One Small Step: Exploring communication design-led intervention for change by Reuben DSilva

DIPLOMA PROJECT diploma project One Small Step: Exploring communication design-led a Family of for modular intervention changecondensed devanagari Fonts Sponsor::Codesign Brand Consultants, Gurgaon Sponsor Indian Type Foundry, Ahmedabad

Volume : 1 STUDENT : REUBEN JEROME Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;SILVA STudenT DISCIPLINE: SaNcHit : Graphic SaWaria Design progrAmme diploma program in designin Design PROGRAMME : Graduate Graduate Diploma Programme guIde : immaNUel SUreSH GUIDE : IMMANUEL SURESH

2012 2014 commUNicatioN deSiGN FacUltY

COMMUNICATION DESIGN FACULTY

National institute of design ahmedabad

The evaluation jury recommends for the

Reuben Jerome D'SILVA Diploma of The National Institute of Design In Communication Design

herewith, for the project titled

One Small Step Exploring communication design-led intervention for change On fulfilling the further requirements by *

Chairman

Member 1

Member 2

Member 3

Member 4

*Subsequent remarks regarding fulfilling the requirements

Registrar (Academics)

2â&#x20AC;&#x192;

Reuben dsilvaâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; diploma document 2014

ORIGINALITY STATEMENT I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and it contains no full or substantial copy of previously published material, or it does not even contain substantial proporti ons of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of any other educati onal insti tuti on, except where due acknowledgement is made in this diploma project. Moreover I also declare that none of the concepts are borrowed or copied without due acknowledgement. I further declare that the intellectual content of this Diploma Project is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. This diploma project (or part of it) was not and will not be submitted as assessed work in any other academic course. Student Name in Full: Reuben

Jerome D'Silva

Signature: Date:

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT I hereby grant the National Institute of Design the right to archive and to make available my diploma project/thesis/dissertation in whole or in part in the Institute’s Knowledge Management Centre in all forms of media, now or hereaft er known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act. I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my document or I have obtained permission to use copyright material. Student Name in Full: Reuben

Jerome D'Silva

Signature: Date:

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Hello 6

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Background 12 An Introduction to my Diploma Project 16 Information Collection 28 What Defines Rising? 72 First Small Step: MISSING Poster Series 78

Designing an activity calendar 88 Designing a game 106 Designing a gardening kit 126 Designing a booklet 134

Making an animation film 146 Stop-motion experiments 154 Building a story 168 Making the animatic 190 Adding sound 194 Designing characters 206 Exploring visual treatment 218 Animating the film 232

acknowledgements 250 Epilogue 252 References 254

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

What is inside this document Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Synopsis

Rising explores the power of visual communication to create awareness and encourage positive action. Through its various initiatives, Rising addresses different social, environmental and cultural issues, through content and its design. We choose our immediate environment in Gurgaon as a context for work. It was followed by secondary research through internet and newspapers to understand the background and issues that exist. This was done alongside our primary research which involved field documentation and note-taking to identify a feasible point of intervention. We tried to learn more about how design can instigate change in the given circumstance through brainstorming , scenario building and referring to case studies on design activism. Our process was extremely non-linear as we logically yet unpredictably dabbled with different approaches and possibilities to use design as a catalyst for change. After a thorough exploration of numerous directions in which the intent of the project could manifest, we decided to take up a story that encourages eco-friendly actions for middle-school children and narrate it through a short animation film. Executing this vision, took me through steps like storyboarding, scriptwriting, character design, visual treatment, sound design and the related tools and software. Being a medium that was completely unknown to me prior to this project, it offered me a chance to learn something new and see communication design from a very different persepective. It has re-inforced my belief in the ability for communication design to make a difference and opened me to the possibility of working with animation in my future work.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Background

The National Institute m Design

NID is internationally acclaimed as one of the foremost multi-disciplinary institutions in the field of design education and research.

A brief history of the institute The Business Week has listed the programme at the National Institute of Design as one of the top twenty-five European and Asian programmes in the world. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India) NID is recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) under the Ministry of Science and Technology, as a scientific and industrial design research organisation.

The India Report

The institute has been a pioneer in design education after the Bauhaus and Ulm in Germany and is known for its pursuit of design excellence. The graduates of the National Institute of Design have made a mark in key sectors of commerce, industry and social development.

During the early years of post independence India, manifold changes were taking place in the country’s economic and social scenario and in production processes with the introduction of new technology even in the remotest parts of the sub-continent. There were at that time, great thinkers who realized that the process of development demanded a closer look at the future policies and resources that would later determine the pattern and pace of growth envisioned for the India of the future. The Industrial Policy Resolution of 1953 outlined these concerns and indicated broad guidelines. It was as a result of these activities that the Government of India invited renowned designers, Charles and Ray Eames, to recommend a programme of design to serve as an aid to the newly established industries in India. On the basis of their ground breaking and insightful document– The India Report, the Government of India set up the National Institute of Design in 1961 as an institution for research, service and training in industrial design and visual communication.

Charles and Ray Eames

Eames Plaza at NID, Paldi (Image: Nandit Desai)

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

From my first day at NID, I developed a strong bond with the spaces and people that formed the campus. The learning atmosphere, living environment, fresh perspectives and diverse student population made for a mild culture shock, especially after coming from a sheltered life at home and a regimented state education system.

Through their frequent usage in classes and conversations I came to understand what terms like constraints, context, exploration and process meant. The combination of academic work and life outside the studio shaped a strong sense of individuality, expressive freedom and self-confidence in not just me but most people around me. We were encouraged to have an opinion, to think for ourselves, be bold and to think big. From theatre to football to recreational music to parties, NID kept throwing things in my direction. Somethings I’ve held onto, some I’ve probably ignored. But what is for sure is that I’ve tasted much more than I would ever have if I was an engineer today.

NID and Me I discovered this career called ‘design’ and learnt about the existence of NID in the 12th std. Over a brief conversation with Mr. Mishra, a then professor of the J.J. College of Art & Architecture, I came to learn of NID which was described as somewhat the place-to-be for any student, who enjoyed drawing and colouring through school and never imagined they could make a lucrative career off it. After some light online reading, I learnt more and decided to apply. I had no clue as to what learning design entailed or the job opportunities or remuneration it held. It was just some blind belief that this place could mould an expressive mind with some drawing talent into a working professional in four years. Apart from that, being a student oriented towards the sciences, my career options had dwindled to engineering and architecture. So one can see why the option was an attractive one. That year, I expectedly failed to get through even the first phase of the NID admission test. I resorted to a seat in engineering college. A year later, I hesitantly reapplied, not hoping for too much different. But before I knew it, I was being offered an opportunity to train to be a designer. I jumped ships and this turned my world on it’s head, in the best way possible.

My student identification card issued

Significance of diploma project at NID

From my first experience of NID, I developed a strong bond with the spaces and people that formed the campus. There was a sense of belonging and peace that I felt. The learning atmosphere, living environment, fresh perspectives and diverse student population made for a mild culture shock, especially after coming from a sheltered life at home and from a regimented state education system.

Over the following years, I was slowly exposed to the sweet novelties of this learning model– ‘Learning by doing.’

The undergraduate programme at the institute is an intensive, four year course which is concluded with a four-six month project in the industry. The project is aimed at allowing the students a first hand experience in a professional set-up while being guided by experienced faculty members and informed by industry professionals. The diploma project is the concluding chapter in the journey of a student at the National Institute of Design. The reason I believe it holds so much value is because it is not only expected to tie together four years of learning but because it is undertaken at a juncture at which a student concludes an academic career and commences a professional one. It unravels this important transition.

