Earth Artifact by Libby Howker

Earth Artifact

Libby Howker

The Brief For this brief I have been set

Carl Sagan referred to the record

the task of creating a new version

as ‘launching a bottle in to the

of the ‘Golden Record’ entitled,

cosmic ocean’.

‘Earth Artifact.’ The

Over the next few weeks I will

‘Golden

Record’ is a phonograph record

document all the stages of my

which was launched in 1977 above

research and design process

the Voyager spacecraft, with the

when coming up with a new,

intention of encapsulating

redesigned ‘Golden Record’. My

the life and diversity of Earth,

work does not have to be an exact

through a selection of images and

reproduction of the original,

sounds. It is intended for extra-

but a more contemporary approach

terrestrial life or future humans

reflecting the new discoveries and

who may find them, although the

developments in the world as it is

probability of them being found

today, as a lot has changed since

by other advanced life in space

1977. I will come up with multiple

is low, so the record is more

solutions and reflect the content

like a time capsule or symbolic

in an appropriate format/media

statement about the planet Earth.

channel of my choice.

Initial mindmap of ideas In my mindmap I have thought

It would also be necessary to

about different aspects of planet

include information about life

earth and tried to think of

on earth, humans and animals and

things that would be important

explore anatomy and science,

when creating an artifact of

but also maybe go more in depth

our planet that might be of use

in terms of world cultures and

or interest to future humans or

human emotions. Also, if

extrr terrestrial life. One thing

interpretation of the Golden

I think that would be important

Record is to be seen as a sort

to include would be language, as

of time capsule then it would be

any alien life would probably not

good to include significant events

understand written language or the

and influential people since

aplhabet but if we assume they

the first Record was made, to

have a visual sense then they may

reflect the world as it is today.

be able to determine images, so

Additionally, i thought about

I will look at signs and symbols.

mentioning whereabouts planet

Also in the original record

Earth is in the Universe and the

greetings in all the languages of

mechanics of the planet e.g.

the world were included.

seasons, weather.

my new

Proposal For this ‘earth Artifact’ brief

photographs of my own; A set of

I will create multiple designs

infographics posters, detailing

and solutions to then use in my

important statistical information

chosen media channel. I will also

about different aspects of Earth,

research designers/illustrators

and educational ‘flash cards’ which

etc. that I feel will be suitable

will feature imagery on one side

for referencing when making my

and information on the other about

own designs based on the aspects

the diversity that Earth has to

of Earth I choose to explore and

offer and will cover key topics

include. From my mindmap I have

that reflect the Earth as it is

chosen 3 ideas to research for a

today.

possible final outcome: a book, covering different aspects of Earth and featuring illustrations and

Idea 1:

Book My first idea for a suitable media

include my visual experiments based

channel to contain the information

around the topics I explore, which

about the Earth through visuals

will be central aspects of the

is a book. I think a book works

planet Earth. Also, I will have

well as the data can be formatted

to think of the stye and kind of

in a way that is easy to percieve

book it will be, for example it

and if an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;alienâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; did come across

could be formatted like a journal

it then it may have more chance

or manual or could just include one

of being understood rather than a

image per page or multiple images,

record, which needs accompanying

reflecting the different aspects I

technology to be played which may

will research.

be too advanced for anything that intercepts it. In my book I will

Idea 2:

Infographic Posters My second idea is to present the

and also includes visual aids to

aspects of Earth I explore as a

describe the information being

set of info-graphic posters. If I

presented. If I am to create info-

decide to choose this as my final

graphic designs I will need to

outcome presentation method, the

think about suitable facts and

posters will contain important

figures to include and look at

and signifant information based

designersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; who create infographics

around the topics I look at. I

for style references.Something to

think an info-graphic poster could

also consider though is the fact

work well as it gets across a lot

that many languages are spoken

of percentages, statistics and

in the world so a text heavy

often complicated information in

infographic may not work best.

a way that is easy to understand,

Idea 3:

