Home: Creative Arts Subject Guide: Digital media and design

Resources for Digital media and design

Featured eBooks

Search for books/eBooks using Library Search. Your Course Readings list will also have mandatory and recommended texts that will help you with your research.

See here for details on borrowing, requesting digitized chapters scans, renewing or finding out how to join other university libraries near to you.

The Aesthetics of Imagination in Design by Mads Nygaard Folkmann
ISBN: 9780262313766

Publication Date: 2013

In The Aesthetics of Imagination in Design, Mads Folkmann investigates design in both material and immaterial terms. Design objects, Folkmann argues, will always be dual phenomena--material and immaterial, sensual and conceptual, actual and possible. Drawing on formal theories of aesthetics and the phenomenology of imagination, he seeks to answer fundamental questions about what design is and how it works that are often ignored in academic research. Folkmann considers three conditions in design: the possible, the aesthetic, and the imagination.
Beginner's Guide to ZBrush by 3dtotal Publishing (Editor)
ISBN: 9781909414501

Publication Date: 2017

The ability to create concepts in 3D is an increasingly valuable skill for many creators, with more and more artists and students picking up Pixologic's ZBrush software every day. ZBrush's sculptural approach to 3D modeling almost resembles real clay, making it the first choice for artists seeking an intuitive way to make digital models. Beginner's Guide to ZBrush is the essential how-to for starting out in this powerful software, with professional artists offering detailed instructions and tutorials that explain ZBrush's core tools, techniques, and most accessible workflows.
Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016 by Todd Palamar
ISBN: 9781119059851

Publication Date: 2015

Go from 'beginner' to 'expert' with this professional, tutorial-based guide to Maya 2016 Mastering Autodesk Maya 2016 is your professional hands-on coverage to getting the most out of Maya. If you already know the basics of Maya, this book is your ticket to full coverage of all Maya 2016's latest features, and showcases the tools and methods used in real-world 3D animation and visual effects. From modeling, texturing, animation, and effects to high-level techniques for film, television, games, and more.
Motion Design Toolkit by Austin Shaw; John Colette
ISBN: 9781000770179

Publication Date: 2022

This book offers a comprehensive overview of techniques, processes, and professional practices in the area of Motion Design, from fundamental building blocks of organizing time and space in production to managing workflow, budgets, and client relationships. The authors provide insight into the production process from concept through execution in areas as diverse as social media to large-scale projection mapping for events and festivals. Readers will learn through real-world examples, case studies, and interviews how to effectively use their skills in various areas of Motion Design. Industry professionals provide unique perspectives on different areas of Motion Design while showcasing their outstanding and inspiring work throughout.

Featured Journals

Identify key journals in your area of research by selecting Journal Title Search from the Library Advanced Search page.

Find research articles from the most prominent journals in your field by narrowing down your results by selecting the Peer Reviewed filter option on the left side of your results.

Some peer reviewed journals are listed below.

E-Learning and Digital Media is an interdisciplinary international journal that publishes high-quality double-peer reviewed research on emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, and their applications in various fields such as accounting, business, management, leadership, education, psychology, sociology, economics, and politics.

The International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media provides research that interface of new media technologies and performance. It acts as a forum for critical scholarship, innovative practice, and creative pedagogy, addressing themes that may be domain-specific (e.g. theatre, dance, music, live art, computer science) or situated at the convergence of two or more disciplines.

Animation Studies is the Society for Animation Studies’ double-blind peer-reviewed online journal. It is devoted to the history, theory, aesthetics and practice of animated media.

Computer Animation & Virtual Worlds is the first journal to address this global thematic of the Virtual Worlds. This thematic has been subdivided into 6 areas: Computer animation; Embodied agents; Virtual Environments; Augmented Reality; Virtual Life and Visualization.

Featured databases

See here for a list of highly relevant IT related databases.

See here for list of databases relevant to the creative and visual arts.

Some key resources include:

ACM Digital Library (Association for Computing Machinery) provides access to information related to computing and information technology, and their application in a variety of fields.

AustLit contains a wide range of Australian literature and storytelling, with biographical and bibliographical information. It includes writing for the theatre, biographical and travel writing, writing for film and television, criticism and reviews.

