Summer enrolment now open at UCLA!
Learn more about classes in Design Media Arts!
We offer both in-person and virtual classes with no prerequisites required.
These classes are normally restricted to DMA majors so summer classes are a great way to experience all we have to offer!
-For more information please visit-
XDMA Summer 26: Virtual ClassesX
DESMA 7 - Critical Game Culture
Introduction to critical issues in the culture and discourse of games. Consideration of games and game culture in relation to contemporary social issues such as economics and class, environment, violence, identity, and cross-cultural representation. Weekly focus on a different subject or topic related to games and games culture, combining reading, lecture, discussion, hands-on gameplay, and written assignments.
DESMA 8 - Media Histories
Overview of optical media and aesthetic movements covering past two centuries: photography and industrialization/Romanticism (1850 to 1900), cinema and modernism (1900 to 1950), television and postmodernism (1950 to 2000), and digital media and unimodernism (2000 to 2050). How such movements can inform generative work and how understanding these media becomes essential in emerging era of digital humanities.
DESMA 9 - Art, Science, and Technology
Exploration and survey of cultural impact of scientific and cultural innovations, technology-driven art inspired by science, and art/science collaborative projects. Introduction to vast array of cutting-edge research taking place on campus; scientific guest lecturers. Emphasis on art projects that use technology and respond to new scientific concepts.
XDMA Summer 26: In-Person ClassesX
DESMA 21 - Digital Image
Foundation studio course that introduces the essential concepts for image making as a foundation for all visual arts and design practices. Students explore graphic design, color theory, software, and drawing as fundamental tools for visual language and personal expression in digital spheres.
DESMA 25 - Typography
Foundation studio course focused on three typographic basics: letter, text, and grid. Introduction to the fundamentals of typography. Assignments designed to develop understanding of form, scale, and shape of letters as single elements and as texture in layout.
DESMA 28 - Interactivity
Foundation studio course introducing coding within the visual arts with a focus on interactivity. Considers interactions with other people and the environment as the starting point for understanding interactions with code.
DESMA 131 - Three-Dimensional Modeling and Motion
Foundation studio course with a focus on the principles of 3D modeling including clean topology and edge flow design, non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS) modeling, UV map and texturing methods, lighting basics, and rendering techniques. Students develop thoughtful projects and their own style in 3D modeling software.
DESMA 140 - Word + Image
Focus on the relationship of type to content, image, and materials. Acquisition of knowledge of and sensitivity to typography in context of complex communication problems in print and digital media.
DESMA 141 - Web Design and User Interface and Experience
Online interaction today focuses on information through living, social platforms. Study goes beyond an average user’s perspective to critically examine the web through historical, political, and social lenses. Students are encouraged to holistically approach the web and its constituent code as a living kit of parts to be harnessed in novel and innovative ways. Students are trained to research, analyze, prototype, and develop design concepts for digital media for distinct social and cultural contexts.
DESMA 150 - Professional Practices
Exploration of issues in the business side of design media arts careers—as a freelancer, full-time staffer, or one’s own studio practice. Topics include understanding common studio structures and roles, developing studio credentials, billing and booking practices, proposal and contract writing, pricing models, and copyright and other legal matters.
DESMA 160 - Special Topics (Photography)
Selected topics in design and media arts explored through a variety of approaches that may include projects, readings, discussion, research papers, and oral presentations.
DESMA 10 - Design Culture
Understanding the design process, with emphasis on the development of visual language; study of historic, scientific, technological, economic, and cultural factors influencing design in physical environments.