Overview: What We Are Looking For

Your portfolio is an opportunity to explore digital culture through creative experimentation. We are looking for:

✅ Originality & Depth – Thoughtful, creative engagement with digital culture themes relevant to each element, as discussed in the lecture and readings.
✅ Effective Reflections – Clear, well-reasoned analysis incorporating theoretical concepts from the lecture, required readings, and recommended readings.

This is about thinking critically, experimenting with new tools, and making connections between digital culture concepts and creative practice.

Getting Started: Choosing Your Platform

Your portfolio will be hosted on either Notion or Canva - two industry-standard platforms used widely in the corporate world, from content creation to project management. Experiment with both and choose the one that best suits your creative workflow.

🔹 Notion

A powerful tool for organizing ideas, research, and multimedia content in a structured, customizable layout. Ideal for students who:
✔️ Prefer flexibility in structuring their portfolio
✔️ Want to embed various content types (text, images, videos, links, etc.)
✔️ Enjoy working in a minimalist, professional workspace

🔗Get Started with Notion I Beginner Portfolio Guide 1 I Beginner Portfolio Guide 2 I Notion Portfolio Guide I Notion Portfolio Templates

🔹 Canva

A user-friendly design platform that allows you to create visually compelling portfolios with drag-and-drop tools. Ideal for students who:
✔️ Prefer a visual storytelling approach
✔️ Want to use ready-made templates
✔️ Need an intuitive way to design media-rich pages

🔗Get Started with Canva I Canva Portfolio Site Builder I Canva Portfolio templates, and tips I Beginner Portfolio Guide 1 I Beginner Portfolio Guide 2

How to Approach Each Element: A Thoughtful Process

The best way to begin working on each element is:
1️⃣ Engage with the Lecture & Readings – Take notes, reflect, and discuss in tutorials.
2️⃣ Extract a High-Level Concept – Identify a core idea that stands out to you.
3️⃣ Frame it as a Problem to Solve – How can you express or problematize this concept using different digital tools?
4️⃣ Experiment with Tools & AI Models – Explore creative possibilities (see the AI Guide for inspiration).
5️⃣ Refine & Iterate – Work on your element, get feedback, and make improvements.

📌 Example: High-Level Concept Approach
🔹 Algorithms – Instead of just defining what an algorithm is, you might explore:

The hidden bias in recommendation algorithms
The "black box" effect of AI decision-making
A visual representation of how an algorithm personalizes content

🔹 Artificial Intelligence – You could:

Create an AI-generated artwork that reflects algorithmic creativity
Use AI tools to manipulate sound, text, or video and critique their limitations
Explore AI-generated storytelling and the ethics of authorship

Tutorials: A Space for Experimentation

💡 Tutorials are designed to help you get started - they provide exercises, ideas, and discussions to spark inspiration.
⚡ Treat them as a starting point, not a final product - your portfolio should expand beyond tutorial activities.
📌 We do NOT expect you to create your portfolio elements in class - use this time to test, explore, and refine your approach.

Portfolio Elements: Ideas to Get You Started

These are just suggestions - you have complete creative freedom in how you approach each element and apply skills/experience you have acquired from the tutorials!

📌 Images

🔹 Create an AI-generated image and manipulate it with editing tools.
🔹 Remix an image using glitch effects to reflect the distortion of digital reality or the aesthetics of glitch.
🔹 Generate and compare real-world vs. AI-generated photography - how does AI alter perception?

📌 Text

🔹 Experiment with AI-generated storytelling - where does the AI fail?
🔹 Create a collaborative piece where you and an AI co-write a short story.
🔹 Analyze how AI-generated text influences misinformation and bias.

📌 Sound

🔹 Compose an AI-generated music piece, then modify it manually.
🔹 Create a soundscape of an imagined digital world - how would the metaverse sound?
🔹 Explore voice cloning technology and discuss its ethical implications.

📌 Video

🔹 Use AI video tools to create a hyperreal or surreal short clip.
🔹 Remix existing footage with AI-generated elements - how does it change meaning?
🔹 Compare a human-edited vs. AI-edited video sequence.

📌 Communication

🔹 Explore the impact of digital communication tools on human interaction.
🔹 Conduct a Personal Communication Audit.
🔹 Test an AI chatbot - how does it handle nuanced conversation?

📌 Play

🔹 Design a choose-your-own-adventure narrative using AI-generated text.
🔹 Experiment with game mechanics to express a concept (e.g., social media addiction).
🔹 Analyze the role of randomness in digital play - AI-generated vs. human-designed games.

📌 Algorithms

🔹 Map out a visual representation of how an algorithm personalizes your content feed.
🔹 Test an AI model to discover its hidden alignment envelope - does it reflect bias? Can you trick it?
🔹 Document a week of algorithmic recommendations in your media consumption.

📌 Artificial Intelligence

🔹 Create a deepfake - what ethical concerns arise?
🔹 Train an image-generation AI model to create your own Low Rank Adaptation (LoRA) - how does it learn?
🔹 Explore AI collaborations vs. AI-generated art - where is the boundary?

📌 Platforms

🔹 Analyze how a social media platform structures engagement.
🔹 Create a mashup of different platform aesthetics - what does it reveal?
🔹 Compare the UX design of emerging vs. established platforms.

📌 Metaverse

🔹 Design a concept image of a metaverse world - how does it extend reality?
🔹 Explore the ethical implications of virtual identity and ownership.
🔹 Compare AI-generated vs. human-created virtual spaces.

Creative Freedom & Iteration (with a Bit of Restrictions)

⚠️ For each element, you will create specific types of outputs. Some elements naturally align with certain output formats. For example, you will likely create images for the "Images" element and a sound clip for the "Sound" element. However, for other elements, the type of output may vary. For instance, for the "Play" element, you might create images, sound clips, or even a video.

For every element, below are the restrictions depending on the type of output:

Images: You can submit up to 3 images.
Text: You can submit up to 150 words (your reflection is in addition to that).
Video: You can submit up to a 1-minute video.
Sound: You can submit up to a 30-second sound clip.

Using AI & Creative Commons Content

✅ Creative Commons & Ethical AI Use – Always ensure that the media you use is either original, AI-generated, or properly licensed for reuse. If incorporating external images, videos, or sounds, check that they are Creative Commons (CC) licensed or royalty-free. You can find CC-licensed content at:

🔗 Creative Commons Search– A great resource for finding freely available images, videos, and sounds.

🔗 Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay – Free-to-use high-quality images.

🔗 Freesound – A collection of CC-licensed sounds and music samples.

🔗 Openverse – A powerful search tool for CC-licensed media.

⚠️ Important: AI-generated media can sometimes include elements that resemble copyrighted works. Always check your outputs and avoid submitting content that could infringe on copyright or intellectual property laws.

Final Submission: What You Need to Do

✅ Make sure your portfolio is live and accessible – We will review it online.
✅ Download it and upload a PDF version – This ensures we have a record of your work.
✅ Submit your AI Use Form – Document all tools, prompts, and processes.
✅ Ensure all sources are cited (APA 7th) – This applies to academic and industry sources.

📅 Deadline: Sunday, 1 June 2025

Final Tips: How to Succeed

⭐ Be experimental – Try new tools, push creative boundaries.
⭐ Think critically – Your reflections matter just as much as the elements.
⭐ Iterate and refine – Take feedback, experiment, and improve.
⭐ Have fun! – This is your opportunity to play, explore, and create.

🚀 We can’t wait to see what you come up with!