Over the following years, I was slowly exposed to the sweet novelties of this learning model-Learning by doing. The courses that I undertook were each unique. There was no overlying logic or method as to how things must be learnt. The assignments all sounded odd and unclear. Criteria for assessment too was more descriptive, personal and qualitative. We were encouraged to use multiple senses while working, to be aware of things around us. To be open to different ways of approaching one thing and the possibility that problems can have innumerable valid answers. In general, an introduction to the shapeless, subjective entity that is design. The Foundation studio at NID, Ahmedabad

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

An introduction to my diploma project

Where I did it What I did & Why I did it

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Being the final project of your academic career, I think it’s quite natural for any student to assume a good amount of pressure when it comes to picking a graduation project. The dip di?emma I was sub-consciously juggling two questions— 1. What I would love to do for this project and 2. What I should do for this project. In the first case, I came up with ideas like traveling India and publishing a personal experience of my journeys, taking the opportunity to learn a new media or getting a huge break by landing some commercial project with a big-time international graphic design studio that would launch my career into another orbit. And in the second case I was being more pragmatic. Thinking about what was the work I had done so far and what were the missing chunks in my academic learning that I needed to fill in. Trying to decide what sort of work could vitalise my resume or help me project myself as a graphic designer with balanced skill set and portfolio complete with all the favoured essentials. I thought that maybe I could choose to apply to studios that specialise in the specific work that I was interested in. On the other hand, I figured

that if I’m not clear on what I want, I should probably begin applying to an interesting place and see the kind of responses it generated. What if there’s something out there that I would have never dreamed of wanting to do but given the opportunity and the right atmosphere would be happy to? After all this brooding interspersed with some conversations with faculty and seniors, I identified two things I knew I was looking for– • A project that I could take up from scratch and really dig my teeth into • A project that would expose me to something beyond the graphic design template or a category of work that I had undertaken in the past.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Where ? Codesign is a brand identity and communication design practice, based in Gurgaon, India. With a decade of work with Indian and international brands/organizations across sectors, Codesign brings equal parts of experience and imaginativeness, to create meaningful brand and communication design. As a creative collective, Codesign also initiates independent projects, exploring the role of design and its unfolding transformation in India. The independent body of work contributes to keener insights into both the process and practice of design. Codesign and its people have been featured extensively in Indian and international media, for their work, awards and lectures.

Why I applied to Codesign for my diploma project? I had known of Codesign since second year and was particularly impressed with the work they were producing. It was the first place I decided to apply to. A week later, Mohor (Director at Codesign) introduced me to Rising and offered me the project as a diploma opportunity. Codesign is a studio that has proven it’s willingness to explore the relevance of design outside the traditional consultancy sphere. Apart from high-quality design work for clients, Unbox festival and Dekho are two successful projects that the studio has executed in the recent past which challenge the exclusively client servicing studio model of the past era. What this also means is that the team has the guts in addition to the experience which is required to nail self-initiated projects. Codesign has mentored diploma students from NID in the past which means that it is well-versed with the academic requirement and implications. Meaningful work, enthusiastic people and plain curiosity were strong motivators for me to apply.

ÙÚUnbox Festival

ÙDekho: Conversations on design in India

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

What?

How it all began

Rising began as a reaction to the world around us and issues that affect us, through the lens of Codesign’s core competency as visual communication designers. While a large percentage of projects were being commissioned by for-profit clients, the occasional project in the development sector, gave room to think about leveraging the same skills of communicating and change-making to address social issues.

ÙPosters from Gorilla exhibition as part of first edition of Rising

Rising explores the power of visual communication to create awareness and encourage positive action. It is an effort to make designers sit up and take a long hard look at the world around them. If we look hard enough, chances are that we will ask the right questions and find some answers. Through its various initiatives, Rising will address different social, environmental and cultural issues and ways to address them, through content and its design. It is created and supported by Codesign.

In the second edition of the multidisciplinary festival UnBox in 2012, co-founded by Codesign, the studio curated a thought-provoking series of lectures by creative and media professionals who were using their skills to address issues and initiate change.

The speakers included Sonali Khan (Breakthrough), Stalin (Video Volunteers) and Richard van der Laken & Pepijn Zurburg (The Daily Gorilla). Each of these speakers, through their work, had demonstrated the power of communication design as a catalyst for change. In parallel Codesign curated a public exhibition of powerful work from Breakthrough, The Daily Gorilla and The Great Indian Clearance Sale. Open to the public, the exhibition triggered several conversations and a great deal of optimism in the ability of the designer to influence and affect change. In the following year, the second edition of the exhibition showcased a disturbing photo-journalistic account of the 1884 Sikh rights, presented by activist-lawyer HS Phoolka—in an attempt to keep alive the delayed process of justice. Somewhere, between these two years, there was also an internal short-lived attempt within the studio to create powerful visual commentary on local news through a dedicated Facebook page.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

After a hiatus of about six months, the studio sat down again to look at the learnings from the past Rising efforts, to understand the best possible manner in which the urge to do something could be channelized.

One key outcome of this, was the decision to not formulate a particular format of execution or address a laundry list of issues. The studio decided to scale back the vision, to a more personal and immediate environment, and addressing issues that affected them as individuals. This decision made the intent more localized, but also brought it closer to personal experience, the idea being—let’s start by making a difference, here and now—with the hope that this could serve as inspiration and proof-of-concept that as a small group of individuals you can make a difference. The other outcome, was the decision to not run Rising as a side-project, but a dedicated effort with dedicated designers, time and resources. Two projects, including One Small Step, are the first two initiatives to both understand and prove the efficacy of the model. In the future, subject to support and funding, these two projects will serve as a launch pad for larger dialogue and platform around design-led activism.

Rising 2014: What makes it significant

This year the studio is turning it’s commitment up a notch. Curation of commendable work and designing like-able posters can only do so much. The studio feels the need to take upon itself the responsibility to make a concrete difference; to test it’s footing by following it up with more intensive ‘doing’ even if on a small scale; to get it’s hands dirty and put it’s money where it’s mouth is. This shift is what makes this year’s edition of Rising so significant.

ÙPosters showcased on Rising website

Great Indian Clearance Sale was a key turning point in how the studio viewed Rising.

Concerns that it aims to address • Statistics and data are not compelling in isolation. Until we have a sense of how they affect our immediate lives, they are of little importance. • People do not understand how several issues/ problems in environment, society, economy are connected. • Many awareness initiatives are a comment on how bad things are. But they do not tell you how you can make it better.

Children as stakeholders At the outset, an audience that the project chose to address was children.

• Kids will inherit this earth • They are more open to change and are less habituated to negative social constructs • They have influence amongst family as well as peer group members

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Why? When I applied for this project, I was not sure what to expect. I knew that the studio had undertaken a good amount of self-initiated work in the form of Dekho and Unbox Festival. Though extremely unclear, I knew I was looking for something very different from the kind of work I had done so far. When I was told about Rising, I knew there was something about it that was new and unexplored. With the given background of the project, Fazal (my graphic design batch mate) and I were invited by Codesign to undertake the project. It was initially undecided if we would work on the same executable or take up independent directions. Through an introduction over the phone (and an e-mail brief), I got a clear of idea of what the project was trying to do; in other words – it’s intent. I had much to gain personally from such an experience.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Design for social change What attracted me to the opportunity was the fact that it aimed to use design to achieve positive social change. This is rarely the honest intent of projects in the design industry. From my limited experience with designers and their work, I have realised that most projects are to help clients sell more by projecting them in the most appealing and honest way possible. And the reason clients want to invest in design is so that they can establish a stronger presence and hence, sell themselves to more people. (I use the word ‘sell’ here in a literal and figurative sense)

Digging deep and wide In this scenario, work would involve constructing content as well as shaping it. I had a taste of this in my first classroom project and found it very challenging. At the same time, it taught me a lot of lessons. With that behind me, I felt more confident giving myself another shot at a project with this kind of open-endedness. Especially with the backing and guidance of a studio like Codesign.

Fresh perspective Another reason this project felt worthwhile at that point of time was because I had never attempted a project that aims to communicate to kids. Doing this would offer me a fresh communication challenge and teach me a lot. There is much to be learnt from how children think and see things that resonate with good design.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

taRgEt gROuP

Diploma Project Proposal One Small Step

• Children: Because they will inherit this earth Because they are open to change Because they can influence behaviour within their family and peer group

working title

• Teachers & Parents: who can use it as an educational tool for children by Reuben Dsilva S0900052/Graphic Design Joining batch 2009-2010

POSSIBLE OutCOmES • Small Book(s) / Foldout posters • Small website (web-based resource + with downloadable content)

under the guidance of Immanuel Suresh Activity Chairperson, Design Foundation Studies National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

POSSIBLE DIStRIButION NEtWORk • Schools

with Codesign Brand Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon, Haryana.

