UNSUNG HEROES & HEROINES
UNSUNG HEROES & HEROINES
THE BRIEF
ʻT H E L E G A C Y O F H E R O E S I S T H E M E M O R Y O F A GREAT NAME AND THE INHERITANCE OF A G R E A T E X A M P L E.ʼ -B E N J A M I N
DISRAELI
CONTEXT
Media produce constant articles and programmes on the rich and famous – tracing their life stories and celebrating their achievements. But what about ordinary people whose lives go unwritten – your gran’ or grandfather who lived through a war ... the old immigrant gentleman who came as a young man to be a doctor ... the group of friends who have travelled abroad to build homes for the poor ... the charity workers who save lives in disaster zones ... or perhaps the woman who beat breast cancer despite the odds... . People such as these continue to achieve great success with little or no recognition. Let’s look for fresh and effective ways to celebrate these often un-recognised heroes and heroines.
THE BRIEF
Create an informative type and image based experience that brings your chosen ‘Unsung Heroes and Heroines’ to life in a submission supported by high quality research and intellectual rigor. Use whatever methods and media you consider appropriate to convey your solution effectively – as long as you express a solid idea, inform us and show us a successful outcome with type and image. Make sure that you incorporate typographically detailed text matter that expresses an information hierarchy. Remember that words and language are our collateral and that your submission should be essentially type combined with images.
PREP
Important research should include looking into the idea behind an ‘unsung hero or heroine’ including personal research and idea generation. Looking at visuals to inspire ideas about the practical outcome, but also think about the research and story behind the subject.
ʻI A M O F C E R T A I N C O N V I N C E D T H A T T H E GREATEST HEROES ARE THOSE WHO DO THEIR DUTY IN THE DAILY GRIND OF DOMESTIC A F F A I R S.ʼ -F L O R E N C E N I G H T I N G A L E
UNSUNG HEROES & HEROINES IDEAS & RESEARCH
ʻT H E R E A R E T W O K I N D S O F A D V E R S I T Y, W H O P E R F O R M HEROES WHO LIVE AMONG UNNOTICED BY MANY OF U O T H E R S.ʼ
H E R O E S. H E R O E S W H O S H I N E I N T H E F A C E O F G R E A T A N A M A Z I N G F E A T I N A D I F F I C U L T S I T U A T I O N. A N D U S, W H O D O T H E I R W O R K U N C E R E M O N I O U S L Y, S, B U T W H O M A K E A D I F F E R E N C E I N T H E L I V E S O F
-S U S I L O B A M B A N G Y U D H O Y O N O P R E S I D E N T O F I N D O N E S I A
IDEA
My original idea to depict someones life through a series of posters changed whilst doing the research. The new idea being a wall display telling the story of an 'unsung hero/heroine' which would be a combination of printed design, research, quotes and photographs. The display would focus on one persons story mostly but also include other snippets of peoples lives. Whilst researching and progressing with ideas and concepts I became increasingly interested in the way we view memories and celebrate people. This will also be a theme in the display, 'forgotten memories.' The person I have decided to use as the main story in the wall display is a great aunt of mine I never met, Edythe McQuade, who faced some tragedies in her life but who was admirable because of her outlook on life and her kind nature. I feel she needs to be celebrated but also remembered, which is where the new theme for the brief came into it: An ordinary person, once gone, has only etched memories in certain peoples lives, when the last person who knows/remembers you is no longer living, does that mean the memory of you dies with them? With famous, celebrated heroes they will always be remembered through history, but how long is it until someone ordinary is forgotten? How long until we are all just numerical figures that once walked the earth? After years and years have passed and everyone who knew you is also gone, sentiment seems trivial.
RESEARCH
OUTCOME
I did some in depth research into Edythe’s life and just generally looked closely at the idea of memories and being forgotten. Some of the possessions I came across whilst researching into the lives of others will be used as part of the display.
BRIEF EXTENDED
I felt Edythe fit the description of the brief but I also had old letters which I thought could be a really good tool for conveying emotion and sentiment in the display as she addresses information about the events which were a struggle and why I think, she is an 'unsung heroine.'
The final outcome will be a wall display with various visuals focusing on the topic. The idea is to photograph the display and hopefully use the images to promote an idea for an extension of the brief.
P A R T II
Whilst researching I decided I wanted to extend the brief and so over a short period of time will gather photographs of peoples unsung heroes and heroines accompanied with a sentence about why this person is someones chosen unsung hero. Then using the information I will design, based on each individuals hero/heroine a postcard celebrating this unsung hero/heroine which will be part of a collection, and hopefully, if enough primary research is collected, work as a bigger wall display.
UNSUNG HEROES & HEROINES DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT
These are some printed materials that I plan to use as part of the wall display.
CONTENT
To give the display some context I need to write a small passage explaining what the display is about. The material already printed gives it a bit of context with quotes and lyrics. The quotes highlight the celebration of an unsung hero/heroine. The Beatles song lyrics make reference to the theme of memory and being remembered. Amongst these are some passages of text taken from letters sent from Edythe, addressing certain areas of the story I wish to portray. I think using quotes from the letters evokes a much more emotional and sentimental feel to the display as its written by the person who experienced it.
UNSUNG HEROES & HEROINES
DEVELOPMENT
These are some printed designs for the wall exhibition I plan to create. They include quotes about ‘unsung heroes and heroines’ and memories which has been the main focus so far. This kind of material will be displayed with photographs and other props that I feel best displays the message I am trying to communicate.