I, Pencil
Target Audience
Innumerable Atencendants
Our Given Persona
No One Knows
Defining Our Persona
Briefing
No Mastermind Testimony Galore Bibliography
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Noreeen Blanluet
Understanding Our Persona
Stainless Steel
David Berman
Pecha Kucha
Leather
Alison Howard
Proposal Initial Ideas Narrative Our Mark First Ideas Refining Them Final Outcome
Cotton
Conclusion
I, Pencil My Family Tree As told to Leonard E.Read
I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and
teach. And I can teach this lesson better than can
Innumerable Antecedents
adults who can read and write.*
an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical
Just as you cannot trace your family tree back very far,
dishwasher because—well, because I am
so is it impossible for me to name and explain all my
seemingly so simple.
antecedents. But I would like to suggest enough of them
Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s all I do.
to impress upon you the richness and complexity of my You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is
Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of
interesting. And, next, I am a mystery—more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash
this earth knows how to make me. This sounds
of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a
fantastic, doesn’t it? Especially when it is realized
My family tree begins with what in fact is a tree, a cedar
mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitude relegates me to the
that there are about one and one-half billion of
of straight grain that grows in Northern California and
level of the commonplace. This is a species of the grievous error in which mankind
my kind produced in the U.S.A. each year.
Oregon. Now contemplate all the saws and trucks and
cannot too long persist without peril. For, the wise G. K. Chesterton observed, “We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.”
background.
rope and the countless other gear used in harvesting and Pick me up and look me over. What do you see?
carting the cedar logs to the railroad siding. Think of all
Not much meets the eye—there’s some wood,
the persons and the numberless skills that went into their
I, Pencil, simple though I appear to be, merit your wonder and awe, a claim I shall
lacquer, the printed labeling, graphite lead, a bit
fabrication: the mining of ore, the making of steel and
attempt to prove. In fact, if you can understand me—no, that’s too much to ask of
of metal, and an eraser.
its refinement into saws, axes, motors; the growing of
anyone—if you can become aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize, you can
hemp and bringing it through all the stages to heavy and
help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing. I have a profound lesson to
strong rope; the logging camps with their beds and mess
Innumerable Antecendents
I, Pencil
Target Audience
No One Knows
Briefing
No Mastermind
Lectures
Workshops
Testimony Galore
Research
Bibliography
Proposal
Conclusion
halls, the cookery and the raising of all the foods. Why, untold
reason women put rouge on their faces. People prefer that I look pretty, not a pallid white. The slats
thousands of persons had a hand in every cup of coffee the
are waxed and kiln dried again. How many skills went into the making of the tint and the kilns, into
loggers drink!
supplying the heat, the light and power, the belts, motors, and all the other things a mill requires? Sweepers in the mill among my ancestors? Yes, and included are the men who poured the concrete
The logs are shipped to a mill in San Leandro, California.
for the dam of a Pacific Gas & Electric Company hydroplant which supplies the mill’s power!
Can you imagine the individuals who make flat cars and rails and railroad engines and who construct and install the
Don’t overlook the ancestors present and distant who have a hand in transporting sixty carloads of
communication systems incidental thereto? These legions are
slats across the nation.
among my antecedents. Once in the pencil factory—$4,000,000 in machinery and building, all capital accumulated by thrifty Consider the millwork in San Leandro. The cedar logs are cut
and saving parents of mine—each slat is given eight grooves by a complex machine, after which
into small, pencil-length slats less than one-fourth of an inch
another machine lays leads in every other slat, applies glue, and places another slat atop—a lead
in thickness. These are kiln dried and then tinted for the same
sandwich, so to speak. Seven brothers and I are mechanically carved from this “wood-clinched” sandwich. My “lead” itself—it contains no lead at all—is complex. The graphite is mined in Ceylon. Consider these miners and those who make their many tools and the makers of the paper sacks in which the graphite is shipped and those who make the string that ties the sacks and those who put them aboard
Innumerable Antecendents
I, Pencil
Target Audience
No One Knows
Briefing
No Mastermind
Lectures
Workshops
Testimony Galore
Research
Bibliography
Proposal
Conclusion
ships and those who make the ships. Even the lighthouse keepers along the way assisted in my birth—and the harbor pilots. The graphite is mixed with clay from Mississippi in which ammonium hydroxide is used in the refining process. Then wetting agents are added such as sulfonated tallow—animal fats chemically reacted with sulfuric acid. After passing through numerous machines, the mixture finally appears as endless extrusions—as from a sausage grinder-cut to size, dried, and baked for several hours at 1,850 degrees Fahrenheit. To increase their strength and smoothness the leads are then treated with a hot mixture which includes candelilla wax from Mexico, paraffin wax, and hydrogenated natural fats. make shiny sheet brass from these products of nature. Those black rings on my ferrule are black
My cedar receives six coats of lacquer. Do you know all the
nickel. What is black nickel and how is it applied?