• Non-profit organizations which work with kids, like Jodo Gyan etc • Cultural & Educational Foundations (like iDiscoveri, British Council Library) • Codesign online store

Background | Project Rising

SCOPE Of WORk

Apathy, despite access to information, troubles us. The truth is, that information means nothing, if it does not move you. Project Rising is an effort to make you sit up and take a long hard look at the world around you. If you look hard enough, chances are that you will ask the right questions and we will find some answers.

• Conceptualizing the project outcomes

Project Rising explores the power of visual communication to create awareness and encourage positive action. Through its various initiatives, Project Rising will address different social, environmental and cultural issues and ways to address them, through content and its design. Project Rising is created and supported by Codesign.

• Design Promotional communication for launch of final outcome/product

• Phase 1: Conceptualization

06 weeks

CONCERNS

• Phase 2: Research and Content development

06 weeks

• Statistics and data are not compelling in isolation. Until we have a sense of how they affect our immediate lives, they are of little importance.

• Phase 3: Visual design

06 weeks

• Phase 4: Marketing and promotion

02 weeks

• People do not understand how several issues/problems in environment, society, economy are connected.

• Content Creation • Content & Information Design

tENtatIvE SChEDuLE

• Many awareness initiatives are a comment on how bad things are. But they do not tell you how you can make it better.

What CaN WE DO? We can build impactful representation of issues by: 1. Illustrating how they impact our lives 2. Illustrate the entirety of the problem and relationship bet 3. Articulating simple ways in which an individual can help

Diploma Project Proposal / Reuben D’silva

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

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Diploma Project Proposal / Reuben D’silva

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Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Background Study

Information Collection This initial phase of the project was an effort to orient myself with the domain that we had chosen to explore with the project, that is, design activism.

Thrown into the deep end When I first kicked off the project with preliminary discussions, I was slightly intimidated by how blurred things really were. The proposal clearly explained the intent of the project but there would be an infinite number of ways in which this intent could materialise. I came in expecting to be filled in on the details, be given a scheduled task list or some keywords to brainstorm with or some indication of where the studio wanted me to take this project. But there was no tangible idea. There was no detailed brief or ideas that were waiting for me to get started on. It was definitely more open-ended than I bargained for.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

What is design activism?

To see graphic design as a form of social production

I began by reading about design activism and what people thought about the role of designers in solving social problems. Using design as a tool for positive social change was quite well described. People were talking about these thing son blogs and forums. The First Things First manifesto is a great cumulation of thoughts from world-famous designers recognising the power in design for social betterment.

Instead of focusing on design for social change, it makes more sense to focus on design that helps people make social change.

John Emerson

rather than as individual acts of creativity means recognising that it is subject to the same economic and ideological forces that shape other forms of human social activity. It means that in order to understand the nature of our activity and to think about its possibilities, we must be able to locate it within a historical context that relates it to economic and political forces. This is (strangely) problematic, as Anne Burdick rightly states (Eye no. 9 vol. 3), because ‘it is considered outside our role to analyse the content of our work in relation to politics, theory, economics, morals and so on.’ But if the present debate is about creating a body of work that is meaningful to people in general, that plays a part in the development of a stimulating visual culture, then it must involve understanding how our culture functions, how it is shaped, and how it shapes our perceptions of ourselves. It means addressing people’s need for a culture in which they can participate actively, for which they can help shape the agenda. It will inevitably involve an analysis of what prevents us from building such a culture.

The ‘First Things First’ manifesto was first published as a folded broadsheet of 20 x 15 inches in January 1964.

Socially responsible design is gaining momentum as designers are

Steven Heller

discusses the history and current state of guerrilla, activist and political design from posters to attached image files. https://www.typotheque.com/articles/graphic_intervention/

beginning to increasingly consider the context of their work, acting as indicators of current global affairs that necessitate action or response. At the same time, democracies are gradually assuming1984-like, state-controlled existences as we are constantly being monitored. Consequently, we need to employ more creative means of expression in order to be heard. In the face of a growing economic crisis, it is the responsibility of designers to maintain and amplify socially responsible energy by also considering a user in relation to context: the people. Now is the time to regain control by designing for the masses and to ”make design stand for something again.

Andrew Howard, graphic designer, Porto, Portugal http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/ there-is-such-a-thing-as-society

Frank Chimero Designer illustrator, and writer. http://www.aiga.org/design-to-empower-the-people/

Zara Arshad, Founder, Design-China.org http://www.aiga.org/design-to-empower-the-people/

“The first thing I try to teach them in class is you start with the audience. If you don’t know who you’re talking to, you can’t talk to anybody.” –Milton Glaser

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

One of the perks of having a profession where you make things, is that you can pretty much make your own version of anything to cater specifically to you and your peers. I think this is what has happened with designers: we need our own version of everything and want to be our own audience. I decided to embark on creating some “inspirational” posters aimed specifically at designers. The topics range from various truisms I’ve discovered about the field in the past few years to snarky tongue-in-cheek comments. I think we designers spend an awful lot of time talking to ourselves, and I consider this my contribution to the monologue.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

other information design projects urgently require our expertise and help. We propose a reversal of priorities in favour of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication -

Various authors http://www.emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=1&id=14

Encouraged in this direction, designers then apply their skill and imagination to sell dog biscuits, designer coffee, diamonds, detergents, hair gel, cigarettes, credit cards, sneakers, butt toners, light beer and heavy-duty recreational vehicles. Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design. The profession’s time and energy is used up manufacturing demand for things that are inessential at best. Many of us have grown increasingly uncomfortable with this view of design. Designers who devote their efforts primarily to advertising, marketing and brand development are supporting, and implicitly endorsing, a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond and interact. To some extent we are all helping draft a reductive and immeasurably harmful code of public discourse. There are pursuits more worthy of our problemsolving skills. Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention. Many cultural interventions, social marketing campaigns, books, magazines, exhibitions, educational tools, television programs, films, charitable causes and

A mind shift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning. The scope of debate is shrinking; it must expand. Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resources of design.

First Things First Manifesto

These anecdotes and opinions were inspirational and provided a unanimous and universal validation of our premise.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

IEL ENB E

R G: P

ROJECT

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

How can I change things in a positive way?

HN B

Why do I do what I do? Designers ask themselves these questions. It’s not only about beauty and aesthetics. It’s also about alternatives, pointing out new horizons, contributing to solutions for small and large social issues, and cutting through taboos.

Not by talking but by acting.

Richard van der Laken

What is my contribution?

See, Bielenberg always felt passionately that the design profession was capable of solving bigger, more important problems than it had. Too many designers were being trained to make beautiful things like corporate logos, ads, websites, brochures, posters, packages and all that stuff—but nobody trained them to take social responsibility and to use design skills to make an impact on people and communities and causes. Bielenberg decided he could light a fire under young designers by putting them in real situations in the real world, where real people had real problems. And by shifting responsibility for defining those problems from the teacher to the student. In 2003, he invented a movement and a program called Project M. He invited young designers to join him in making design matter in the areas that mattered: conservation, social responsibility and social change.

As the late Jan Schaeffer used to say: “One cannot live in bullshit.” That’s how it is.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Case Studies

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

After having gauged the spirit and motivations behind design activism work, we felt the need to expose ourselves to as much work that has been done in this field as possible. This would help us gauge what the benchmarks were as well as the possible approaches we could take ahead.

We collected projects from various blogs, forums, organisation websites and design portfolios. Some were well explained and elaborately described while we had to spend time breaking down others. What this gave us was a good library of case studies to look at and learn from.

The first thing we did read through each and every case study and note down any observations we made regarding patterns.

We slowly started moving

them around the board,

I enjoyed this process . J It opened me up to a lot of great

grouping, dissociating,

associating.

