Red River College: upwardly mobile.

Winnipeg designers, you’ve got some catching/keeping up to do. Fast.

Red River’s Creative Communications students are super-big into mobile technology this year. Smartphones and iPads are now standard gear in Cre Comm, & students are learning to create content, design for and market on the mobile web.

So what’s the state of mobile education in Winnipeg? I chat with: Advertising & PR instructor Kenton Larsen about the new mobile gear requirements for RRC creative kids;  iPad-using RRC ad major Jeremy Jack; and Kevin Glasier,  interactive producer at Tactica Interactive (& Cre Comm grad) about the unique characteristics of mobile design.

Kenton Larson: Giving our grads a competitive advantage

Erica Glasier: So, all Cre Comm students need an iPad this year?

Kenton Larson: First-year students all require a mobile device, the least expensive of which is an iPod touch (but a smart phone is what most of them have). Advertising majors in Cre Comm are sharing iPads, which was the result of me applying for a Program Innovation fund.

EG: Good call. What made you decide that this was a vital piece of technology for students to learn with?

KL: The reason behind this move is we want our grads to have a competitive advantage when they apply for jobs, and – when they get hired – be tech-savvy when they come up with solutions to all kinds of communication and marketing problems. Our new grads’ best competitive advantage over “old veterans:” understanding how to use and harness new media and technology to benefit their client or employer.

EG: How is consuming media on an iPad a fundamentally different experience than just using the web (ie, why did you think they needed to see the digital world from this perspective)?

KL: As WIRED magazine points out, people don’t “live” on the traditional Web anymore, more and more they’re living in apps as powered by the Internet. My own use tells me that this is indeed true! I haven’t bought a hard copy book or magazine since I bought the iPad, but I’ve downloaded tons of them.

EG: What have the students done differently so far this year, in your opinion, that was facilitated by using the iPad?

KL: From my own perspective, it was important that they not treat the iPad as a museum piece, but actually use it every day in their classes and to communicate. So far, it looks like it’s working. Every week we share useful apps and discover new ways to use the iPads – this week we used it to storyboard ad ideas. Next week? Who knows!

Jeremy Jack: Loves his iPad

Erica Glasier: What do you think of your iPad?

Jeremy Jack: Our fancy new toys, I mean, learning apparatuses! I feel like the iPad has opened my eyes to the future of media. The networking, newspapers, magazines, movies, comics, television, games and the advertising that go with them. I am grateful that I am adopting this trend before it takes off. What I am learning from it will be extremely valuable to my future in communications.

Kevin Glasier: Top 5 Tips for Mobile Web Design

Guest mini-post by Kevin Glasier.

The mobile site must be a more streamlined user experience than the desktop version. You just don’t have the same screen real-estate and bandwidth luxuries. If you’re starting a new online presence I’d go so far as to say design the mobile site first and then move to the desktop version – this will ensure you’re focusing the high priority information first and creating concise user paths.

1. Know what your user wants from the site.
This is obvious and goes for any website, app or just a general design task. Mobile UI’s clutter fast so you have to focus on the essential elements of the site and ensure you’re delivering there first. Try to keep the site under 5 levels deep.

2. Know the devices you want to support.
Are you targeting smart phone (iPhones, Android, Blackberry), feature phones (Nokia Slide, Motorola RAZR), and/or other devices? Understand the capabilities of each category before you start.

3. Avoid Flash
The iPhone and Android do not natively support Flash at this time.

4. Don’t rely on imagery
Reducing the amount of imagery you use will reduce page size and download times which is important when the user wants information fast and they don’t want to burn through their data plans.

5. Use an elastic/fluid page layout
These layouts expand and contract with the width of the screen. It’s important on mobile sites because there no standard screen size across all devices. You can also give the site a specific look for each device by creating custom style sheets but that can turn into a lot of work fast.