Rationale This is a D&AD brief by Dropbox and in collaboration with Craig Oldham. The aim was to design a solution that will motivate or effect change. The outcome must agitate, educate, and inspire an audience to get behind the cause. The brief specified that the final product must be a graphic design response and have a minimum of two touchpoints including at least one physical and one digital element. This response will be in aid of Surfers Against Sewage and aim to highlight the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans around the UK and further afield.
Research Research in to Surfers Against Sewage found that the charity cover many areas of ocean conservation within their work. They work to clean beaches, reduce plastic pollution and improve water quality. They mainly focus on education, in particular, children of primary school age. They run 4 education programmes across the UK with the aim of giving pupils the tools to make a change and encourage others. There other main audience is holiday makers, locals and surfers. The charity was set up in the 90’s to tackle the problem of water pollution. Because of their efforts, the
UK have seen a better sewerage infrastructure and higher water standards. The charity has grown to tackle marine plastic pollution and climate change. Research has shown that the graphic imagery used to support their campaigns is quite dark and shocking. Although this is a common tactic used in charity advertising it doesn’t seem to fit with their target demographic of primary school children. In response to this the outcome will be much more suitable for children. This can be done by making the imagery and message meaningful but less aggressive.
Concepts In the concept stage, it was important to consider the brief. The outcome must have a physical and digital response and the work project is in association with Craig Oldham, whose work is witty but always communicates a strong message. The outcome must have a physical and digital touchpoint which is aimed a primary school children aged 7 – 11 years old. It must be accessible for this age group and successfully communicate a message that encourages the audience to reduce their individual impact on plastic pollution. A strong visual language is important across both touchpoints. It must be obvious that the social media campaign and the product are connected.
Prototypes Idea 1 Create a booklet or publication that illustrates the impact that plastic pollution is having on both the coastline and the ocean. It would include illustrations to show the damage, rather than masses of text. This will make it more accessible to younger children. The book would be printed on paper that biodegrades or disintegrates when in contact with water. This will show what it means to have zero waste. The inks will be non-toxic and non-harmful. The digital element would involve a social media campaign to promote the booklet and what can be done to reduce individual impact. The social media campaign will include animate versions of the illustrations in the booklet.
Idea 2 An information leaflet based on the ‘Single Serving friends’ monologue from the Fight Club film. The leaflet will contain information on how to reduce your use of single serving plastics. The associated digital element will consist of a social media campaign. The campaign will aim to encourage people to add to the list of single use plastics to raise awareness of how many there are. This will coincide with useful information on how to reduce waste.
Idea 3 Create a poster series that will grab the attention of beach goers as well as the coast line community. The posters will be typographically heavy, like Craig’s work. They will use humour to get the message across. This idea will focus more on the digital element as an app will be created to allow the public to create their own posters and share them on social media sites. This will be used alongside an associated hashtag to create a collection of posters that could come together as a gallery exhibit. Idea 1 was chosen to develop further as it is the most relevant for the target audience.
Development The illustrations started as hand drawn sketches. Alterations were made to make sure the narrative flowed well and was strong. Colour schemes were taken from photographs of the sea side and were inspired by existing illustrations, including 1950’s and 60’s railway posters that are graphic in style. The colours played an important role in the narrative of the story. The lighter, warmer colours are used in the first illustrations in the booklet. The illustrations that use these colours show what people enjoy about the coastline like building sand castles and going surfing. As the story progresses the colours darken. The darker colours highlight the negative impact plastic pollution is having. The illustrations were developed further by adding texture. Sizing was also considered. The booklet had to be smaller than A5 so it could be printed on A3 paper with bleed and crop marks. If the booklet was A5 or larger it would increase costs significantly. Other costing consideration were the materials used. Originally the booklet was to be printed on soluble paper so the whole artefact would dissolve on contact with water to promote zero waste. However, this would be very expensive to print. As a compromise, a letter page was added. This will be printed on soluble paper. The design includes tear marks to encourage the page to be ripped out and delivered to the ocean. This development made the title stronger and gave the booklet an interactive aspect. It also means the booklet can be kept, because of this the ‘what can YOU do’ page was added, which repeats the same information. The typeface chosen is Source Sans Black. It is consistent with that used in the Surfers Against Sewage logo, keeping the design as consistent as possible.
Social Media Campaign The brief specifies that there must be a digital touch point involved in the response. An Instagram account was created. These features animations of the illustrations as well as still images. The illustrations are taken directly from the booklet which keeps consistency of style and ties the two touch points together. The account also provides link to the Surfers Against Sewage website as well as information on how to reduce plastic pollution.
Final Outcome and Evaluation. This brief was the biggest undertaken for OUGD503. This is shown in the amount of development work and the re working of both artwork and layout. The brief has been met as it is graphic response that involves both a digital and physical touchpoint. The final outcome is appropriate for the target age group as there is minimal language involved and the narrative through the illustrations means the message is easily understood without the input of language. The digital element is more appropriate for the older end of the target audience spectrum. It helps promote Surfers Against Sewage work while having clear links to the physical object. The response from existing Instagram users has been very positive, it would be great to gain the attention of Surfers Against Sewage with this platform. The love story aspect could have been developed further. I feel the written content could have been romanticised further to make the title fit better with the final product, however, copy is not strong point of mine. I also think this problem reoccurs on the social media aspect of the outcome. It is not clear why the account is called ‘A Love Letter to the Ocean’ until the audience member sees the physical product. This could be corrected in time with more posts on the account.