IT was quite cnofusign.

work that I probably wouldn’t have known of, if I hadn’t gone looking for it.

At first, we were clueless regarding how to begin processing this collection. There’s such a vast body of work in this domain and these were just the fraction that we had uncovered over a week.

Why THIS EXERCISE MATTERED The aim behind looking at so many different case studies and making sense of them was more than just to acquaint ourselves with the existing work landscape.

× Ú The process involved ‘tagging’ with post-its

Models for understanding and classifying the approaches

Ø The case studies that were analysed and sorted

From small community projects to international campaigns, we put together as much as we could find online. Through this analysis we tried to find some common threads across projects so that they can be grouped. Also, by looking at many different projects, we understand the different factors that can vary across such work and the degree by which they do. Automatically, we are provided with levers that we can play with. This can trigger ideas as well as help us evaluate what we come up with.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

1 Reach How widespread is the message?

2 Medium By what means is it transmitted?

3 Participation How can users receive the message and provide feedback?

4 Demographic What defines your audience in terms of age group, geography, socio-economic strata

6 Domain What field or area of work does it belong to?

7 Lifespan Is it a one-time event-like initiative or a campaign with multiple phases of involvement

8 Action-ability What is the role of the receiver?

5 Scale What kind of resources does it draw, to what extents does it communicate?

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Internalising

EwaYS OF SEEING EPATTERNS ECONNECTIONS

The deeper purpose behind doing this was to help us strategise. Where do we wish to position Rising in this landscape. This edition of Rising would be the first in which we are actively voicing a singular message. There is a certain prominent spirit in which Rising was thought of and this edition needed to manifest that spirit. It is for this reason, that we embarked on a search for the identity of Rising.

We put together as much as we could find online. Through this analysis we tried to find some common threads across projects so that they can be grouped. Also, by looking at many different projects, we understand the different factors that can vary across such work and the degree by which they do. Automatically, we are provided with levers that we can play with. This can trigger ideas as well as help us evaluate what we come up with.

ANTHOLOGY PRINT

FACTS & STATS

WEB

POSTERS

BLOGS

COMICS

VIDEO

PLATFORMS FOR ACTIVISM

WORKSHOP GUERRILLA

ENGAGEMENT

ANIMATION FILM

PUBLIC

CREATIVES

MULTIMEDIA PUBLICATION

WORK BOOK INSTRUCTIONAL

Process-based

Problem-driven

Solution-driven

Output-based

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

The project in this stage seemed more intimidating than ever. The scope of the project was huge. 1. We had to define the context 2. We had to define the problem 3. We had to define the solution.

‘Charity begins At home’ clearly Resounded with Our intention. We are living in the same context in which we work and this helps make our message more meaningful.

More than the fact that we had to see all these phases through was the fact that we had to lead these stages. There was always going to be experienced feedback and guidance of thought but we were in the driver’s seat. This was our responsibility from the outset. I had no expected to be handed such a crucial role in this project.

Things feel more real and results are measurable. The saying

One thing that we were sure of from the start was that Rising had to be locally based. We chose Gurgaon as a starting point for any exploration. The main ad vantage of doing this is that experiences, people and things are readily accessible.

T O W E L C O M E 48

गुड़गांव

Choosing context

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

The only two cities- Ahmedabad and Bombay, that I had lived in so far were much older than Gurgaon..

I spent my initial days with Abhijith and Kalyani in their spacious abode

As soon as I exited the metro station, I was hounded by rickshaw drivers at the entrance.

The brokerage scene was fairly intense with every second person attempting to woo you with the promise of a good deal. The brokers have teams of two or three that scout around on their bikes exchanging numbers and contacts. Sometimes it feels like they’re all on the same team; just versus you. Many houses that I visited had limited water and power hours with odd plans.

My first day in Gurgaon, like the many that were to follow, was a terribly hot one.

We settled for something.

The modernity was evident with towering buildings and high-budget cars at every signal.

I had never been to Gurgaon before.

.. And settled rental accounts

This was my introduction. There was big demand for rental apartments due to the number of young working professionals coming into the city. Fitness gyms, Honey Singh and ladies-only PG accommodation were all the rage.

I recognised Vyapar Kendra, the shopping centre from the directions I was given and had Abhijith rescue me towards the end of the walk.

I walked down a main Road that was a good 4 lanes wide

I was lugging my suitcase around in the heat of the sun trying to find directions to the studio.

Meanwhile, the studio was as welcoming as ever

Discovered cheap eating joints

While taking some risks in the kitchen every now and then

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× This image sums up my first impression of Gurgaon

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

LOW INCOME HOUSING

PROFESSIONAL WORKING INFLUX

We began by collecting information about Gurgaon from online magazine articles, blog posts, documentaries, newspaper clippings etc.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

MALL CULTURE

This gave us broad overview of Gurgaon's victories, people and problems.

ROAD TRAFFIC DEFICIENCY OF BUSES

LOCAL GOVERNANCE

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

PRIVATE SECURITY

BIODIVERSITY PROTECTION SANITATION

POLICE PATROLS ROAD CONDITIONS

CALL CENTRES UNREGULATED PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES

EDUCATION

ROAD POLICY WOMEN SAFETY PRIVATISATION

AWARENESS ACTIVITIES and workshops

MIGRANT LABOUR POPULATION

CORPORATE CULTURE

GROUND-WATER SCARCITY

To understand the state of affairs in our immediate environment, we chose to go out and document what we saw through photographs and notes. It would help us validate what we know as well as expose us to what we didn’t.

u o n r A

ou t

a & b d

× A map of Gurgaon

The studio is located in Vyapar kendra

Environmental immersion

HUDA CITY CENTRE metro station

PETROL PUMP

studio

It lies south of the NH-8 highway and is therefore considered as New Gurgaon. We roughly plotted the locations that were familiar to us- namely nearby markets, main roads and significant buildings and landmarks.

HOME

GOLD SOUk

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PEACH TREE/ gym

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Bad roads were a very serious reality in the area. Also, there were also speed breakers placed every 200m in the area.

ÚUnattended dustbins were a popular sight

Experiencing the neighbourhood and our surroundings consciously was something we tried to do as much as we could every time we left the studio, went to the market, returned home etc. × Digging of roads left rubble unattended to. Thus obstructing traffic. There were also speed breakers placed every 200m in the area.

ÙØ Along the main-road and by-lanes there were a number of small businesses flourishing like pan shops, food stalls, construction material traders, skilled labour like carpenters, key-makers, metal work, bicycle repair shops, and even those that sold wild poultry.

Ø With the amount of house construction happening, there were a lot of labourers who would live with their families in temporary brick shanties in neighbouring plots.

Ù The Metro was a popular mode of transport if we wanted to visit parts of Delhi, mostly on the weekends. HUDA city center was the furthest that the Metro line extended south. Though we did see construction in progress from Sikanderpur towards Golf Course Road.

I would shoot on Nikon D3000. The lens was damaged in the process. Ø

There were couple of locations at which children, most probably those of the migrant labourers , were being taught on the road.

Ù Footpaths were very rarely seen in C block area

Once you tune into the space around, we noticed things that are otherwise easy to ignore or not pay attention to. This experience was very similar to the environmental perception course in which we are introduced to a completely new environment and asked to see it through a new lens- the designers lens.

ÙØ There was evidence of RWAs taking some initiative in communicating the importance of eco-friendly decisions A booking centre for solar panels in C block

× Plastic consumption and irresponsible disposal Ù We were lucky enough to have a Bullet 500 to go around . It was under the studio’s possession from the Royal Enfield identity re-design project that was happening the same time we were there.

While our information collection process continued, we had an opportunity to meet someone Mohor knew who had initiated mobilisation campaign in his locality.

Ú The flyer that was distributed to invite people for the community gathering

Mr. Gupta is a senior citizen who lives in Phase 3 IT is one of the earlier parts of Gurgaon to have been developed. It is connected to Nathupur village which is primarily inhabited by migrant labour population. The reason we requested to speak with him was because he had been an active community activist through his resident welfare association. His efforts were directed towards encouraging voting during election season.