ingredients of lacquer? Who would think that the growers of
The complete story of why the center of my
castor beans and the refiners of castor oil are a part of it? They
ferrule has no black nickel on it would take pages
are. Why, even the processes by which the lacquer is made a
to explain.
beautiful yellow involve the skills of more persons than one can enumerate!
Then there’s my crowning glory, inelegantly Observe the labeling. That’s a film formed by applying heat to carbon black mixed with resins. How do you make resins and
referred to in the trade as “the plug,” the part man uses to erase the errors he makes with me. An ingredient called “factice” is what does
what, pray, is carbon black?
the erasing. It is a rubber-like product made by My bit of metal—the ferrule—is brass. Think of all the persons who mine zinc and copper and those who have the skills to
Innumerable Antecendents
I, Pencil
Target Audience
No One Knows
Briefing
No Mastermind
Lectures
Workshops
reacting rape-seed oil from the Dutch East Indies with sulfur chloride. Rubber, contrary to the
Testimony Galore
Research
Bibliography
Proposal
Conclusion
common notion, is only for binding purposes. Then, too, there
these millions, including the president of the
the machine that does the knurling on my bit of
are numerous vulcanizing and accelerating agents. The pumice
pencil company, who contributes more than
metal nor the president of the company performs
comes from Italy; and the pigment which gives “the plug” its
a tiny, infinitesimal bit of know-how. From the
his singular task because he wants me. Each one
color is cadmium sulfide.
standpoint of know-how the only difference
wants me less, perhaps, than does a child in the
between the miner of graphite in Ceylon and
first grade. Indeed, there are some among this
No One Knows
the logger in Oregon is in the type of know-
vast multitude who never saw a pencil nor would
Does anyone wish to challenge my earlier assertion that no
how. Neither the miner nor the logger can be
they know how to use one. Their motivation is
single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me?
dispensed with, any more than can the chemist at
other than me. Perhaps it is something like this:
the factory or the worker in the oil field—paraffin
Each of these millions sees that he can thus
being a by-product of petroleum.
exchange his tiny know-how for the goods and
Actually, millions of human beings have had a hand in my creation, no one of whom even knows more than a very few
services he needs or wants. I may or may not be
of the others. Now, you may say that I go too far in relating
Here is an astounding fact: Neither the worker
the picker of a coffee berry in far off Brazil and food growers
in the oil field nor the chemist nor the digger of
elsewhere to my creation; that this is an extreme position.
graphite or clay nor any who mans or makes the
I shall stand by my claim. There isn’t a single person in all
ships or trains or trucks nor the one who runs
Innumerable Antecendents
I, Pencil
Target Audience
No One Knows
Briefing
No Mastermind
Lectures
Workshops
among these items.
Testimony Galore
Research
Bibliography
Proposal
Conclusion
No Master Mind There is a fact still more astounding: the absence of a master mind, of anyone dictating or forcibly directing these countless actions which bring me into being. No trace of such a person can be found. Instead, we find the Invisible Hand at work. This is the mystery to which I earlier referred. It has been said that “only God can make a tree.” Why do we agree with this? Isn’t it because we realize that we ourselves could not make one? Indeed, can we even describe a tree? We cannot, except in superficial terms. We can say, for instance, that a certain molecular configuration manifests itself as a tree. But what mind is there among men that could even record, let alone direct, the constant changes in molecules that transpire in the life span of a tree? Such a feat is utterly unthinkable! I, Pencil, am a complex combination of miracles: a tree, zinc, copper, graphite, and so on. But to these miracles which manifest themselves in Nature an even more extraordinary miracle has been added: the configuration of creative human energies—millions of tiny know-hows configurating naturally and spontaneously in response to human necessity and
Innumerable Antecendents
I, Pencil
Target Audience
No One Knows
Briefing
No Mastermind
Lectures
Workshops
Testimony Galore
Research
Bibliography
Proposal
Conclusion
desire and in the absence of any human master-minding! Since only God can make a tree, I insist that only God could make me. Man can no more direct these millions of know-hows to bring me into being than he can put molecules together to create a tree. The above is what I meant when writing, “If you can become Once government has had a monopoly of a creative activity such, for instance,
aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize, you can help
as the delivery of the mails, most individuals will believe that the mails could not
save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing.” For, if one is
be efficiently delivered by men acting freely. And here is the reason: Each one
aware that these know-hows will naturally, yes, automatically,
acknowledges that he himself doesn’t know how to do all the things incident to mail
arrange themselves into creative and productive patterns in
delivery. He also recognizes that no other individual could do it. These assumptions
response to human necessity and demand—that is, in the absence
are correct. No individual possesses enough know-how to perform a nation’s mail
of governmental or any other coercive masterminding—then one
delivery any more than any individual possesses enough know-how to make a
will possess an absolutely essential ingredient for freedom: a faith
pencil. Now, in the absence of faith in free people—in the unawareness that millions
in free people. Freedom is impossible without this faith.
Innumerable Antecendents
I, Pencil
Target Audience
No One Knows
Briefing
No Mastermind
Lectures
Workshops
Testimony Galore
Research
Bibliography
Proposal
Conclusion
of tiny know-hows would naturally and miraculously form and cooperate to satisfy this necessity—the individual cannot help
been left free to try, they deliver the human voice around the world in less than one second; they
but reach the erroneous conclusion that mail can be delivered
deliver an event visually and in motion to any person’s home when it is happening; they deliver 150
only by governmental “master-minding.”
passengers from Seattle to Baltimore in less than four hours; they deliver gas from Texas to one’s range or furnace in New York at unbelievably low rates and without subsidy; they deliver each four
Testimony Galore
pounds of oil from the Persian Gulf to our Eastern Seaboard—halfway around the world—for less
If I, Pencil, were the only item that could offer testimony on
money than the government charges for delivering a one-ounce letter across the street!
what men and women can accomplish when free to try, then those with little faith would have a fair case. However, there
The lesson I have to teach is this: Leave all creative energies uninhibited. Merely organize society
is testimony galore; it’s all about us and on every hand. Mail
to act in harmony with this lesson. Let society’s legal apparatus remove all obstacles the best it can.
delivery is exceedingly simple when compared, for instance,
Permit these creative know-hows freely to flow. Have faith that free men and women will respond
to the making of an automobile or a calculating machine or
to the Invisible Hand. This faith will be confirmed. I, Pencil, seemingly simple though I am, offer the
a grain combine or a milling machine or to tens of thousands
miracle of my creation as testimony that this is a practical faith, as practical as the sun, the rain, a
of other things. Delivery? Why, in this area where men have
cedar tree, the good earth.
Innumerable Antecendents
I, Pencil
Target Audience
No One Knows
Briefing
No Mastermind
Lectures
Workshops
Testimony Galore
Research
Bibliography
Proposal
Conclusion
--Leonard E. Read (1898-1983) founded FEE in 1946 and served as its president until his death. “I, Pencil,” his most famous essay, was first published in the December 1958 issue of The Freeman. Although a few of the manufacturing details and place names have changed over the past forty years, the principles are unchanged. * My official name is “Mongol 482.” My many ingredients are assembled, fabricated, and finished by Eberhard Faber Pencil Company. --Read, Leonard E. “I, Pencil: My Family Tree as told to Leonard E. Read.” Irvingtonon-Hudson, NY: The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc. 1999. Library of Economics and Liberty [Online] available from http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/ rdPncl1.html; accessed 15 August 2012; Internet.
Innumerable Antecendents
I, Pencil
Target Audience
No One Knows
Briefing
No Mastermind
Lectures
Workshops
Testimony Galore
Research
Bibliography
Proposal
Conclusion
“Actually, millions of human beings have had a hand in my creation, no one of whom even knows more than a very few of the others.� Leonard Read
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Target Audience
As groups we picked out of a hat, a persona. Our group got given a 22-35 year old employed male. My first reaction was a bit blank as I have no relation to this age group; for me it is a vast void. It’s the sort of age where a man settles down into a comfortable job and looks to start a family if he has not already got one. From here we decided what type of person he was going to be. Was he going to be married, divorced or widowed? Does he have any children of his own, or adopted? Does he own his own business? Does he work in an office? Has he any hobbies? There were a billion questions to ask and answer.