Information ‘Flash Cards’ My third idea is to create some

formatting the text and images, and

informational ‘flash cards’,

thinking about which information

featuring images and type providing

should be included to accurately

information on the images either

reflect planet Earth. As with my

on the flip side of the card of

idea for a set of infographic

next to it. I felt this could

posters, the text aspect will

work well as if I produced a set

have to be considered as the

then a lot of information could

representation of multiple world

be presented, but in a small

languages is an important aspect of

segments, by reducing it to a card

the world that should be included

you could hold in your hand. If I

in my ‘Earth Artifact’.

choose this is as my final outcome I will research different ways of

Topics to cover:

Life on Earth An essential topic to cover when

look like- and looking at cells

creating an Earth artifact is

and DNA, and the stages of human

what life there is on the planet.

development, but also things that

It would be important to cover

make the human race what it is, for

both humans and

example, human emotions, different

other life, but

as an Earth artifact could only

ethnicities and cultures and also

be created by humans, it would

religions, as well as things that

probably be beneficial to look more

make up the human experience, like

at the human species. When looking

music and art.

at life on Earth, there are many things to consider such as anatomyshowing what a skeleton and organs

Topics to cover:

Science Science plays an important role in

that all life-forms on our planet

the understanding of the world,

experience.

and covers the fundamentals

Science determines evolution, and

that allow life on Earth and

adaptations in life on Earth,

gives explanations for natural

and also where our planet is in

occurences, like the seasons,

the solar system, galaxy and the

different times of day, growth

universe.

and reproduction and the atoms that make up everything on Earth. Including elements of science as a topic is important to show how Earth functions and all the encompassing elements and diversity

Topics to cover:

Communication

The inclusion of communication in

Visual aspects of communication,

an Earth artifact is fundamental.

like the use of signs and symbols,

There are numerous forms of

may be more useful to include in

communication in place all over the

an artifact intended for extra

world, ranging from all the spoken

terrestrial life as there is no

languages, to braille, and signs

need to be able to speak a language

and symbols like hierglyphics or

to interpret meaning. Mathemathic

directional signage icons that are

symbols and scientific equations

able to be interpeted universally.

can also be seen as a form of

Also, as this artifact is being

communication, as well as different

made in 2015, social networking can

sounds.

also be seen as a much used tool for communication by many people throughout the world.

Topics to cover:

Technology Technology has come a long way

showing how advanced humans are as

since the Golden Record was sent

a species and how technological

in to space in 1977, and is now a

inventions have helped to improve

key part in how society functions.

life on Earth.

ELements of technology such as the internet, mobile phones, computers,

digital cameras as

well as tablets and personal music devices are used by many people and different cultures all over the world. Also, the inclusion of some of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s technology in an Earth artifact could be good in terms of

Research

The Golden Record The contents of the record were

language, explain the origin of

selected for NASA by a committee

the spacecraft and indicate how

chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell

the record is to be played. The

University, et. al. Dr. Sagan

115 images are encoded in analogue

and his associates assembled 115

form. The remainder of the record

images and a variety of natural

is in audio, designed to be played

sounds, such as those made by

at 16-2/3 revolutions per minute.

surf, wind and thunder, birds,

The Records are to be seen as a

whales, and other animals. To this

more symbolic representation of

they added musical selections

Earth and more of a time capsule,

from different cultures and eras,

rather than a true attempt at

and spoken greetings from Earth-

communication with other space-

people in fifty-five languages, and

faring life as the possibility of

printed messages from President

them being found and even played is

Carter and U.N. Secretary General

quite small. Carl Sagan has noted,

Waldheim. Each record is encased

â&#x20AC;&#x153;this says something very hopeful

in a protective aluminium jacket,

about life on this planet.â&#x20AC;?

together with a cartridge and a needle. Instructions, in symbolic

Research

Original content The content of the original record

Also some things were not really

featured various scenes, greetings,

covered in the original record,such

music and sounds from Earth. The

as things that would portray Earth

content included information about

negatively like war or famine,

central aspects of Earth; science,

for example. However I do not

Earth scenery, humans, culture

want my version to be an almost

and language. In my version of

exact reproduction of the original

the Golden Record I will take in

so will consider new content and

to account these topics that were

how to feature these in my chosen

covered, but consider new ones to

format.

reflect todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world and society, for example technology has improved since the 1970s and is a key component in society today, so it would be important to acknowledge this in my renewed version to give an accurate portrayal of Earth.