He shared with us his experience in trying to mobilise the community to vote. To do this they organised a ‘Know your candidate’ campaign for all the residents at a decided venue, He publicised this event with the help of printed flyers. In order to conduct this event, he even described how he had to obtain police permission for the public gathering in a nearby park. Unfortunately, the event was not much of a success. The attendance was in the tens. He seemed generally disappointed and skeptical about attempting something like this in the future. Listening to his personal experience made me realise that community mobilsation can be a very challenging task. There are many variables involved and success is rare.

A sheet on which he had collected information of necessary contact persons to organise the event Ø

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We had been more than a month into the project by this stage and had done a good amount of initial research. This was a point at which we felt like we should start ideating but at the same time felt hesitant to. Little did I realise that things rarely go as planned when you're left to your own devices. This feeling would revisit me on many occassions to come.

ENOUGH p r o c r a s t i n a T I o

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N o p r e ss u r e o r a n y t h i n g

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! /

We would do these brainstorm session over a timed duration in sessions of one hour each. Fazal and I would each have a A6 sized sheets, that we would quickly scribble down an idea on and draw sometimes draw a quick sketch. This was a very effective method to get ideas out without dwelling on them too much. Some ideas were originated from a thought/concept in which the executable was unclear while in some cases the idea is in the executable but the message might need validation.

There was a lot of scribbling of lists, words and constructing word maps to help us cover as many domains and areas as we possibly could.

Initially these discussions led nowhere. Each individual had a different perspective on Rising and the feedback to many ideas were mixed. They would feel very productive while they were happening but difficult to decipher collectively. They were interspersed with opinions on Rising- it's purpose and meaning.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

It is only at the end of the discussion that I realised that nothing was clear. Filtering multiple opinions and converting them into action points for the next phase of brainstorming was tough. And it was upto Fazal And I to do it. At times this got frustrating. We really felt like the studio owed us some direction on the project but this was something we had to piece together from rounds of discussion. Sometimes things you think you have understood were misunderstood, other times someone misunderstands. It was communication chaos that needed to be filtered.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Mohor Comments

Issue/Domain

What is the larger problem bucket?

Need for environmentally sustainable I like this because it is a persistent practices touchpoint and all about small, doable actions. I also feel it need not necessarily limit itself to environmental impact, but look at a wider mix which address social issues as well. LIKE

The challenge is how to make this an active interaction, and not a 'nice' calendar that people forget about and lies under a pile of things on their desk. Challenging LIKE stereotypes feels too complicated to mix up an issue and also address sterotypes... not sure if this can happen seamlessly.

Target problem

Opportunity

Solution

People forget that small sustainable actions can help

Encouraging small positive actions within a home and family setting

Remind family Wall/table calendar members on a with stickers, some daily/weekly basis fun interaction of things they can do individually and as a family to help the environment

What is the specific cause of the issue that we want to address?

Kids grow up with preconceived ideas of what 'normal' is

What is the How do we help? intervention point?

Provide an alternate perspective on assumed things

Medium

Audience

Desired action

Father, mother work for mnc, kids study in english medium schools (pvt), mall going on weekends

1.Carry out the action,keep record of executed actions, sum up at the end of the month at school, reward system 2. imbibe these actions in future living

What tangible form Who will this be can the solution for/used by? take?

Choose a topic (e. Storybook, g- solar power), comicbook build a typical story but with antistereotype characters.

1st to 4th std, Upper middle class, english medium

instead if it is just a collection of antistereotypes (personal vehicle/public or shared transport, 2-parent/single parent family etc)?? Another challenge here, is to not necessarily present the alternative as the 'rightway'... in some cases the antistereotype is better (transport), in others its about being tolerant and about underlying human values (1/2 parent family).

Awarenes–>Action scale

What do we expect 1>2>3 the audience to do in response?1. immediate 2. longterm

1.Quiz on the story and lessons, drawing/colouring exercise 2.child questions stereotyoes that he/she encounters in daily life

Lifespan

Celebrate stories of women who have made positive change in everyday instances

Collect and narrate stories with different women characters in different contexts that have overcome probems through their intelligence and sense of selfworth

Collection of graphic narratives with different women characters

18+, hindi speaking, live in chawls/housing colonies

2. Respect for women in their families or neighbourhood

People do not know of govt. provisions that can empower them to help in governance, provide answers

Crack why people are not using RTI yet inspite information availability. What can move them to.

Explain RTI act to those who are not aware–terms,FAQ, application process, success stories

Print booklet that can be cheaply distributed, web resource

1.educated working youth, 2. Uncle Gupta 3. disgruntled citizen stuck in a traffic jam

File an RTI, share your story

Explain current water crisis, water recycling methods, show impact and long-term benefits, premium status Not sure about how the DW being Violation of human 1.Victims of Collaborate with aware of their rights actually rights domestic violence NGO to make improves the situation. It seems to are not aware of booklets that be a 2-way street. Also several DW their rights 2. educate victims are likely to be illiterate, so not sure if Victims don't know about their rights a booklet is even the right medium. what they can do and what they can do what is the motivator for children to Exploration of children lack the if we inspire them give children ideas demand these things? why will they alternatives and opportunity to to develop critical to demand from 'want' to do these things? radical solutions in learn about the consciousness, the thier parents and education importance of coming generation teachers, to teach values like would be more them skills, take ecological aware about the them to trips, sustainabilty and need for action to explain them need for human sustain our living things so that they equality. sorroundings in can learn in an healthy creative alternative way ways which eventually leads to a healthy planet. Not sure what you mean by sexuality Women rights and Lack of edcation in Design as a tool to Learn about root here?? respect for women school about present these causes of rape, For teens/pre-teens the lack of sexuality. It's an ideas in a clear, domestic violence. knowledge stems from not avoided topic. understandable Come up with understanding physical, mental, manner alternate methods social, cultural issues of sexuality. of teaching What are you trying to address/ lessons related to explain? sexuality which may solve those This seems to vast still as an larger issues. approach for such a complex and layered issue. There are 2 things here: 1) Lack of design School systems Set up a Build activities that understanding design thinking (2) thinking at school- don't allow kids to framework, can be managed using it for social activism. level learn from doing process that can by teacher. The things themselves. serve as a platform exercises will This seems very close to Kiran Bir's Also, kids are for kids to take up enable to students project? (http://en.wikipedia. underestimated in social activism in with designorg/wiki/Design_for_Change) their ability to help groups, learn thinking approach solve 'real' outside the to address a social problems. classroom problem they choose. We help document their initiatives at the end of the exercise.

Posters, booklets

1. pvt. colony managing commitees, 2. upscale residential bungalows (RWAs) Domestic helpers in middle/uppermiddle class homes

Implement water recycling plants in the complexes

school going children of age 612

children demand parents and teachers to help them learn ideas of long term impact, to develop a critical consciousness

Citizen participation in democracy Some things to think about: What value will Rising bring to this, as opposed to ther existing resources like http://www.indiahowto.com/rightto-information-rti-faq.html Need for environmentally sustainable practices

we all grow up inheriting the prejudices of our culture, a prejudice is just an opinion formed in the absence of reason and evidence.... all cultural stereotypes are like this, even if they may have a grain of truth, it just comes down to lazy thinking.... it's good to remember too that you can't reason someone out of something they weren't reasoned into.... the scariest thing is the vast mass of unawakened people out there who have not even the slightest inkling that the entirety of their beliefs are acquired thru cultural conditioning and no kind of reasoning from first principles.... people endlessly talk about stereotypes/the weather/sports/celebrities/etc. to avoid talking about anything real.... they're just like little speech bubbles people throw back and forth....

Ordinary women are still perceived as less capable, being female is a social handicap

are the stories/characters real / semi-real / fictitious? I think the RTI guide is a great idea.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Market water recycling as a forward-thinking, socially-conscious action, elitist symbol Dispense information in an empathetic manner

Booklet

pamphlets/ booklets

Victims take a stand against the injustice against them

Booklet, workbook, School kids 8th or Story about a 9th std. certain character students can relate to

1. class discussion or exercise 2.more respectful future generation

Toolkit

1.Students act 2. They realise a potential and apply it in the future

School students between 7th–9th std.