Our Given Persona
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Defining Our Persona
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Basic Information We first decided on an age. So we went roughly
Name: Adam Deyals Ingh-Framkstan
in the middle of 22 and 35, and chose 31. Then
Age: 31
we decided that he would be a black male; there
Job: Owner of Restaraunt
was no rationale behind this. But we did decide
Earns: Between 30-35k per year
that he had a son aged 7 and that he would be
Married: Widower
a widower, as this is not a common persona we
Children: 7 year old boy
thought it would give us a challenge. We then
Residence: 2 bed studio appartment in city centre
discussed the possibility of him owning his own business, which we knew would reduce the ammount of spare time he had as it would be spent running his business. So then we decided that he ran his own restaraunt. Also, to keep him social we knew that he would still be in slight depression over the death of his wife so he would be an introvert. But if he was part of a sports team he would have friends already and so we decided that he played basketball (on hindseight this may have been a bit stereotypical, oh well!) And from there, everything else flowed. Our Given Persona
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Defining Our Persona
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Hobbies and Interests As we previously said, he was a member of his local basketball team. So he has friends to go out with drinks with occassionally, perhaps after a training session or on a Saturday night. But
Psychographic Information
being an introvert, perhaps he wouldn’t be the one to ask
We then thought of the type of person he would be. So we thought that because of him being a widower, he would be
someone to join him on a night out. In order to keep his fitness
compassionate and care lots for the people he both knows and doesnt yet know. It also led us to deciding that he would
up for basketball he is a member of the gym and goes running
be generous to his son and that he would be protective of him. Also the fact that he owns a business means that he has
regularly. Also as his age group is early thirties, we thought that
to be a motivated person and also maybe a perfectionist to excel in a carreer in catering. We also decided that he would
he’d be in keeping with up to date trends, rather than wearing
be democratic as he cares for other people and their thoughts.
stuff from the 90’s. Our Given Persona
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Defining Our Persona
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
“In hindsight this may have been stereotypical, oh well!� Matt Crowley
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
The Brief
The brief, whether we chose to accept it or not; was to firstly
and raise the awareness of the sustainablility or unsustainablility
Our Product
choose a product that was directly relatable to the graphic design
of the chosen product. We were to use the medium of one print
After brainstorming within our group, we chose 5 products:
proffession. We then were to research the materials behind our
based outcome and one on screen based outcome.
Money, Post-It Notes, Bag, Library and a pen. After deliberation we thought that a bag had a just enough information to research that
chosen product, where they came from, how they were made, who made them etc. And also how they were distributed.
And our final outcomes had to be focussed around the ‘needs’
we wouldn’t leave research out. We then thought that a bag is too
We were then to choose one of the ‘tripple bottom line’ issues
our chosen target audience.
vague, and so said that it would be a leather satchel.
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
“Imagine this design assignment: Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates microclimates, changes colors with the season, and self replicates. Why don’t we knock that down and write on it?” William McDonough
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Noreen Blanluet
As an introduction to the way of sustainable thinking we were first introduced to the two ways of thinking: ‘Linear’ and ‘Cradle to Cradle.’ Linear: When a product is made, once used it gets disposed of as it is unable to be used again. Cradle to Cradle: Where a product is made, then used, then recycled to become something else and nothing is being wasted.
Then we were introduced to the tripple bottom line way of thinking:
Learning about the Social side of sustainability was interesting
1. Enviromental: Where a product effects the planet
as it brought up what would happen to the product after it had
2. Economical: Does the profit of the product give back to local society?
been used. We were given the example of an ink carteridge;
3. Social: Is to do with the welfare of the people who make and recycle the product.
once this was recycled it would be shipped to a third world country and left for a young boy to rummage through and take the components apart. This had all sorts of health issues associated with it. So although you think you’re doing the right thing recycling the product, sometimes you’re not being quite as sustainable as you like to think.
Noreen Blanluet I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
David Berman Lectures
Alison Howard Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
David Berman
The lecture started by him opening a packet of gum. It took 5 layers of packaging for him to actually be able to eat the gum. And then this gum was to be binned after being used as it wasn’t recyclable. He then asked us if we could think of ways to re-use gum; an injectioning flavour system, for example? I had never thought about gum being recycled, I always thought of gum as being food, but obviously I knew that it wasn’t recyleable, I just never made the link until he showed me. We were then told about his life and the journey he took to where he is today. Even including his trip to a tiger temple.
The next example was of the Canadian traffic light system. The design was created specifically
He brought sustainability back to design specifically and first
for colour blind people. So to get around this
showed us some baloot papers. The ballot papers he showed us were the ones used in America. The designs for this particular ballot papers were poorly designed in that the user was confused as to which box associated to which candidate.
problem different shapes were introduced. So now people who can’t see specific colours can now recognise shapes to tell them when to go or when to stop. Clever!