Research

Semiotics Semiotics is The study of signs

to be able to comprehend the

and symbols and their use or

message being communicated. Also,

interpretation. They are used to

with semiotics and sybolism relying

communicate a specific message

on cultural conventions, this

and are able to be universally

is problematic as cultures vary

understood,as it is language

throughout the world and the image

through the use of globally

of a ‘woman’ ,for example, being

recognisable visual representations

a simple stick figure icon with a

of everyday artifacts and

dress is quite contentious and not

experiences that are shared.

really reflective of true humans

Creating a pictogram to include in

who are women or girls. It would be

my ‘Earth Artifact’ may be useful

hard to get across these aspects

for this reason, as it’s simplistic

of the Earth to extra-terrestrial

icons will explain Earth without

life, and so the use of semiotic

any understanding of langauges.

symbols has to be considered.

However, with semiotics there needs to be an understanding of cultural conventions and shared experiences

Research

Samantha Gibbons Samantha Gibbons is a photographer

about the kinds of interesting

who focuses mainly on capturing

textures I will shoot.

images of nature. One of the things she focuses on is textures and details of the natural world, which I think would be quite important to include in an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Earth Artifactâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, to give an idea of what our planet looks like and the conditions in which we live. It also shows the diversity of the natural world. I am going to take inspiration from her photographs of textures when taking my own photos, and thinking

Research

Primary Photos Here are some photos that I took

of both natural and synthetic

which I will use as part of my

textures, for example grass,water,

research for my project and in some

sand and pebbles, rust, metal,

of my designs, as drawing reference

hair, synthetic wood and textiles,

or just the photos themselves.

to show the variety of both the

When taking these photos I decided

natural world and that created by

to look at Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s textures as I

humans.

feel this would be a good aspect of the planet to include in an Earth Artifact, as it would give an idea of the appearance of Earth and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diversity. I took photos

Research

Michael Paukner Life on Earth Science Technology Communication

Research

Rodrigo Arteaga Life on Earth Science

Research

Hollis Brown Thornton Technology Science

Research

Paul Butt Technology Communication Science Life on Earth

Research

Peter Tonningsen Technology

Research

Aaron Kuehn Life on Earth Technology Communication Science

Research

Scientific Illustrations SCIENCE

Life on Earth

Research

Languages When NASA launched the ‘Voyager

What are the world’s most spoken

1 & 2’ spacecraft in 1977, they

languages?

included greetings in 55 of the world’s most widely understood

The world’s most widely spoken

languages.

languages by number of native speakers and as a second

Alphabets from A -z

language, according to figures from UNESCO (The United Nations’

Here are the world’s most widelyused alphabets (or scripts) which are still in use today (in alphabetical order): Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese script, Cyrillic,

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), are: Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, German and French.

Devanagari, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese script, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Latin, Sinhala, Thai and Tibetan.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/guide/languages.shtml

How many languages are there?

Endangered languages

It’s estimated that up to 7,000

Globalisation and cultural

different languages are spoken

homogenisation mean that many of

around the world. 90% of these

the world’s languages are in danger

languages are used by less than

of vanishing. UNESCO has identified

100,000 people. Over a million

2,500 languages which it claims are

people converse in 150-200

at risk of extinction.

languages and 46 languages have

One quarter of the world’s

just a single speaker.

languages are spoken by fewer than

2,200 of the world’s languages can

1,000 people and if these are not

be found in Asia, while Europe has

passed down to the next generation,

a mere 260.

they will be gone forever.

