8.1 Multimedia Technology Introduction
“Multimedia is the use of a variety of media to entertain or to communicate information， an idea or a concept.”
We see multimedia as a system of communication. A system of communicating ideas， marketing strategies， corporate goals， education or information， be it historical or up to the minute news. We also see multimedia as a platform for entertainment， interactivity and communications.
We see Multimedia development as the use of or choice from， a bank of many different possible communication Medias， technologies and delivery platforms.
Communication medias such as color， text， images， graphics， music， sound， narrations， video， 2d animation， 3d animation， are all available to the multimedia developer.
To us， a Multimedia designer/developer can work with all of these media and can design， build and implement strategies that make effective use of the media and the technology used to produce and deliver the final systems.
What is Graphic Design？
The graphic designer takes a message and communicates it visually； be it an idea， a concept， or product benefits.
The graphic designer must be an artistic and highly perceptive person capable of analyzing a situation swiftly and accurately， putting visual ideas into practical form. He or she must be able to relate to the needs of the client and the intended audience. The graphic designer should be able to communicate clearly and confidently to their intended audience， they need to be well informed of the current trends in society， the marketplace and the industry that they are dealing with.
Sometimes a graphic designer will work solo； they are file copy writer， the illustrator， the photographer and the designer.
Generally it is only because of the design that you will notice pictures and read text. The designer directs the attention and focus of their audience， they create moods and inspire different emotions， who make use of tools like symbolism， typography， color， shape， illustration， photography， texture and balance to effectively communicate a message. Often you will notice these aspects consciously， sometimes you won’t， but when a reader’s attention has been caught and they have received the message intended， a designer has done their job.
Unlike an artist， the graphic designer must produce a visual communication product for a specific audience. A graphic designer must communicate the same idea， thought or emotion to all of their audience， as well as have artistic appeal. To do this successfully the designer must understand about communication as well as design aesthetics.
The designer must always wear at least two hats. One that is artistically and creatively focused on aesthetic issues， and one that is communicative and focuses on the psychology of the reader. A third hat that many designers forget to acquire， but would do well lo do so， is one that focuses on practical areas such as time， technical and production issues.
The designer must be able to take the objective—e.g. Sell more hats， get more votes—and help the client achieve it. There is a lot more to this process than being artistic.
Whilst technology is racing ahead and many designers are being faced with new technology that they must embrace in order to remain competitive， this new technology though， allows a designer to explore new ideas and embrace fresh newways of doing things.
Though graphic designers traditionally worked in print， a graphic designer is definitely not merely a desktop publisher. A designer who possesses file necessary talent， training and instinct can redefine the medium they work in.
What is digital design？
Digital design is merely design work carried out using digital technology， e.g. a computer， scanner， digital camera etc， regardless of where the end product is heading. So a print job carded out using Photoshop is digital design. The same job carded out with a pen， ruler and set of drawing pencils， is not digital design.
Technology has given us the tools to create finished products quickly with a high level of professionalism. Rapidly moving technology has made these tools available at a consumer level， allowing the amateur graphic designer to pop up， all over the place.
As the Internet and electronic publishing has evolved， so too has the demand for documents and graphics designed to be viewed via these delivery modes. The early Internet was dominated by code jockeys， and still s to a certain extent. These were people who wanted to make the Internet work， they wanted to be able to control information flow through it and had little regard for its aesthetics， they were more interested in how it all worked than what it all looked like.
There are still many who use the Internet solely for data transfer and high level non visual work. Many of these people argue that the overuse of graphics on the Internet wastes bandwidth and slows down the “serious” users’data transfer.
Some would argue that an effective advertising or education campaign has to do much more than deliver a message， it has to also change the way the audience behaves， is there any point in telling people how good a product is if we don’t make them start using it？ Is there any point in telling people how seat belts save lives， if we don’t make them wear one？
【Vocabulary】
communicate
v. 沟通，通信，传达
narration
n. 叙述，报道
entertainment
n. 款待，娱乐，消遣
platform
n. 月台，讲台，平台
perceptive
adj. 有理解力的，感觉敏锐的
solo
adj. 单独的，独奏的
swift
adj. 迅速的，敏捷的
illustrator
n. 插图画家，图解者
symbolism
n. 象征主义，符号论
issue
n. 出版，发行；论点
appeal
n. 呼吁，请求，上诉
embrace
vt. 拥抱，包含，收买
typography
n. 印刷样式，印刷字体
desktop
n. 桌面，桌面电脑
consciously
adv. 有意识地，自觉地
aesthetics
n. 美学，美术理论
jockey
n. 操作员，
dominate
v. 支配，占优势
campaign
n. 战役，竞选活动
behave
vt. 举止，举动，运转
【参考译文】
多媒体技术简介
“多媒体的作用是利用不同媒体来进行娱乐或交流信息、思想或理念。”
我们把多媒体看作是一种交流系统。这个系统可以交流思想、市场战略、公司目标、教育或各种信息，无论是历史的，还是最新的新闻。我们也将多媒体视为一种娱乐平台，可以进行交互活动和交流。
我们认为多媒体的开发是使用众多不同的可行的通信媒体、技术和传输平台或从中进行选择。