Noreen Blanluet I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
David Berman Lectures
Alison Howard Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Designing For Everyone
Dont Just Do Good Design; Do Good
Before he left us he got people to stand up out of their seats if they were disabled.
The final message he left was him asking us not to just
At first 25% of us stood up. Then he explored what a disability was; in the end
do good design, but to do good. Immediately I made
we all eventually found outselves standing up. We are all disabled one way or
a connection to a hobbie of mine; surfing. There is a
another; whether or not it’s an offical disability is a different question. But we need
charity set up around the world to keep the beaches
to recognise that when we design, we aren’t just designing for one fit abled body
and sea clean, it’s called “Surfers Against Sewage”. And I
person, we are designing for somebody without an arm, who isn’t of a specific age
am now working with the Surf Society in the University
group, who doesn’t speak your language. And this I think is what’s going to be my
to organise a clean-up day at our local beach.
biggest challenge as a designer in the real world. Noreen Blanluet I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
David Berman Lectures
Alison Howard Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Alison Howard
Being the second half our our client, Alison
One of the projects she was involved with was for
She told us about other techniques to get people
couldn’t give us much more information about
waste management in Monmouthshire council.
to engage; others being giving insentives, or the
sustainability as it had already been given by
They had to introduce eco bins for food waste,
complete oposite is to give penalties if you don’t
both Noreen Blauntlet and David Berman. So this
but found people are reluctant to change. So
recycle.
lecture was more of one about what she does
they had to incorporate some sort of ‘sly’ scheme
and how to go about answering our brief.
to get people to change. The technique they
I guess the best thing to learn from this is to
employed was to use peer pressure; by using
know your audience. If you can get someone to
the people who are willing to participate in the
do something they otherwise wouldn’t you need
scheme they can use peer pressure to get those
to offer something that would be of interest or
who don’t use the bins to start using them.
of use to them. There’s no point in offering free surfboards to each participant in a handicapped society. It just wouldn’t work!
Noreen Blanluet I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
David Berman Lectures
Alison Howard Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
“Will we use it to ‘trick’ them into buying more stuff they don’t need or will we use it to share ideas that really deserve to be shared?” David Berman
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Dr Wendy Keay-Bright
Understanding our Product
Role Playing
This workshop was for us to get into our target audience and find out what they
I did not attend. I felt it would not be a
Because the member of the group would have to
actually need from the product, and how the product makes them feel. In simple,
constructive use of my time. The task was to take
give a fictional story about the product, I felt as
how to make them engange with our chosen product.
part in a role playing activity where one member
though this could be done at any time and wasn’t
of the group pretended to be the target audience
an important factor in reaching our final outcome.
We were given some tasks to complete. Each involved writing on post-it notes.
who would give a fictional story about the product. The first workshop was a lot more useful than the second. In my mind.
The first was to write any assumptions we have about the product. Secondly we had to write down how this bag made us feel. Thirdly, what do we value about this product. Fourth, we had to say how the product would be used. Fifth, we had to talk about what difficulties there might be with our product. We found that the feelings and values about the product sometimes crossed paths. For example We felt like we could do more if we had a bag, and we also valued that fact.
Understanding Our Product I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Pecha Kucha Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Olwen Mosely
Pecha Kucha We were tasked with creating a pecha kucha
At first our group panicked as it reduced the ammount of time we had to work on our project. But
presentation of our progress with our project and
anyway, we got it done and presented it to the other groups afterwards was given feedback by Olwen.
where we were going to go next. She praised us on the quality of research we had done and also the compitence of our presentation skills. But then she explored with us where we could go for our final outcome. And it became apparant that she hadn’t been briefed on what we were doing properly. She gave us ideas on how to make each of our products more sustainable or how to package our products more sustainably. To a lot of other groups this confused them a lot more as they hadn’t grasped the brief properly either and sent them off on all sorts of tangents. So to make the most of this workshop I used it as an oppurtunity to gage where we were on our timeline, and to see how much work we had left to do.
Understanding Our Product I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Pecha Kucha Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
“When there are tiers of meaning in an ad it intrigues the audience and they look for it again and again. “ William Shanter
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Stainless Steel
The two key ingredients of stainless steel are Iron Alloy and
The Making Process
Chromium. By adding the chromium it stops the iron alloy from
It starts by blowing up the ground with explosives. Then
sheets between 65mm and 25mm thick. Once the steel has
corroding, making it long lasting and appealing in looks.
the rock is grounded up and using powerful magnets
cooled down it is then rolled back and forth again between 3mm
the iron ore is sperated from the rock. Then the iron is
and 65mm. From this point the sheets are cut into different sizes
The Discovery
heated in incredibly powerful ovens and mixed with lime
and then ready to be shipped off to customers.
