microplastics

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Reflection

As I didn’t have time to document the final stretch in the lead up to hand in, I thought I’d write a little reflection of this project. 

This campaign has been a massive learning curve for me as a designer. This has been the first time I have worked with logos and design systems, and learning how to do so with thoughtfulness and meaning has been so valuable. I will take Paul’s words with me into my career (WIFM?, Stop Reset Go, trip to thames etc.). Engaging critically with not only my own campaign but with classmates and in class examples has given me an analytical eye when I see advertising campaigns in my daily life. I constantly find myself looking for the WIFM or the smile of the mind. 

I am very happy with the overall aesthetic and illustrations for Get a Load of This, but if I were to do the project again I would love to carve out more time for user testing, interviewing people and doing more playful visual experimentation. Grappling with technology has been challenging but an important learning experience. I have learnt a lot about how I work as a designer this semester - the good and the bad. Looking forward to a summer of adobe tutorials!

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testing out my zine printed on a small scale! I hadn’t done the text yet so just wrote in what I wanted it to say. Looking good. It folded on the colour creases well and follows a nice little visual story. Very happy with it so far!

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1ST PHOTO: Final graphics for zine in a linear layout. 

2ND PHOTO: Finalising Zine layout - hierarchies looking good. I just put the red-ish blocks in as placeholders to see if the zine would print okay, but I quite like them!

3RD PHOTO: new and improved poster combining 2 of my 3 formative posters. Still not quite happy with text paths, hopefully will have time to improve with some feedback 

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more illustration for the zine

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further refinement for clarity - friends are helpful!

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refining process design based off feedback from friends from class - thanks guys

final design:

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initial illustration concepts for a process design - solving the issue of the disconnect between establishing what microplastics are and how they are related to laundry (and why we should care) - lots of hurdles to jump through

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Feedback!

Class’s feedback

- I like the words and how they correspond with the wave 

 - Hard to read 

 - More concise 

 - Maybe like a sunshine “to dry your clothes” 

 - You have the smile in mind, but it could be more centre of the poster 

- Man is confusing 

 - Put more focus on the washing machine 

 - 10 million micro plastics, but they could be their own posters 

 - Draw attention to the facts 

 - Visuals / illustration are really cool, the washing machine drives it home 

 - What is 10 million?? 

 - Make a punch line 

 - incorporate micro-plastics 

 - You could do small plastic drawings 

 - Put dead fish in the waves so its not so empty 

 PAUL 

- Strong design system 

 - “Dead fish cycle” 

 - Peg dead fish 

- Needs a direct connection to the problem, you are unpacking 

 - Why is there dead fish In the machine? 

- Make the connection first 

- WHY? 

 - “The entire South Island burnt in California” 

- How do we bring it back to something relatable (10 million) 

 - Engagement with your issue, like a WOW 

- Capturing the by passers attention 

 - Hierarchy 

 - Play with size 

 - Ribbon the text in illustrator to get that sheet effect for “air drying” 

 - You don’t have to give everything away at once 

- Maybe your campgain is joining the dots for people

So what’s the plan?

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poster development... was very stuck at the first screenshot. the text paths probably still need refining (perhaps by hand) but the aesthetic is fun!

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refining illustrations - stylising fish and tapering edges

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as paul suggested, putting my illustrations on one page to critique - so they can be more consistent

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Campaign Strategy

The campaign will bring awareness to the microplastic soup that is brewing in our oceans, and the fact that every time we do a load of laundry we are unnecessarily adding to the problem. This needs awareness brought to it because climate change is the biggest challenge our generation will face. Any simple changes to our daily habits we can make to preserve the environment are a good step toward climate action.

The message for this campaign is laundry releases microplastics into the ocean. The call to action for this campaign is to wash cold and fast, dry low and slow. I took the “buy natural” out, because it is a more nuanced and less accessible element to this issue. This issue effect all of us, because it is our environment we are polluting. The audience for this campaign is New Zealanders with washing machines (with at least some interest in environmentalism). I’d like to mobilise those who care but don’t know how to start improving their environmental footprint. The success of this campaign will be if even one person changes their laundering habits in a way that betters the environment.

At present, I am thinking posters and stickers/labels on laundry bottles are my mediums. I think I need a way to engage the consumer at the purchase point or as they’re about to put on a load... I’d like to experiment with environmental graphics.

I am strong on the issue and calls to action. I have begun to create a design system but feel that a personality and/or strong conceptual backing is missing. 

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some poster exploration after our ‘character’ lecture - here is my disgruntled scientist but this time he’s a doctor (because of the negative health effects on both sea life and people, and also because I’ve been watching a lot of grey’s anatomy recently)

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Behind the scenes of developing my content booklet: playing with colours and illustration. Experimenting with layouts and learning the hard way to save files....

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Wow thanks so much for this feedback, I’ll take this into account in developing the campaign message (this is for a graphic design assignment at uni) I appreciate the care you’ve taken to answer this :)

Consolidating Research into a message

Every time you do a load of laundry you can be releasing up to 10 million microplastics into our oceans

Microplastics are any piece of plastic less than half a millimetre in size, and they are turning our oceans and waterways into a plastic soup

They enter the food chain, killing fish and eventually enter our bodies through the food we eat and the water we drink

Let’s keep our clothes, bodies and oceans clean by taking these three easy steps

1. Buy natural

Avoid synthetic fabrics like acrylic, polyester and fleece - instead opt for natural fabrics like cotton, linen and wool 

2. Wash fast and cold

Cram as many clothes in your washing machine as you can and set the machine to a quick, cold wash. Use laundry liquid rather than powder if you can, fabric softener helps too!

3. Dry slow and low

Opt for air drying clothing where possible, or set your dryer to low res

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potential poster design for campaign: split in two for readability!

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poster development - trying to salvage lost files. note to self pls save all files always!!!!