EBSCOhost Megafile ultimate. is a suite of databases contains information in most subject areas taught at UniSQ including applied science and technology. As well as providing journal article citation details and abstracts descriptions, many articles have full-text links.

ScienceDirect provides access to scientific and technical and medical research from over 2,500 journals and 33,000 books.

Scopus is an abstract and citation database which provides brief descriptions of articles from over 16,500 titles from more than 4,000 international publishers in the field of science and IT.

Web of Science is the world’s leading scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities and examine proceedings of international conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions.

Organisations and tools

Web based organisations and tools available to support professionals working in the digital media and design space.

Art Assets for Game Developers This page contains links to art assets for game developers including (2D) Graphics, Sound, Music, Models, Textures, Animation, Fonts, Icons and Text.

Blender is a free open source 3D CG software platform. It includes contributions to Blender Modules, technical and user documentation design, code, testing and QA, demo files.

BCS (British Computer Society) With over 70,000 members in 150 countries, and a wider community of business leaders, educators, practitioners and policy-makers all committed to our mission. As a charity with a royal charter, our agenda is to lead the IT industry through its ethical challenges, to support the people who work in the industry, and to make IT good for society.

IGDA (The International Game Developers Association) is the world’s largest nonprofit membership organisation serving all individuals who create games. For students or professional game developers, with a global reach, IGDA supports indie or AAA studio based developers working on any platform from tabletop to VR. It includes a wide range of research and support material through a Resource Library.

File:Virtuality VR Dactyl Nightmare Arcade Game.jpg. (2025, February 18). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved August 13, 2025, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Virtuality_VR_Dactyl_Nightmare_Arcade_Game.jpg&oldid=999931690.

Animation and Game Design

Designing in the 2D, 3D and virtual environments requires creativity to come up with interesting ideas and designs. Good technical skills are important to use design software effectively and an understanding shapes, colours, and layout to make things look appealing and functional.

Australian professional organisations

Some organisations that support the designer include:

DIA (Design Institute of Australia) supports Graphic designers, Visual communicators and Digital media designers as design professionals through proessional development, networking and advocacy.
Australian Design Alliance (AdA) is an alliance between the peak professional organisations representing designers across all aspects of Australia’s design industry. The mission is to achieve more significant advancement, recognition and valuing of Australian Design by governments, business and the broader community by ‘Building the value of Australian Design through a collective and collaborative voice!’
Australian Production Design Guild (APDG) represents designers and their associates in screen, live performance,events and digital production across Australia. APDG recognises and supports excellence in design through awards, mentoring and accreditation.

Locate items

Search the library for good resources to support the development of good design skills.

A simple key word in Library Search for:

Design AND Digital Media

may result in titles like this:

Digital Design by Stephen Eskilson
ISBN: 9780691253244

Publication Date: 2023

A groundbreaking history of digital design from the nineteenth century to today Digital design has emerged as perhaps the most dynamic force in society, occupying a fluid, experimental space where product design intersects with art, film, business, engineering, theater, music, and artificial intelligence. This book covers topics ranging from graphic and product design to type, web design, architecture, data visualization, and virtual reality.
Perspectives on Design and Digital Communication by Nuno Martins (Editor); Daniel Brandão (Editor); Daniel Raposo (Editor)
ISBN: 9783030496463

Publication Date: 2020

This book shares new research findings and practical lessons learned that will foster advances in digital design, communication design, web, multimedia and motion design, graphic design and branding, and other related areas. The book offers a timely guide and a source of inspiration for designers of all kinds (Graphic, Digital, Web, UI & UX Design and Social Media), for researchers, advertisers, artists, entrepreneurs, and brand or corporate communication managers, and for teachers and advanced students.
Digital Transformation in Design by Laura S. Scherling (Editor)
ISBN: 9783839471425

Publication Date: 2024

What does it take to create innovative tech-savvy designs that are usable, appealing, and good for society? The contributions to this volume introduce contemporary research on the digitization and »datafication« of products, exploring topics like user experience, artificial intelligence, and virtual environments in design. Coming from varied backgrounds in product design, interaction design, service design, game design, architecture, and graphic design, they emphasize that digital transformation is not just a technical process, but also a social and learning process that fundamentally changes the way we understand information.
Design Manual (3rd ed.) by David Whitbread
Call Number: 686.2 Whi

ISBN: 9780646863122

Publication Date: 2023

The design manual provides a comprehensive reference for professionals studying or working in graphic design, digital design, and traditional publishing. It provides essential information on conceptual approaches to design projects, planning and project development techniques for web, preparing design files for professional print, and more.