Metal has been around for hundreds of years but was enginered
to extract all most of the impurities to make it a stronger
to stop coroding in 1821, by one Pierre Berthier (a French
material. Then the raw iron is left to cool as giant slabs.
Where It Comes From
metallurgist.) It wasn’t until 1912 when the stainless steel we
To turn the raw iron into Stainless Steel, the iron is melted
China has the biggest export of iron ore by more than 700
use today was created. It was first used for cutlery sets, most
again and pure oxygen is blown through the melted
metric tonnes. The largest stainless steel factory in the world
commonly known for in the Savoy Hotel in London.
iron reducing the impurities again. Once this process
is in Malaysia and in 2020 the 1.6 US Billion Dollar plant shall
is completed, different kinds of metals can be added to
produce more than 182,000 tonnes of cold steel in one year.
create different types of steel. To make stainless steel you
Recyclability
add Chromium.
Stainless steel is 100% recyclable. In 2007 27 million tonnes of These slabs while still at a temperature between
stainless steel was created and 16 million tonnes of that came
1,100 - 1,300 degrees centigrade are rolled out to create
from recycled material.
Stainless Steel I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Leather Lectures
Cotton Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Leather
Where It Comes From The majority of leather comes from India. The conditions for animals in India, particularly cows, are diar. The cattle is malnourished and made to walk long distances to reach illegal transport trucks to take them to the slaughterhouse. In the slaughterhouse cows’ throats are slit while they are still conscious. Of the cows that comes from India, 40% of the profit comes from the cows’ hide; whereas in Britain, it’s only 20%. The leather is hide is then taken to leather tanneries within India. I managed to find a real life story of one tannery worker. Chemicals such as chromium, acids and ammonium salts. All of which have detrimental factors. If these chemicals are induced into the body it can cause anything from leukemia to cancer. Studies show that populations near a leather tannery have high levels of leukemia. Click here to see the interview.
Stainless Steel I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Leather Lectures
Cotton Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Cotton
Where It Comes From
Sustainability
Cotton originally comes from a plant grown in fields. And the largest producer of cotton is America.
Cotton farmers still use pesticides. These can have health effects
The plants are sewn by tractors with spreaders that sew as many as 10 to 24 rows at a time. After
on the farmers which are degenerate. The most popular illness
6 weeks fluffy buds start to appear on the plants which looks like white candy floss. Because of the
is leukemia. But it is a fact that in the past 5 years there has been
money America has, cotton farmers use machines to harvest the cotton buds from the plants. This
a 22% increase in organic cotton farming. All cotton can be
cotton is then baled into giant loaf shapes weighing around 200k each. These ‘loaves’ are then sold
recycled again, especially in clothing as unwanted clothes can
to customers to be weaved into thread.
be sent to developing countires for other people to wear.
When it is woven, machines break down the bales, cleans the fibres and then lays them down next to each other. These fibres then turn into yarn by spinning frames which roate at a rate of 2,500 revolations per seconds. This yarn is then woven using a loom as it has been done for hundreds of years, just on a faster scale. Once woven it is then ready to be bleached and dyed into whatever colour chosen.
Stainless Steel I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Leather Lectures
Cotton Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
“The last four years I have worked no more than ten days per month. If I work more, the itching starts. It is unbearable. The doctor’s ointment doesn’t help much. But I need to work so my family can live” Venkatesh
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Initial Ideas
The Bag Tag
The School’s Initiative
Guerilla Advertising
On screen would be an advert, telling people to look out for a
The printed outcome would be a booklet giving certain
- Bag strap padding with printed ‘Mark’
tags on the leather satchels that they buy
information about leather products. The booklet would also hold
- Moss painting of a ‘Mark’
The print would be a tag that went onto the bag which had on
a weblink for the children to go to with their parents when they
- Get sports teams to hold a ‘Mark’
it the life story of the bag (where it’s come from, who made it,
got home.
- Bus shelter posters of ‘Mark’
what went into making it etc.)
On screen, after the child and parent has loaded the webpage
- Print ‘Mark’ onto stuffing that comes in bags in the shop
from the booklet, would be an online quiz/game that would
The Bag Book
involve both the parent and child.
The Guerilla Advertising ideas soon turned into something
On each leather satchel would be a printed booklet explaining
major within our ideas. We developed the sloagans “What are
the steps that go into creating that bag.
