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Self Reflection

How to communicate the complex issue of plastic pollution to a young target audience and their parents.

Isabelle Merry Self Reflection

Introduction to project

Perranporth Beach & the Plastic Pollution Problem is a website that aims to teach children about the dangers to our ecosystem if the plastic pollution problem was to continue as normal. It stemmed from a quote by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation that “By 2050, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish” (2017).

Originally a proposal for a pop-up exhibition in the Museum of Childhood, London, I adapted the outcome to fit the circumstances that Covid-19 made us face as I could not research the proposed space to the standard I wanted without visiting the museum itself. In a sense, I created an online version of this exhibition.

You are welcomed by a landing page which points to three directions, the beach, a charity page and a parent's page. On ‘the beach’, each sea creature you click on takes you through to a different problem about how plastic pollution affects the wildlife which is written out in simple terms so a young child could understand. There are also three options which click through to a solutions page because without them the website would be too pessimistic. The ‘parent’s page’ differs as it is a singular page to inform how the website works and how they can assist their child to become eco-friendly. Finally the ‘charity page’ has a list of charity websites which have more information about the plastic problem as a whole and even more ways to help.

The user experience of this website was designed and prototyped in Adobe XD which included all of the interactive elements and background illustration as well as the written information.

What went well

I identified the leading dangers of plastic pollution that coastal ecosystems faced with clear, high standard illustrations which were painted in gouache, even though I am still learning this new technique of painting. Furthermore, I learnt new, complex software to fulfill the final outcome in Adobe XD.

My research was thorough and varied between the Museum of Childhood archives, emailing charities and reading numerous articles and research papers about this topic. I reached out to potential collaborators to show support by including their website and contact info in the details of the project to bring awareness of the positive work they’re doing.

My development was well experimented as I went through many ideas and sketches to get to the final outcome of the website. I adapted to the change of the course becoming solely online and showed my development and ideas clearly over webcam tutorials when it would have been optimal to show my initial ideas in person. I meticulously planned the final outcome which can be seen by the animation proposal and the flat plan.

I have included a wide range of ethnicities within my final illustrations as this reflects my dissertation research about inclusivity for all within children's books. Especially with the topic, it is important that children feel as one with no prejudice towards each other as the fight against climate change and plastic pollution impacts us all.

The outcome of the project speaks volumes to the degree of effort I put into fully investigating my desired area of environmental education and consequently, my passion for children's illustration is embedded into the website.

What I would have done differently

My inexperience with Adobe XD and user experience design could have potentially limited the complexity of the prototype I wanted to create. Additionally, if I have factored in more time and funds, I would have collaborated with an actual web developer/agency to bring my prototype to screen for the public.

Although I assiduously planned the designing aspect for the final website, I did not factor in room for error in the final illustrations within the last few days and underestimated how long and complex the building of a website would take.

I would have liked to have tested the website on a focus group of young children to see how they reacted to the website and how I could have changed to ensure they are fully engaged and become motivated behind the project.

Finally, I would have liked to have used more sustainable materials and means of product to not contradict the message of the project. This could have been using recycled paper with less plastic film on the packaging and using biodegradable pens whilst I was sketching.

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The final website prototype! It was created on Adobe XD and I would like to collaborate with an actual web developer/agency to bring my prototype to screen for the public. The final outcome can be seen via a link which I will provide on canvas and my blog.

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Guide to this blog

Please click on the menu button to filter each post into research, development and final design! Use the navigation arrows on each page to see the full section as some may be hidden. 

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It was vital that I used the correct font as children may find it difficult or uninteresting if I used a font too quirky or standard. I used Sassoon Primary as it is recommended by teachers after studies showed that children respond well to it. It is a clear and neat font, however, the slight italic makes it less formal, along with the small kicks at the end of some letters. 

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Screen record of the initial website design 

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XD screenshots whilst building the website. Linking up the pages to work like a regular website has proven confusing and headachy!

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Backgrounds/inserts for my website

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Initial sections for website

Octopus/litter Octopuses have lots of legs. Eight in fact! But they are not meant for cleaning up our oceans! Single use plastic like plastic water bottles have been found in their homes and tangled up in their legs. Bottles come from the beaches that we sit on. They come from the pleasure boats or big ships on the ocean. Lots of animals think that litter is a new home and live in plastic containers. This isn’t healthy for the small animals or the environment that needs help being cleaned by the animals. Best thing for us to do is use reusable water bottles or recyclable materials like cans or cardboard and avoid buying plastic containers.