Some filtered ideas

also this is probably more awareness than action.

Women rights and question: are you looking at respect for women instances of exceptional courage/wisdom, OR how the common woman uses her strengths in everyday situations. While there are always instances of exceptional stories, it is also the lack of acknowleding what women achieve in day-to-day living that leads to lack of respect.

Reuben's

but the only real knowledge is selfknowledge.... and that takes honesty and vulnerability....

1. Family activity calendar

2. Missing posters

Issue Need for environmentally sustainable practices

Issue Lack of civic infrastructure

Target Problem People forget that small sustainable actions can help

Target Problem People do not voice their right to proper infrastructure

Intervention Encouraging small positive actions within a home and family setting

Intervention Encouraging citizens to hold government accountable

Opportunity Remind family members on a daily/weekly basis of things they can do individually and as a family to help the environment Solution Wall/table calendar with stickers, some fun interaction Audience Father, mother work for mnc, kids study in english medium schools(pvt), mall going on weekends Desired Action 1. Carry out the action,keep record of executed actions, sum up at the end of the month at school, reward system 2. Imbibe these actions in future living

Opportunity Run a public campaign that encourages citizens to voice their complaints against govt. negligence Solution Series of posters that visually engage the viewer with information to file their grievances Audience Average citizen Desired Action 1. Lodge a complaint on the municipality website 2. Call the municipality to lodge a complaint

3. Gurgaon survival guide

4. RTI for dummies

Issue Public awareness

Issue Citizen participation in democracy

Target Problem There is a large influx of young working people into Gurgaon who need access to information

Target Problem People do not know of govt. provisions that can empower them to help in governance, provide answers

Intervention We provide a quick touchpoint for well-researched information on possible scenarios and questions

Intervention Crack why people are not using RTI yet inspite information availability. What can move them to.

Solution A booklet or web resource that allows this information to be accessed easily

Opportunity Explain RTI act to those who are not aware–terms,FAQ, application process, success stories

Audience Young working professional from outside Gurgaon

Solution Print booklet that can be cheaply distributed, web resource

Desired Action 1. Be informed 2. Spread the word

Audience 1. educated working youth, 2.Uncle Gupta 3.disgruntled citizen stuck in a traffic jam Desired Action File an RTI, share your story

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

72 Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Let’s not try and boil the ocean. We don’t want to be lion-hearted optimists who set out to do too much too quickly because it can lead to confusion, burn-out or even stasis. We want to keep our efforts and resources focused on meeting a realistic and well-defined goal.

< Focused

People have seen the statistics, the numbers, the graphs, the percentages, the documentaries, the compelling infographics that convince them that rape, pollution and global warming is bad. But what can we do? People want to know what can they do. We needs to focus on solution and promote doing.

We can concentrate time, brainpower and resources to help the community where we live and work. It may tap into the powers of technology but the main focus should be to reconnect our studio to our immediate surroundings rooted in real time and space.

<Hyper-Local

< Action Oriented

< Personal

Last but not the least, we wanted to work with something that moves us and that we personally care for . If we’re emotionally disconnected from our message, no matter how important the message may be, it’s never going to be communicated well.

IF W HE SWEET SPOT

The studio had a mix of experience and expertise– from designing letter forms to editorial design to event management . We wanted to use this project as an opportunity for the studio to harness it’s internal resources–both physical and cognitive, and bring out the best in it . This way the studio can own the project.

W O

OW KN

ING T HITT E R ' E

< Homegrown

What Defines Rising? These filters are not something that we developed overnight or were given a text file of the day we reached. This was a manifestation of the clarity that was attained after internalising and contextualising all that we had done hence far. It was defined over time through frequent discussion. It helped set a good framework to explore ideas, validate them and move ahead.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

A communication designer’s role In filtering all these ideas, I realised that there are certain things that are beyond a designer’s sphere of influence. Trying to change something in a larger system is hard. A number of ideas we came up required things like government involvement, policy-based changes etc. Realistically, such things are not within a communications designers gamut. Throughout this project I have refined my understanding of a communication designer in leading positive social change. It requires maturity and a solid understanding of one's self.

What we’re not. Rising is a charitable initiative. Even though contributing to improve the lives of those less fortunate is a virtuous intention, it is not the kind of mask we want to wear. NGO’s and public service organisations are much better equipped to do this than communication designers.

Rising isn’t tied down by constraints. Though we’re willing to reach out to external sources and organisations for collaboration or assistance, staying lean, agile and independent is crucial to the project. We exercise complete freedom over what we choose to do and how we do it.

Rising is an everything-you-need, easy-fix solution The project will not spoon-feed it’s audience. It provokes people and persuades them to meet us half way. The project aims to harness the same persuasive and visual communication fundamentals that we imbibe in client work, to get people to endorse a particular idea or role in society.

We hope you have an enjoyable dip.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

× A spread from ‘Dekho: Conversations on design in India’. It’s an excerpt from the interview with Stefan Sagmeister in which he refers to a quote by Martin Guixe that speaks of the designer as an agent of change

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Drawing boundaries Another boundary we need to maintain is not getting overly technical with our content. Being a communication designer, we should be able to work with content that lies within our reach. It’s about making meaningful interpretations of what we know, from experience. Getting caught up in a project where academic knowledge or research is a driving force, means that your role in reinterpreting the content is compromised. This was one big insight I received.

A conversation with Itu Chaudhuri

The task of ‘changing’ something in society is an extremely complex one (even if it’s change for the better). For example if I wanted a cleaner Gurgaon. There are so many moving parts in this machinery called Gurgaon that I can’t possibly control or predict how it will work. It’s like a constantly changing organism. Even if the PM of India wanted to accomplish the task, he would not be able to assure it’s outcome. So the secret is not to try and change how the machine works but instead just tinker with it; a small part of it in a small way. It will have some effect and if that can be acknowledged, it has fulfilled it’s purpose. There is no success and failure. Don’t have any expectation, or any preconceived idea of what success is for such an initiative. Because it will never meet that expectation. But it might achieve something else that you can be proud of and gain satisfaction from.

O If a person were to take a rectangular piece of cloth and hoist it on a pole, some people would pass by, some would notice it while other’s would not but the minute someone salutes it becomes a flag. Things acquire meaning when you give them a chance in the right context. Some people will find it meaningful and acknowledge it , others won’t. The important thing is to put up that piece of cloth.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

ALL

The idea It is a reinterpretation of the popular ‘Missing’ posters that one may have seen in public places. These posters draw public attention to a person or pet that has been reported missing from a home. It calls upon anyone who may recognise the individual to report it to the police or family member. By portraying objects of civic importance like streetlights and dustbins as ‘missing’, we twist the typical format to inform citizens to lodge civic grievances with the government through phone or online so that they may rightfully demand these amenities.

SM E IRST STE TH F

We decided to start on one of the smaller, more easily executable ideas that emerged from our brainstorming session as a warm up exercise.. It would give us a chance to flex some design muscle as well as assist our environmental immersion.

Poster Series

The concern • Absence of government infrastructural facilities and failure to maintain public spaces are very common problems that most of urban and semi-urban cities and town in India face. • Similarly, in and around our block in Gurgaon, we noticed problems like garbage dumping in public spaces, absence of streetlights on roads etc. This idea emerged as a simple communication intervention to address such issues.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

We jumped right into it. Alongside sketch ideas and elaborated concepts we continued our filed research to investigate the feasability of this interevention.

SKETCH EXPLORATIONS In these sketches, we tried to cover different layouts, messaging structures, imagery, text and composition in order to test the extent to which our Missing concept could be stretched. Some ideas worked, other didn’t.

The main insight we gained from these explorations was that the message in the given context in order to be effective, needed to be stripped of layers of interpretation. It needed to achieve quick and direct communication to promote action.

We referred to our initial field work documentation to recover pictures of ‘missing’ amenities that we could recognise in our neighbourhood. We grouped them to identify what kind of problems could be covered by such a concept.

It needed to achieve

quick & direct communication.