What Are You Carrying On Your Shoulders?
you leaving behind for your child?” and “Who are you carrying
On screen would be an advert which would appear on youtube
Printed would be a poster that would advertise a website for
on your shoulders?” These both fitted into the insights of our
adverts and also on television ads telling people to look out for
people to go to.
persona. We then thought of what applications these slogans
these books that were attached to bags.
The website itself would explain to people the effect that the
could go on in relation to satchels:
satchel has on the people who make it.
- Straps - Pin-ons/ Stick-ons
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
We found that this idea could work across many levels for the
- Stencils for people to decal their bag with
print based outcome as it lends itself to guerilla advertising. By
- Keyrings to attatch to zips
creating a ‘Mark’ it would create curiosity among people to find
- Bands to attach to bag straps
out what it meant.
- Rain protectors
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Narrative
The whole idea of this project was to communicate a narrative
So we then took all of our ideas and thought of which ones would work best. We
to an audience; our audience would connect to a particular
decided that we liked our Guerilla best. But during tutorials we realised that we only
narrative if he could relate to it. So taking into account the
liked it because it appealed to us the most, we didn’t really take into account our
tripple bottom line way of thinking, we thought our audience
given persona.
would connect to a social narrative best. So when we thought again we needed an idea that would force our persona to interact with it. So looking back over our initial ideas we thought that a television advertisment would work best as he is forced to watch it when he’s watching TV. So that took care of our on screen. For the print based outcome we thought that the stuffing that you get on the inside of a bag would work best as he is forced to interact with that in order to use the bag. It also had another ecological benefit in that we weren’t adding any more materials to the bag as we were using what’s already there, as opposed to adding more material like straps for the bag.
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Our Mark
We knew we needed a ‘Mark’ to symbolise our campaign. This symbol would go alongside our slogan ‘Who are you carrying on your shoulders?’ So we thought about ideas that would tie with carrying on your shoulders. For my sketches of our symbol i chose abstract images/ lines I didn’t want to be too literal with the mark.
Our final ‘Mark’ was designed by Tom. His idea
Plus if I could create a line drawing that connected at the end then that would tie
was abstract looking but wasn’t too abstract for
into the idea of sustainability and the cradle to cradle concept.
people to not understand what the image was. The chosen ‘Mark’ is in the banner at the top of the page.
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
First Designs Ideas
Stylising The logo Tom had made was a single colour vector image. It looked very clinical and lacked personality and empathy. So I thought the way around this would be to create the image by hand; have uneven edges, blotchy colouring. The personal touch.
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Designs Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Start of the Infographics When Tom mocked up some page layouts we decided immediately that we didn’t want it to be too text heavy. So the way around giving information quickly and clearly was to use infographics. So again in-keeping with a house style, I made the images hand drawn. I also at this stage started playing around with my own hand drawn typefaces.
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
The Typeface I wanted a typeface both for the headings and for body text. So for the heading typeface, I chose a condensed capitals similar to that of Bebas. The letters themselves didn’t have clean edges, weren’t fully coloured in, weren’t symetrical; so they looked hand drawn in simple. The body text was a lowercase geometrial typeface. As it was drawn by free-hand, I tried as much as I could to keep them symetrical but this is physically impossible.
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Click to activate
The Video Our initial idea was to have someone as a narrator explaining what our campaign was there for. In order to keep it engaging we wanted something where the filmed person could interact with computer based images that would
The Filming
be added to the back ground later.
The filming couldn’t have gone more to plan than we had expected. Jack (Tom’s brother) was shy at first but soon loosened up and was able to add some character to the narration. We got him to incorporate some hand actions; for example when he raised his hand we would then try to animate
We thought for our narrator that it would work
an image hovering on his hand.
best if we had a young person to speak. As our target audience has a child of his own and we felt
The Illustrations
he would pay more attention to the advert if the
The illustrations we had related to what Jack was talking about. For example he spoke about the products of the bag, and to his side the products
voice was of a child’s. Luckily Tom has a 9 year
would appear. These products would then turn into the people who manufacture those products. Then the people would be placed onto a map of
old brother who had an inset day at his school
the world showing the distances between where each product has come from in order to create the final satchel. These people then turned into our
and took the day to come up to Cardiff and help
‘Mark’ as the map of the world disappears. The people line up as Jack finishes his narrative. Then all by one people fade away and the one left. fills
us do some filming.
the screen.
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Refining Refining Them Them
By scanning the hand-drawn vectors into the computer we were then able to manipulate them on screen using Adobe Illustrator.