Nearly every language uses a similar grammatical structure, even though they may not be linked in vocabulary or origin. Communities which are usually isolated from each other because of mountainous geography may have developed multiple languages. Papua New Guinea for instance, boasts no less than 832 different languages.

Research

Steve McCurry I will be looking at Steve

is key in showing what life on

McCurry’s ‘Faces of the World’

Earth is really like.

photographic portraits in relation to my topic of ‘life on Earth’. His portraits define various cultures, ethnicities, genders and ages of people from all around the world which would be useful to show another life, to demonstrate the variety of life on Earth, and also an Earth Artifact featuring just one gender or race would not be very representative. Represenation

Experimentation/Development

Life On Earth

These organs were illustrated through the use of stitching in to card, which I thought would create an interesting effect,and was inspired by my research in to scientific illustrations. I will then add these to a composition also including a sketch of a human skeleton.

These illustrations were done in pencil, and inspired by my research in to the photographer Steve McCurry, and his photo portraits of different people from around the world, I thought drawing a wide variety of portraits would reflect the diversity of life on Earth well and I tried to draw people with varying characteristics to illustrate this.

I then digitally coloured the drawings and arranged the faces in a way that would look effective and display the different ethnicities, cultures, ages and genders on Earth.

These portraits could look effective as a double page spread in a book format, with the images being informative of the appearance of life on Earth without the need for much text.

These scans were inspired by Peter Tonningsen’s work, and show life on Earth through seemingly random objects that are each little pieces of humanity. They could work well in my book or informational ‘flash’ card ideas.I tried to use a wide variety of random objects, some that are culturally significant and others that are universally used objects, while considering colours and what would look well when scanned in.

Experimentation/Development

Science

Here I have used my own photos of natural and man made textures and displayed them in a way which shows little â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;slicesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the planet and what you might find here. I have also experimented with setting the textures out in circles to see which worked better.

地球 Earth Tierra पृथ्वी ‫ضرألا‬، ‫ةرُكلا‬ ‫هّيضرألا‬ পৃথিবী Земля Terra Erde Terre

This illustration I have created shows where Earth is in the solar system and the planetary alignment of our solar system. I also thought it would be useful to include multiple languahes words for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;planet Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and so wrote the word Earth in the most spoken languages in the world: Mandarin (Same as Japanese word for Earth) English Spanish Hindi Arabic Bengali Russian Portuguese German French

This is the diagram of the solar system that I used as a reference for my illustration. http://www. derbyastronomy.org/

Experimentation/Development

Communication Hello Hola 你好 ‫ ابحرم‬হ্যালো Bonjour здравствуйте こんにちは Olá Hallo përshëndetje sawubona merhaba ciao ಹಲმიესალმები lumela ‫ אלעה‬હેલો moni xin chào Сайн байна уу Dia duit салом salom ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ alo

Here I have created typographic pieces of work using different fonts showing the word ‘hello’ and then ‘Goodbye’ in multiple languages from across the world, to get across the variety of different ways in which a single word can be communicated. I experimented with different coloured backgrounds but feel the white backgrounds probably work best as the writing stands out better on the white.

Hello Hola 你好 ‫ ابحرم‬হ্যালো Bonjour здравствуйте こんにちは Olá Hallo përshëndetje sawubona merhaba ciao ಹಲმიესალმები lumela ‫ אלעה‬હેલો moni xin chào Сайн байна уу Dia duit салом salom ਸਤ ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ alo

Goodbye Adiós 再見 ‫ اعادو‬বিদায় Au Revoir До свидания さようなら adeus

Auf Wiedersehen

lamtumirë zbogom elveda arrivederci ವಿದಾಯ მშვიდობით totsiens ‫טנוזעג ַייז‬ ગુડબાય tam biêt баяртай beannacht хайр hayrlashuv ਅਲਵਿਦਾ orevwa