A successful digital media developer should enhance performance by ensuring accessibility through WCAG compliance and inclusive interaction design across browsers and devices. Staying informed about digital trends such as AI-driven media and real-time rendering, understanding user behaviour within digital environments, adhering to licensing and copyright regulations, and collaborating effectively within Agile development cycles that incorporate client feedback are essential.

Organisations and tools for the developer

GitHub is the complete developer platform to build, scale, and deliver secure software. GitHub Education bridges the gap between coding education and a tech career, and is accessible to everyone globally at no cost.

Godot Engine is an open-source project that provides a free suite of tools and educational materials around the Godot Engine. It provides a platform for creating 3D games, models and moves, as well as 2D workflows for games and apps.

Krita is a free and open source painting platform. It is the full-featured free digital painting studio for artists who want to create professional work from start to end. It is used by comic book artists, illustrators, concept artists, matte and texture painters and in the digital VFX industry. It has several features that are unique or a first among free software painting applications: support for colourspaces other than RGB, like CMYK, support for HDR painting, painting assistants, a perspective grid.

Locate items

Search the library for good resources to support the development of good developer skills.

A simple key word in Library Search for:

game develop*

may result in titles like this:

Programming Basics : Getting Started with Java, C#, and Python by Ciesla, Robert
ISBN: 9781484272862

Publication Date: 2021

Programming Basics offers the fundamentals of what it's like to function in today's world from the perspective of a programmer. The approach is highly practical with numerous small code listings for C#, Java, and Python included. The reigning programming paradigm of object-oriented programming (OOP) is a part of all of these languages – and its basics are explained in this book as well.
Unity Cookbook by Christopher Coutinho
ISBN: 9798868808524

Publication Date: 2024

Master the intricacies of Unity's character controllers with a deep dive into Unity's Starter Assets. This book is an essential resource for game developers looking to elevate their skills in Unity game development, offering detailed insights and practical examples to help you create complete, sophisticated, high-performance systems.
Game Backend Development by Balint Bors
ISBN: 9781484289099

Publication Date: 2023

Up your game developer skills by learning game backend development with Microsoft Azure and PlayFab. Robust backend infrastructure support is essential for all modern games. Implementing game backend features became easier with the emergence of GBaaS (Game Backend-as-a-Service) providers and the advance of the cloud.

Technical knowledge of digital tools and platforms will help you create and present your stories effectively. Understanding your target audience allows you to tailor your message for better impact. Being able to think visually helps in designing appealing visuals that support your story.

Locate items

Search the library for good resources to support the development of good scriptwriting or scene writing skills.

A simple key word in Library Search for:

(scriptwriting OR scene OR narrat*) AND (digital OR gam*)

will result in titles like this:

The Authoring Problem by Charlie Hargood (Editor); Alex Mitchell (Editor); Ulrike Spierling (Editor); David E. Millard (Editor)
ISBN: 9783031052132

Publication Date: 2023

Authoring, its tools, processes, and design challenges are key issues for the Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN) research community. The complexity of IDN authoring, often involving stories co-created by procedures and user interaction, creates confusion for tool developers and raises barriers for new authors. This book examines these issues from both the tool designer and the author's perspective, discusses the poetics of IDN and how that can be used to design authoring tools, explores diverse forms of IDN and their demands, and investigates the challenges around conducting research on IDN authoring.
Playing at Narratology by Daniel Punday
ISBN: 9780814214084

Publication Date: 2019

In Playing at Narratology, Daniel Punday bridges the worlds of digital media studies and narrative studies by arguing that digital media allows us to see unresolved tensions, ambiguities, and gaps in core narrative concepts. Rather than developing new terms to account for web-based storytelling, Punday uses established narrative forms to better understand how digital media exposes faulty gaps in narrative theory. Punday's, Playing at Narratology; shows that artists, video game developers, and narrative theorists are ultimately playing the same game; Returning to terms such as narrator, setting, event, character, and world.
Digital Storytelling by Sabah, Senay (Editor)
ISBN: 9781837687794

Publication Date: 2023

Storytelling is a form of communication that has been present throughout a substantial span of human history. The advent of emerging technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality, has significantly transformed the conventional narrative in the realm of digital storytelling. Currently, this technology has the potential to be utilised in various application domains spanning multiple fields of study.