Bad Road conditions, potholes, digging

LITTERING of public spaces

unorganised garbage dumping

ABSENCE OF STREET LIGHTING

NO FOOT PATHS

Illegal parking

Ú× These were sketches that put down all the different ways that a dustbin can be represented. These were details that I may have otherwise unknowingly ignored but understand the importance of now.

Let people know that ignorance is not a solution – they deserve better

Let people know that they can hold the government responsible for inaction

Make people feel like they’ve contributed to a collective cause

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

A poster working in a context like this needed to be

di s ru p tive &

glance-able

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Letter design The hero title ‘Missing’ was a key part of the poster and we didn’t feel like any of the fonts we used gave it sufficient character or a sense of authorship. So I began working on a custom lettering for the title by deriving it from the Rising logotype. Ù× Posters like these are commonly seen on public walls use a screen print with fluorescnt ink on newsprint or offset on fluorescent paper

Apart from the fact that they are easily attention-grabbing, the choice to use fluorescent colour was inspired from posters that are found locally;pasted on public walls, electricity poles that advertise services ,sales or events. Hence, it fits in well with our context and local landscape.

Ù Sadam provided me with feedback on this task which helped me tackle it in the right way

Distribution Such posters can be an open format available for download so that people who wish to use it can simply print a copy, photocopy it and distribute it around his/her neighbourhood. With some photoshop skill even modify the image or text to suit the need that their neighbourhood is facing.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Digital refinement Certain subtle design touched were made digitally. The call to action section was crucial so we gave that a lot of attention, in terms of voice and form.

Ù Finished poster (Hindi version)

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Ù Finished poster (English version)

DIRECTION 1

Each topic cannot be dealt with in isolation. The sequence of topics can be such that knowledge acquired in one is built upon in the next and the child can connect them to one another (understand cause and effect). At the end of 12 months, there should be an emerging understanding of the system which reinforces why each link(read action) is important.

Designing an Activity Calendar A family activity calendar that charts simple eco-friendly actions and activities that children can engage with over one year in and around their home.

What is the background to this idea?

How does it aim to do this?

Most of us are aware of problems that surround us like environmental deterioration, violence against women and political corruption. However, this information is communicated to us by newspapers or TV in terms that are beyond our sphere of understanding. It neither impacts our everyday lives nor does it enable us to act. This makes it difficult to identify our role in the problem and what we can do to help change things.

A subject as vast as this can be understood only if broken down into smaller, easily digestible parts. Also, cultivating a behavioural change does not happen overnight. It becomes possible when the content shares a certain closeness with the child, in terms of time and space.

What does it aim to do? To nurture an attitude of sustainability by encouraging easy eco-friendly actions that can be done everyday

What does it aim to do? School children between 10-13 years (Middle school)

Kids at this age are being introduced to basic concepts of science like animals, plants, humans, food and environment. Such a tool will help them connect these topics to their own activities and observations. They are enthusiastic in general and are still fairly dependent on parents and teachers for support and guidance. Their behaviour is not yet strongly influenced by peer pressure. Also, they have been born into a world in which sustainable actions are no longer nice-to-do but must-do things which makes such learning imperative.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

I am designing a calendar which empowers kids to do easy environment-friendly actions over one academic year.

Why a calendar? • Cultivating a sustainable habit takes time. By choosing a calendar, we set a lifespan of one year to achieve this goal. • A calendar or time-table is a common tool used by school children and parents to manage time and inculcate discipline. Our design intent will add value to an already popular utility. • Division of months, weeks and days offer a structure yet flexibility. It allows us to distinguish actions yet sequence them in a particular order so kids can connect concepts.

When the child enjoys ‘doing’, he/she will understand better the educational concepts behind these actions. It will influence the people and place around them and inculcate in them a more responsible way of living which will remain with them as they grow.

Identifying stakeholders/personas Although children are the primary target of this project, there is a surrounding social eco-system that they are part of. The key persona’s that also automatically become a part of this system are:

• School Children • Teachers • Parents In the image above, I quickly put down some these personas and their motivations with respect to a project like this.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

CONTENT Environmental Sustainability The first step was to get an idea of what are the different topics that are covered in the existing syllabus. I went through a collection of popular EVS textbooks for student from 3rd std. to 7th std.

Filtering the content I went through the textbook content and made necessary notes to identify broadly what was covered in each year of EVS and how th syllabus evolved.

I wasn't very enthusiastic about pursuing this direction. The more I worked on it, the more I felt like I was just trying to squeeze value out of something that didn't have any to begin with. It was a very idealistic, educational idea. But it was all I had to work with at that time so I continued probing hopefully.

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Meeting with Harsh Purohit

What do we want kids to do?

Mr. Harsh Purohit is a corporate sustainability expert who runs a consultancy named Cognito that advises and audits large companies on sustainable business practices. The meeting with him at his office in Baroda in December was to introduce him to the project idea and get his specific insights regarding how the content of the calendar could be developed .

In the meantime, I was searching a number of different blogs and websites that discuss easy environmental friendly actions and activities. There was a lot of content ranging from kid-specific to community level interventions.

In other words, what the 12 activities across the year and their sub-activities could be and how they could be structured. He was able to direct me to some useful resources online as well as show me an initiative that his firm undertook to teach sustainability basics to school kids. Harsh helped us identify that the most actionable points would be electricity, water and plastic consumption.

I listed all these actions and organised them based on two criteria initially

LOCATION

Frequency

• At home

• One-time actions

• Around home

• Everyday actions

• Community

• Anytime actions

This was a small publication that Cognito had designed for kids. It is a collection of terms related to sustainability with their definitions. It is sequenced from A to Z.

What motivates kids? Praise and admiration Fear of consequences Simple rewards and surprises

Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

Kinds of initiatives • Action: A one-time effort which can be repeated and made into a habit e.g..Closing the tap when brushing • Activity: Requires per-allotted time and resource e.g..Making a pen stand from used ice-cream sticks • Project: An effort which is require periodic engagement, more resources and more time e.g.. Growing your own balcony garden

I took the library of actions that I had collected and organised them based on the three headings that kid's can find most accessible in and around their homes. There was some imbalance in the distribution of actions, I tried to populate more and add them to the relevant section. For example, under water, the number of actions that one could do to conserve are fewer than for electricity.

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A chart which runs through the day in the life of an average kid. I have tried to identify instances at which there exist opportunities for conscious environment-friendly reactions could be made.

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Building the story In these explorations, I elaborated the same narrative model.

I took up the topic of electricity conservation to test how a structure could be framed for the story. Trying to link together different points in sequence.

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CONCEPTS These were sketch ideas for the interactive calendar in my notebook. Was trying to breakdown the story and it's parts to understand what interaction could be use to accompany what piece of information.

The kitchen is a common area that is accessible and frequented by all members of a family. This idea is for the activity calendar to be put up on the front of the refrigerator. It will have different magnets and stickers that can be added, removed and moved around the board. It can also accommodate different themebased activity cards which describe a particular action. The magnets can denote completion of an activity or scheduling of an activity. A whiteboard marker can be used to write on the calendar and even double -up for other household notes and messages.

Since we were dealing with a yearly calendar, it needed to have content distributed over twelve months. I was exploring how we could organise the events. This division could be done in multiple ways: fortnightly, monthly, bimonthly, quarterly or every four months.

This idea is a version of the first one. Here the canvas can be in the an examination board which can be used for general writing purposes. It accommodates a monthly activity sheet that can be clipped onto it. There is a paper pouch that holds cards that describe the activity. The child can choose a particular activity and stick/pin it onto a date on the calendar.

Depending on how we wanted to distribute the activity,we could pick the above. Since our activities were divided into electricity, water, plants and recycling, I felt like a quarterly format would work.

These were some ideas for different formats that the calendar could take.

INTERACTIONS

• A flip-over calendar where each month it needs to be turned over to reveal the next month. It can be hung up in the child's room or in a common space like the kitchen • A poster format. This will be larger in size as it has to accommodate all 12 months on one side. This could be pasted on a wall. • A desk-calendar that the child can place on the table where she/he does homework

I was trying to come up with different ideas for the kind of interactions that I could incorporate for kids through the calendar. It had to be something engaging and fun. For example, I can recall how much I enjoyed stickers as a kid. To peel them and stick them- it was a very satisfying exercise.