Corporate disasters We all like playing with toys! Big toys, small toys, squishy toys and hard toys. But what happens when those end up in the ocean? In 1997, a big company called LEGO accidentally dropped millions of little plastic toys in the ocean! Even now after 20 years, lots of plastic lego toys are being washed up on the shores around Cornwall. Now, this is not very good at all for the wildlife. Fish and birds think that its food and the plants and beaches are covered in them. This is called a business disaster but the company LEGO said that they can’t clean it all up which is very naughty! What can we do? We can avoid buying plastic toys and play with wooden toys instead. Not only do they biodegrade, they look very cool too!

Sharks/microplastic “Microplastics are just as devastating. Swallowed by everything from microscopic zooplankton to giant blue whales, they enter the food chain and carry harmful toxins. Microplastics have even been found in human poo.” Greenpeace

“In the UK, a recent sample of the river Mersey near Liverpool found that there was an average of 84,030 particles of microplastics in each square metre of water.” Royal Society

Microplastics can enter the environment from a number of sources. These include:

Larger pieces of plastic waste already in the environment breaking down over time

Microscopic fragments from car tyres as they wear down

Threads and microfibres of synthetic clothing from washing machines

Waste directly from industry

Microplastics are very small pieces of plastics. These would be smaller than 5mm - which is the width of a strand of spaghetti! They come from lots of things including -

Larger pieces of plastic that is already in the ocean

Your clothes. This is called microfibres and they come from plastic materials that come away in your washing machine

From big companies that throw away their waste in the ocean!

Cleaning products for your face to get rid of dead skin Animals do not like microplastics, especially the animals in the sea. They think they’ve found a tasty meal but microplastics can’t get through their bellies. A lot of them get very sick and sometimes pass away and this is very harmful for the environment.

Seal/ghost nets Ghost nets aren’t white sheets haunting the oceans - they’re much scarier! They are lost fishing nets from big ships and lots of animals get stuck in them. All sea creatures get tangled up and they starve to death because they can’t become free. Some even get eaten by other bigger animals! They even hurt the wildlife on the ocean floor. This is called coral and the nets get stuck on their beautiful branches and then get pulled off by a strong ocean current. These sadly don’t grow back. It also affects big ships! If nets go near their propellers, they get tangled up and break them. Our governments know about the ghost net problem but they say it is too expensive to clean up our oceans and many fishing companies don’t care about their left over nets. SO what can we do? We can eat less/no fish so decrease the need for these big companies and save the ocean animals from the scary ghost nets!

Puffin - eating plastics All the birds love to eat little fish near the top of the ocean but because of the little bits of plastic in the ocean, they have been eating that instead! All the bellies in nature can not digest these small bits of plastic which means they stay in the bird's belly forever. There is no room for actual food and sadly starve to death. Some scientists have opened up these bird’s bellies to find all sorts of plastic like lego, tiny pieces & nets.

Dolphin - plastic bags A plastic bag has been found in the deepest darkest part of the ocean. We haven’t even reached the bottom yet so who knows what else is out there! But you know what isn’t down there? A supermarket - so why are there plastic bags? A plastic bag is what scientists call ‘single use plastic’. This means something that we use once but is made from a material that is supposed to last forever. Many sea animals swim into them, choke or eat it and starve which means a lot of them die. Scientists also say that 52% of sea turtles have plastic bags in their bellies! What can we do? Bring your own bags when shopping! There are lots of bags made from natural materials that look very cool whilst you’re shopping.

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Flatplan for website

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In the UK, a recent sample of the river Mersey near Liverpool found that there was an average of 84,030 particles of microplastics in each square metre of water.

Royal Society

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Microplastics are just as devastating. Swallowed by everything from microscopic zooplankton to giant blue whales, they enter the food chain and carry harmful toxins. Microplastics have even been found in human poo.

Greenpeace

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Email to SAS for involvement

Hi Surfers Against Sewage!

My name is Izzy, I'm currently studying for my MA in Graphic Design in Liverpool and my major project is about educating children about plastic pollution through a website. 

Although I grew up in Bristol, I was born in Truro, Cornwall, and my grandparents lived their entire lives in Perranporth. So the plastic pollution in the oceans and on beaches is a really big issue for me and I would like to teach children (and everyone!) about how it affects us all and what we can do to stop it. This will be through an interactive website (made on Adobe XD) and I will attach a link to the video proposal I have created. 

I have been looking into your work and think it's amazing what you're doing! I was hoping to have a link to Surfers Against Sewage on my website and was wondering if you would like to have a section about your charity. This could be your logo and a little section about what you do with a link to your website and how to get involved or something else! 

Thank you for taking the time to read this as I know you're busy and thank you for cleaning up our beaches! 

All the best, Izzy