Knowing how to use software tools for editing and creating audio is important, like programs for recording, mixing, and adding effects. Technical skills, like understanding how sound works and how to troubleshoot issues, are also necessary. A video game designer uses a computer program to add background music, sound effects for footsteps, and explosion sounds to their game. They need to understand how to select the right sounds, edit their timing, and make sure they fit well with the visuals to create an immersive experience for players.

Open source SFX editing tools

Audacity is an easy-to-use, multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. Audacity is free, open source software.
Linux MultiMedia Studio (LMMS) is a 100% free, open source, community-driven project. It is a full-featured digital audio workstation (DAW) for composing, sequencing, and producing music and sound effects.
SFXR / Bfxr is a simple tool for creating retro-style sound effects, popular for game development and pixel-art projects.

Locate items

Search the library for good resources to support the development of SFX and audio skills.

A simple key word in Library Search for:

gam* AND ("sound effects" OR mastering)

may result in titles like this:

Mastering in Music by John Paul Braddock (Editor); Russ Hepworth-Sawyer (Editor); Jay Hodgson (Editor); Rob Toulson (Editor); Matt Shelvock (Editor)
ISBN: 0429276591

Publication Date: 2020

Mastering in Music is a cutting-edge edited collection that offers twenty perspectives on the contexts and process of mastering. This book collects the perspectives of both academics and professionals to discuss recent developments in the field, such as mastering for VR and high resolution mastering, alongside crucial perspectives on fundamental skills, such as the business of mastering, equipment design and audio processing.
Music - Media - History by Matej Santi (Editor); Elias Berner (Editor)
ISBN: 3839451450

Publication Date: 2021

Music and sound shape the emotional content of audio-visual media and carry different meanings. This volume considers audio-visual material as a primary source for historiography. By analyzing how the same sounds are used in different media contexts at different times, the contributors intend to challenge the linear perspective of (music) history based on canonic authority.
Playing with Sound by Karen Collins
ISBN: 9780262018678

Publication Date: 2013

An examination of the player's experience of sound in video games and the many ways that players interact with the sonic elements in games. In Playing with Sound, Karen Collins examines video game sound from the player's perspective. She explores the many ways that players interact with a game's sonic aspects--which include not only music but also sound effects, ambient sound, dialogue, and interface sounds--both within and outside of the game.

You should be able to imagine how users will interact with your designs, and make sure that experience is easy, clear, and enjoyable. You also need to be good at solving problems, paying attention to details, and working well with others. Familiarity with tools for designing and testing digital products is important too. It's about knowing how to make digital experiences that are simple, useful, and appealing for users.

For example: A graphic designer working on a mobile app observes that users are struggling to find how to book a ticket. They interview some users, notice confusion with the button placement, and then redesign the interface to make the 'Book Now' button more prominent and easier to access. The new design results in more people completing their bookings, showing improved user experience (UX).

Open source tools

Figma is a cloud-based UI/UX design and prototyping tool with real-time collaboration. There is a free plan for individuals and small teams. It is a single tool that allows collaboration in one shared file between designers, developers, copyrighters and other stakeholders.
Penpot is a fully open-source design and prototyping platform aimed at UX/UI teams, supporting vector design and interactive prototypes.
Wireflow is an open-source tool for creating user flow diagrams and wireframes quickly and visually.

Locate items

Search the library for good resources to support the development of good UX design skills.

