Kapi‘olani Community College, University of Hawai‘i - NMA Interface Design
Chris Gargiulo is a designer, front-end web developer, and teacher with experience in web, print, and motion design. Since 2005, he has been teaching interface design full-time within the New Media Arts program at Kapi‘olani Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii. His academic interests center around the intersection of art, design, and technology. Chris enjoys challenging projects that require creative problem-solving skills and serve a good purpose, such as improving the lives and experiences of others.
Before moving to Hawaii and teaching at KCC, Chris taught at Parsons School of Design in New York City. Prior to teaching, he worked at various design and advertising companies from New York City to Los Angeles. His client work includes Samsung, Sony, ABC, Warner Brothers, Six Flags, Hasbro, Marvel Comics, Princess Cruises, and others.
Chris received his MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design and a BA in Fine Art from Amherst College. At Amherst, Chris studied art and computer science. At Parsons, Chris studied filmmaking, animation, motion graphics, and design teaching.
He periodically creates artwork for gallery shows and film festivals. His recent art projects are algorithmic, code-generated animations and stills designed to address issues surrounding the intersection of technology and art, and the effect that technology has upon our world and the human condition.
I enjoy both the left-brained technical programming and the right-brained visual design aspects of my field. Chris Gargiulo
Define the project, problem(s), and stakeholder's primary goals via the project brief. Gather background info to define user profiles, goals, & tasks.
Brainstorm conceptual solutions, draft the information architecture, site maps, wireframes, prototypes, content hierarchy & structure.
Visualize and communicate the UI via mood boards, type studies, color studies, prototypes, iterative mockups, & multiple rounds of refinements.
Build the interactive, fully functioning product using web standard compliant, accessible, valid, semantic markup, styling, & scripting.
Via due diligence, fix all bugs and conduct multiple tests for quality assurance across multiple platforms, browsers, devices, and screen-sizes.
Each technical lesson begins with a quick on-screen demo, where the teacher visually shows the students what they will be learning. As a brief overview, this first step is designed to introduce the primary topics and summarize the complete process.
After showing the demo, the teacher walks through each step of an in-class exercise, slowly step-by-step. Answering questions along the way, this second step is designed to cover all of the details of the lesson in a hands-on format, with ample time for students to absorb the material.
After showing the lesson and stepping through it, the last step is for the teacher to support the students as they apply the lesson via a course project or homework assignment. This third and final step is designed to increase student learning through application and repetition.
Identify the problem that needs to be solved and search for solutions.
Isolate each solution before comparing and measuring the results.
Integrate the best solution by applying it in context.
For specific information about this site and the Interface Design concentration of courses within New Media Arts program at Kapi‘olani Community College, please contact:
For more general information about New Media Arts program at Kapi‘olani Community College, the Associates degree, and the admissions process to become a student, please contact: