held by the department for the“2004 Initiative to Assist the Advancement of Technical and Vocational Educational Institutions’ Distinctive Characteristics” served as clear evidence of their growth. Each work was composed of two paintings: the one on the bottom being a traditional hand-drawn work, and the one on the top being a similar work created using Wacom Cintiq LCD Interactive Pen Displays. Surveying their entire development process, viewers are able to plainly see progress in students’ design skills.These skills are sure to eventually serve as these students’ passes to the job market one day.
Tainan Woman’s College of Arts & Technology
http://www.twcat.edu.tw
529 Chung- Cheng Road, YungKangCity, Tainan, Taiwan ROC |
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