After thinking about the material that the poster would be printed on, we decided to change our colour scheme. We found that we were able to print on brown paper, which would darken the colours we have and also give them a sepia tint. And to keep things simple, we’re only using two colours, marron and charcoal.
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
The Video After a tutorial with Neil it was clear to us that the sound quality
We also needed the title of our campaign; “Who are you carrying
of the video was not great as we had background noise of the
on your shoulders” at the end of our video next to our ‘Mark’ so
diggers outside. We needed to clear this up by using software
it was really emphasised to the viewer.
from the internet. One thing we needed to do in our video, but we couldn’t do as we had a lack of time on our hands; was to make the intro text act as though it was hopping onto shoulders, or the back of a person. The way the text acts at the minute is a simple kinetic type animation, but making that tie into the whole idea of carrying someone on your shoulder would be great for emphasising our campaign.
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Final Outcome
Click to activate
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
Initial Ideas I, Pencil
Target Audience
Narrative
Our Mark Briefing
Lectures
First Ideas Workshops
Refining Them Research
Final Outcome Proposal
Conclusion
“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.� Albert Einstein
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
Conclusion
How I Felt Towards The Project Before I Started
to me, and was incredibly easy to understand. We all accepted
research we have collected has seemed to
It has to be said that I wasn’t hugely looking forward to the project. Sustainability
that we had a responsability to be sustainable in graphic design,
impress anyone who has asked us about
is like cleaning your room, you’re always nagged to do it because you can’t be
and we all accepted that the responsability started last year.
our research but this research could’ve
bothered. But when it is done, you usually are happy that you’ve done it. I knew
I’ve personally been effecting the world for 19 years of it’s four
been done in one week. Other areas such
sustainability as a green box which you had to fill with used items that sat infront of
and a half billion years of existence and only been aware of the
as the designing stage could be done in
your house every Wednesday morning to be collected by some guys with facial hair
ecological side of the effects I’ve had for about 8 years. I’ve only
less than two weeks. I appreciate the time it
and gloves bigger than Mickey Mouse.
been aware of the effects I’m having on other people and on the
takes to get settled into new surroundings
ecnomical system for the past 10 weeks.
again and also that tutors can’t be on hand every single second of the day as there are
But on the other hand I was looking forward to learning more of the applications that InDesign has available to use. I’ve not created a journal before, so although it
I now feel more compitent with the utilities that InDesign has
other students to look after. But I do feel
was new to me I thought it might be a great idea seeing how my ideas came about
to offer and see it much more than just software to use for page
that the time it has taken to do this project
and also reviewing what happened over the 10 weeks.
layout.
could’ve been shorter.
How I Felt Towards The Project When I Finished
I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to the making
SUSTAINABILITY WAS MORE THAN JUST PREVENTING THE OZONE LAYER FROM
of this project. But I do however feel as though the project
BEING DESTROYED?! The tripple bottom line way of thinking was completely new
could’ve been finished in less than ten weeks. The ammount of
I, Pencil
Target Audience
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
What Have I Learnt? I’ve learnt that sustainability is actually quite high up on graphic design agency’s lists. It could affect my chances of getting a job if I do not take sustainability more serriously.
What Have I Appreciated About This Project I appreciate the time and effort both my tutors and outside lecturers have taken to help us learn. For that I would like to both congratulate and tank them for helping me understand what I, both as an everyday person and as a designer, is involved in. I appreciate also the ammount of effort it takes to work as a group to compromise and also to communicate with each other. Ideas, I have noticed, if not communicated properly can get pushed to the side and don’t have the chance to evolve into a great idea.
What Would I Have Changed About My Approach and My Designs I wish personally I worked harder to work with my group. The way I manage my time was completely different to the other two people’s time management, in my group. The effects of which led me to doing the least work within the group and I do feel bad for that.
I, Pencil
Target Audience
I feel the content of our outomces and that we hit the brief with the outcome 100%. I do however feel as though the style of our designs let us down. The way we came up with our style was for both Tom and I to come up with some illustrations for the ‘Mark’. Tom has a style
Briefing
Lectures
Workshops
Research
Proposal
Conclusion
which uses vectors and is very ‘infographic-like’. Although we did use infographics in our designs, I feel that we didn’t need to use condensed type and block colour illustrations. I think if we worked on it more and didn’t just go forward with one style on the table; that it could’ve been better in that it may have suited our target audience better as well as achieving an empathetic style. That being said I am pleased with our outcomes as they are.
“ Show up. Pay attention. Tell the truth. And don’t be attached to the results.” Barney Bubbles