Why You Should Major in Communication Design and Media Analytics

By: Addie Holden

A look into how the two majors align.

Numbers can be confusing. When you hear a statistic or numerical way of expressing something, it can be ignored or misconstrued. One number cannot tell you how it compares to other subsets of similar data; it merely is a figure without justification. Charts, infographics, and other visuals can be a more effective way of communicating information. Visuals break information down into bite-sized pieces so that facts can be understood quickly and effectively. Businesses incorporate graphs and charts when explaining complex information, so they need people who understand how to gather the data and how to portray it in a way that is pleasing to the eye. 

Choosing to double major in Media Analytics and Communication Design opens up doors for students to incorporate data into designs to communicate information. Simultaneously, having a similar discipline of communications, both challenge different parts of the brain. The creative process of designing can stimulate the right side, and the left side works with the statistics and math behind analytics. 

The majority of baseline graphics you can make using Excel or other simple programs get the information across but don’t excite the consumer. In our current age of booming multimedia content, visuals and interpreting data are imperative to capture your audience. Making those charts aesthetically pleasing, using design principles, can get that information to a broader audience. In an age of short attention spans, consistently scrolling through TikTok and Instagram, we always need something to stimulate our minds. Media needs a designer to create a good user experience. 

The New York Times website now has several articles that are interactive as you scroll through the information. When a piece has information in a visual and engaging form, I am more likely to read on and consume more. An article that just has words is much less appealing to read. ​

Another excellent example of combining Media Analytics and Design is Google's data visualization project, where they use data and designers to create intricate stories. Each project takes the user on an experience of understanding the information; it is interactive to the point that you forget it’s educational. The photo to your left shows a timeline of covid knowledge and what was going on in the world during that time. Here is the interactive data website that you can scroll through to get a better idea of a data visualization. ​

Elon’s Communications School waves the eight hours of elective courses needed for a typical major for students who double major in COM disciplines, and double majors can take the same entrance and exit classes such as COM 100 and Media Law. 

Elon is one of the only universities to offer Media Analytics at the undergraduate level, so combining that uncommon major with another Communications discipline, such as Com Design, makes you stand out to employers. Media Analytics is an excellent addition to any major but works well with the Com Design's design principles, and I recommend looking into adding it to your course load.

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