Online ExpertTrack in Creative Arts & Media

Game On: How Gaming Can Supercharge Your Creative Communications

Discover how to create engaging creative communications, advertising, and experiences by harnessing the power of gaming.

Created by

D&ADD&AD

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Embed the best of the games industry into your creative communications

Creating an all-encompassing ecosystem to entertain, engage, and keep hold of an audience can be difficult for a brand, but one place that it’s commonplace is in gaming. The ecosystems people play in and metaverses they exist in engross millions of people across the globe every day. But how do they do it? And how can it help you?

This ExpertTrack from D&AD will give you an insight into the fascinating world gaming provides. You’ll learn to translate the skills and techniques of the gaming industry into a language that can be applied to client briefs, brand projects, and platforms such as social and digital communications.

By the end of this ExpertTrack, you’ll know how to employ storytelling, character building, narrative, psychology, community engagement, and worldbuilding skills to the communication and creative briefs you work on.

Understand where your brand fits into the gaming industry

In the vast and ever-growing gaming industry, the options of where your brand can and should engage are seemingly endless. But the risk of a wrong move is potentially disastrous.

To start this ExpertTrack, you’ll gain an understanding of the complex gaming landscape, be able to differentiate between platforms, developers, streamers and more, and know where your brand or the brief you’re responding to fit into this landscape.

Explore the gaming landscape through the eyes of your audience

The gaming industry utilises a variety of effective creative skills, tools, and techniques to understand their audience, grow their communities, and shape their worlds around their players’ needs.

You’ll discover how to make every move with empathy and understanding, seeing the needs of your audience through their eyes.

Discover how to create everlasting, transmedia experiences

Transcending one medium or platform can increase your community’s potential dramatically, engaging them on a whole new level and widening their reach.

On the final course of this ExpertTrack, you’ll build your worldbuilding and storytelling skills to expand your marketing and advertising across multiple platforms, mediums, and media.

Learn from the creative experts in gaming

This course is led by D&AD and features written and recorded content from a variety of experts in the field, representing organizations such as Twitch, Epic Games, Massive Entertainment, The Mill, and Activision Blizzard.

Key skills you will learn

  • Storytelling
  • Worldbuilding
  • Strategy
  • Gaming
  • Ideation
  • Research
  • Empathy
  • Community building
  • Marketing
  • Brand
  • Gamification
  • Advertising

Experience required

This ExpertTrack is an introductory level so you don’t need any previous experience to benefit. However, it may help to have a basic knowledge of the creative industries.

Getting started

This ExpertTrack is designed for anyone in a creative, marketing, or advertising role. It will help you to understand the gaming industry and to discover what you can use from it to enhance your creative work.

ExpertTrack course overview

  • Course 1

    Dive into the world of gaming and discover how to use it to boost your marketing and creative prospects.

    1 peer-graded assignment

    3 weeks

    3 hours per week

    • Week 1

      Gaming Landscape
      • Welcome to Week 1: Gaming Landscape
      • The Lay of the Land
      • Gaming, eSports, Live-streaming... Oh My!
    • Week 2

      Who, When and Where?
      • Where, When and Who?
      • Understanding the Metaverse
      • Rules of Engagement
    • Week 3

      A Brand's Place
      • Where Do You Fit?
      • Better Briefing
      • Put it into practice: Your Better Briefing assignment
      • Wrap-up
  • Course 2

    Learn techniques to understand your audience and use gamification to improve your creative communications.

    3 weeks

    3 hours per week

    • Week 1

      Understanding Your Audience
      • Welcome
      • Current Context
      • Empathy and Your Audience
      • Play
    • Week 2

      Engage and Entertain
      • Player Types
      • Gamification and Engagement
      • Gaming for Good
    • Week 3

      Gameplay, Character and Uncertainty
      • Gearing for Gameplay
      • Authentic Engagement
      • Wrap-up
  • Course 3

    Develop your worldbuilding skills and bring your brand to life through immersive storytelling and transmedia experiences.

    3 weeks

    3 hours per week

    • Week 1

      World-building
      • Welcome
      • Worlds of Wonder
      • Storytelling
    • Week 2

      Hooking on Hybrid
      • Helping the Hook
      • Hybrid Storytelling
    • Week 3

      A World Beyond Gaming
      • Innovative Experiences
      • Build your world
      • Wrap-up

Prove you're job ready

Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.

  • Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
  • Complete each course and pass assessments.
  • Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
  • Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
  • Make your career dreams a reality.

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How ExpertTracks work

Join an ExpertTrack to master new skills in your chosen specialist area. Work through a series of topic-focused courses at your own pace, and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate award which proves your expertise.

Join a free 2-day trial

Decide if the ExpertTrack is right for you with free access to the full suite of courses and assessments for a week.

Keep learning for $39/month

Pay a monthly subscription fee of $39 for as long as it takes you to complete the ExpertTrack. You can learn at your own pace and cancel at any time.

Earn digital certificates

Receive a certificate for every completed course and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate.

Become an expert

Use your specialist training to progress further in your career or build expertise in areas you’re passionate about.

World-class learning with D&AD

Since 1962, D&AD has been inspiring a community of creative thinkers by celebrating and stimulating the finest in design and advertising.

Meet your instructor

Senior Learning & Development Manager at D&AD. I'm constantly inspired by brilliant creative ideas, and how to help others bring them to life.

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FAQ

ExpertTracks are a series of online courses designed to help you master new skills in specialist areas. You pay a monthly subscription fee which includes access to all courses within the ExpertTrack, as well as assessments and the final digital certificate.

Each ExpertTrack comes with a 2-day free trial period. You may cancel your subscription at any time and your subscription will automatically cancel when you finish the courses and assessments in your chosen ExpertTrack.

Yes. All of our ExpertTracks come with a 2-day free trial. You may claim one free trial period per ExpertTrack.

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No, all of our ExpertTracks consist of fully online courses. This means you can take an ExpertTrack from anywhere in the world.

No. ExpertTracks are designed for you to master new skills in a specialist area. You will earn a digital certificate that proves your learning, but it does not carry accreditation.

If you’re looking for certified or accredited courses, many of our microcredentials offer university credit or professional certification.

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