Goodbye Adiós 再見 ‫ اعادو‬বিদায় Au Revoir До свидания さようなら adeus

Auf Wiedersehen

Goodbye Adiós 再見 ‫ اعادو‬বিদায় Au Revoir До свидания さようなら adeus

Auf Wiedersehen

Goodbye Adiós 再見 ‫ اعادو‬বিদায় Au Revoir До свидания さようなら adeus

Auf Wiedersehen

This Braille design was created by drawing over images of the words which I downloaded from an online braille translator, The design reads: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Greetings from planet Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;which was a phrase included in the original golden record. I am going to experiment with different colours to make the design more interesting. This design shows what different forms of communication there are on planet Earth.

Speakers around the world/ Millions

Most spoken languages around the world and the number of speakers in each language

Languages

This graph is a visual representation of the number of speakers of the most spoken languages in the world today. This is a useful tool in showing the diversity in communication throughout the world.

Another form of communication is sign language.I took photos displaying the hand positions used in sign language for each letter of the alphabet, using the image opposite as a reference when taking the photos. I am going to use these photos as reference material to draw from as I feel drawings of the hand positions will look more effective.

Although sign language isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t universal as there are many different alphabets that can be signed, just as they can be spoken, but I thought it would be useful to show that sign language is another form of communication in the world. For this design I used the photos I had taken of hands signing different letters and drew these using pencil and fineliner to make the hands stand out, I then added the letters underneath the corresponding hand sign,

Experimentation/Development

Technology This illustration is inspired by Hollis Brown Thorntonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work, and shows the inside of a piece of technology. I took a photo of the inner part of a digital television box, and drew from this with colours influenced by the work of Thornton to create an interesting design and also give an insight in to the inner workings of the technology that surrounds us in the world.

Final Outcome: Book For my final outcome I have chosen

The book will be a4 sized and

to present my designs in a book

feature a front cover with the

format. I will arrange the pages

title â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;earth Artifactâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, with each

so that feature a variety of

inner page showing a different

photography and illustrations I

aspect of Earth through my

have done and place the deigns on

different designs.

pages in a way that looks most effective.

Front cover variations I decided to make the colour of this front cover a gold tone to reflect the orginal Voyager records

EARTH ARTIFACT

being gold, and chose a simple font and design as I think a simpler cover will be better to contrast with the inner pages which will contain a lot of different colours and graphic styles

地球 Earth Tierra पृथ्वी ‫ضرألا‬، ‫ةرُكلا‬ ‫هّيضرألا‬ For this design I chose a more পৃথিবী detailed unusual font that I flelt Земля looked quite futuristic and ‘space Terra age’ like which fits Erde well for the Earth Artifact theme.Terre I then added a crop of one of my design to the cover featuring Earh, but i’m not sure if the black cover works that well.

> EARTH > ARTIFACT

Front cover variations

Earth Artifact 地球神器 artefacto tierra

पृथ्वी विरूपण साक्ष्य পৃথিবীর হস্তনির্মিত বস্তু

For this design I chose to include the title ‘earth Artifact’ in the languages that are most spoken in the world, to make it representative and also the blue and white colour scheme keeps with the simplicity idea.

земля артефакт artefact de terre artefato terra Erde Artefakt

Foe this design I have again used the golden colour as I think it works well and made the title the main focus of the cover by using a large font, but a trasparent middle so he gold colour can be seen. I then added some simple star shape symbols as I felt the cover needed something more on it and the stars fit with the theme I think.

Earth Artifact

Final Cover Page

EARTH ARTIFACT

Page layout order

EARTH ARTIFACT

Earth Artifact

地球 Earth Tierra पृथ्वी ‫ضرألا‬، ‫ةرُكلا‬ ‫هّيضرألا‬ পৃথিবী Земля Terra Erde Terre

Speakers around the world/ Millions

Most spoken languages around the world and the number of speakers in each language

Languages

Goodbye Adiós 再見 ‫ اعادو‬বিদায় Au Revoir До свидания さようなら adeus

Auf Wiedersehen