A simple key word in Library Search for:

("user experience" OR UX) and Design

may result in titles like this:

A Guide to UX Design and Development by Tom Green; Joseph Labrecque
ISBN: 9781484295755

Publication Date: 2023

Gain a thorough understanding of the two pillars of any User Experience project: the mission and the process. The mission is to keep the user in mind at each step or milestone as the developer progresses through the project. The process is how that mission is accomplished through collaboration and the use of research, design and development technologies. This book walks you through a developer's journey through the UX process, from start to finish.
UX Design with Figma by Tom Green; Kevin Brandon
ISBN: 9798868803239

Publication Date: 2024

Maximize Figma's arsenal of tools and plugins within a team-based collaborative environment and accelerate your company's decision making. This book will show you where Figma fits into the user experience (UX) design process from documentation to developer handoff. Since its release as a browser-based design tool in 2016, Figma has fast become the de facto UX Design tool for the industry mainly due to its accessibility and ease of use. As you move through the book you will learn where Figma fits in the UX process. For example, using FigJam (an online whiteboard) for brainstorming, and creating interactive prototypes for mobile devices, tablets, and web sites.
UX for XR by Cornel Hillmann
ISBN: 9781484270196

Publication Date: 2021

Extending traditional digital platforms to the new frontier of extended reality (XR) requires taking into account what best practices, new concepts, and conventions have been established and what learnings can be brought forward from case studies involving industry leaders. By looking at practical examples from the field of handheld AR breakthroughs, virtual reality (VR) success stories and experimental interaction concept of pioneering XR platforms, you'll see how it's possible to map out a framework of user experience (UX) guidelines to close in on opportunities and challenges that lay ahead. This book defines, identifies, and analyzes UX practices for XR environments and reviews the techniques and tools for prototyping and designing XR user interactions.

Referencing and citing difficult creative works

APA 7 referencing

APA 7 handles most common sources well, but digital media and design often involves less conventional materials. These can be tricky because they don’t always fit neatly into the standard categories of journal articles or books. Here are some of the trickier cases you might run into, along with notes on how APA 7 suggests handling them.

If the format doesn’t fit perfectly in APA 7, adapt the closest category and add clarifying brackets (e.g., [Digital portfolio], [AR filter]). APA 7 allows this flexibility for emerging digital sources.

See UniSQ APA 7 guide for assistance.

Digital art or online portfolios

Creators often share work on platforms like Behance, Dribbble, or personal websites without formal publication metadata.
See UniSQ APA7 Chapter 20 (artwork)

In text

(Surname, Year)

Example:

In Future cityscape (Lopez, 2021) …

Reference

Surname, A. or Username. (Year). Title of artwork [or Description if untitled] [Digital art]. Site name. URL.

Example:

Lopez, M. (2021). Future cityscape [Digital art]. Behance. https://www.behance.net/gallery/123456789

Interactive media (games, VR experiences, AR filters)

Games and interactive projects often involve multiple contributors (developers, studios, publishers).
Treat it as any other digital resource like a website, video, or other online content.
Make a note of any audiovisual material included in the post (e.g. photographs, videos) in square brackets after the title.
Use the developer or studio as the author, since individual contributors are usually not cited in APA for games.
See UniSQ APA 7 Chapter 5 Web and other electronic media for guidance

In text

(Company name, Year)

Example:

In Journey (Thatgamecompany, 2012)…

Reference

Developer. / Studio./ Author, A. (release Year). Title of media (Version x.x) [Video game]. Publisher/ Website Name. URL

Example:

Thatgamecompany. (2012). Journey [Video game]. Sony Computer Entertainment.

Memes, GIFs and ephemeral media

No stable authorship, rapidly changing content, often user-generated.
Treat as social media content
Make a note of any audiovisual material included in the post (e.g. photographs, videos) in square brackets after the title.
If the creator’s real name is known, list it first in the reference and cite that instead. Otherwise, use the handle.
See UniSQ APA 7 Chapter 7 Social media and blogs for guidance

In text

(Surname or Handle, Year)

Example:

(@graphicdesignhumor, 2022)

Reference

Surname, Initial or Username (if available). (Year, Month Day). Description [Format]. Platform. URL

Example:

@graphicdesignhumor. (2022, September 14). When the client says "make the logo bigger." [Meme]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/xyz123

Creative Arts Subject Guide

Contact Info

Library contact

Resources for Digital media and design

Featured eBooks

Featured Journals

Featured databases

Organisations and tools

Animation and Game Design

Australian professional organisations

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Organisations and tools for the developer

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Open source SFX editing tools

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Open source tools

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Referencing and citing difficult creative works

APA 7 referencing