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• A split calendar that presents the months in units.

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Conclusions Though these ideas seemed plausible there were a couple of reasons why I felt this couldn't work as we wanted it to. 1. Motivation A crucial point was motivation. There needs to be sufficient incentive for a child of that age to want to participate voluntarily in doing these activities that have neither curricular value nor peer recognition. So though the idea has the right intentions, it’s usability is limited to a few over-enthusiastic students who would want to do it out of curiosity. 2. Distribution Also, if this toolkit is something that must be purchased, it means that the parents are target customers and not kids directly. The kids therefore are no longer in the influential role that we desire.

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3. Peer Value It needs a peer connection. One of the biggest motivators for kids this age, or any age for that matter, is peer recognition. The activities needed to involve a collective effort or leave the kid with something to feel proud about. 4. Attention Scarcity Kids of this age are very busy people. They're lives are scripted by their parents and they have something to do throughout the day, throughout the week covering studies and co-curricular activities. It's unlikely that they would have time to devote to something like this and stick with it for a year.

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I wasn't sure what to try next. I still had no clue what problem I was solving and how I wanted to solve it. I had invested a lot of time and effort into the calendar idea. It was unconvincing from the start but I knew it deserved an effort and eventually I grew attached to the idea.

I was nearly five months into the project and the feeling of not having anything to hold onto or a concrete direction in which to work can be very frustrating. It's difficult to manufacture plausible ideas from thin air. Like it or not, that's where you have to start.

I kept thinking.

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A quality that surpasses technology language and age.

There is a quality about games that is beautifully unifying.

Designing a Based on the shortcomings that were encountered while exploring the calendar, we identified interactivity and peer relations as an important motivating factor for kids to voluntarily engage with our project. A rather natural progression that this idea took was to take the form of a game.

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Elements like competition, strategy, memory and luck are things that we as humans instinctively respond to as human beings

discoverability Games have layers of discovery which allow the same game to be played over and over without it getting boring. This could be in the form of different characters or alternative story lines.

Physicality Experience

The inspiration came from took me back to my school summer holidays when I would spend afternoons with my friends pouring over WWE trump cards or playing board games like Scotland Yard, or Guess Who, Snakes and ladders and Ludo. But nostalgia aside, there were a couple of other reasons why I felt like a game in an analogous for would work.

REACH

It also offers flexibility of time formats. For example a game like X and O is quick and consists of multiple rounds. Trump cards can go on endlessly, suited for a more relaxed pass-time scenario. The possibilities that games as a format opened up were very exciting. It’s a medium that has an inherent motivation so I was keen on leveraging this to build my story around it. Games, as we all know, are very popular across age groups. Whether it’s a simple game of cards or digital video-game like 5 SIMS or 6 Farmville, the medium has high engagement and amusement value.

An educational tool Apart from recreation, games have also been explored and proven effective as a teaching method. Memory games, Rubik's’ cubes, scrabble and dozens of gaming apps under the category ‘education’ online are proof of the fact that games are indeed very effective in imparting education in creative, interactive ways. This report by future labs UK documents their findings on the subject. I began by exploring the idea of a game in an analogous format.

Right from the initial calendar idea, the aim was to somehow draw parents into the mix. The reason being so that the content can leave loose ends in the narrative that could be filled in immediately by parents or elders. It was not uncommon for me to play a game of cards with even my grandmother because it’s a medium she is comfortable with. But the very same game on a screen breaks this connect with the Internet generation.

Players being physically present mean that there are multi-sensorial interactions involved. You exchange game elements, gestures, reactions, eye contact and dialogue.

Novelty The immense popularity with which digital games have caught on makes an analogous game simply a novelty. Parents would be willing to invest in something that they can share with their kids and that connects to their childhood

Strategy Games can have single-player and multi-player formats. This allows for team work and strategy between players as well as against players. Strategy is something that one can keep improving which adds to the playability.

Competition One of the biggest motivators that works in favour of games is competition. Everyone enjoys a dose of healthy competition, luck and risk. Games offer one a mixture of all three.

ÙØ WWE trading cards

Ù A game that teaches the periodic table by adapting it to the rules of BattleShip

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Screenshots of You Tube videos that I watched to understand ecology and the system

Understanding t content

In order to design a game, I had to immerse myself in the content completely. Without complete knowledge of the content I was dealing with, it would be impossible for me to build a playable game. Based on the reading I had done prior to this, I was fairly well-acquainted with the key content of the game but moulding that content into a playable format is a challenge. It required me to look at the content beyond pieces of information but more as playable pieces that could be grouped, connected or opposed to each other. These relations in content are what would make the game believable and the interesting. I referred to videos online and articles that help explain the environmental system and it’s components.

Every great game has a storyline weaved into it. It could be a more thematic story that relates to a specific space, time and characters or it could be a more abstract one that a player experiences more subtly. The first step for me to build a game was be to identify what I wanted the game to do. Much like a film, games too have a beginning, middle and end.

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VERSION 1.0 Mapping the produce to consumption routes of natural resources to our homes

VERSION 2.0 Mapping the issues alongside the real-life scenarios

Mapping the content I needed to make visual what I had learnt regarding how the environment is imapcted by human actions and patterns of consumption. I used post-its to map the resources and scenarios and a marker to depict the connections

It required me to look at the content beyond pieces of information but more as playable pieces that could be grouped, connected or opposed to each other.

THE BLUE post-its were the issues that arise at those stages in the lifecycle of the resource that cause environmental disturbance

Game design fundamentals & concepts

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Intent

As I began reading about games and how games are made I discovered that it’s a very complex and detailed process. In fact, it’s a complete profession in itself. There are people who dedicatedly design games.

My primary intent behind designing a game was to educate/explain an environmental system to kids. Objective

With the help of some articles on game design and after following some You Tube groups, I became acquainted with the fundamentals of game design – the parts of a game that one can experiment with to build a meaningful game.

http://boardgamegeek.com/ forum/26/boardgamegeek/boardgame-design

http://www.wikihow.com/Makehttp://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/ edtec670/boardgame/boardgame- Your-Own-Board-Game design1.html

Working out a theme+mechanic

http://www.bgdf.com/

There are two fundamental components to a board game and both are equally important- the theme and the mechanic. The theme of a board game basically dictates the overall space and time, scenarios, look and feel and sets the tone for the game. For example, Scotland Yard is a mystery game, so the board is designed to replicate some geographical features of the area. The characters in the game and components are inspired by the theme which lend a believable touch to the game. A theme that matches the game visually also heightens the gaming experience. The second component is the mechanic of

BRING CARBON LEVEL DOWN TO '0'

ost m e h n the t w Groants o pl ard bo

Two popular layouts for board games are - the path type and the field type. Snakes and ladders is the perfect example of a path type game, where the game occurs between a starting and ending position between which obstacles have a role to play. It is linear. The field type game is a game in which the entire boar is open from the start. There are multiple positions that a piece can take based on strategy in addition to element of luck. Settlers of Catan and Scotland yard are two strategy examples of playing-field type games.

Earn the most Carbon credit/Green value

Re a

ch f ro m

Chor

he Car b t d

Fin

A game during which a child learns about eco-friendly actions and how they are connected to large-scale environmental problems.

Working with board layouts

the game. This is actually the more complex part to design. It is used to describe methods by which the game moves forward. Mechanics are defined by how turns are taken, what are the actions to be followed and in what order and how physical elements move across a the board. For example the mechanics of ludo involve roll of dice for probability followed by a marker that dictates position along a path.

Though I had moved on from the activity calendar idea, I sketched an idea to see if it could integrate with the game

Here I was sketching different ideas for the board elements and how they could be used

Rectangular grid This is a two player card game which can be played on any flat surface. The cards are played one turn after another inn such a way that the re is a defined relationship between the two. For e.g.. card one is a result of card two- Air pollution is a result of global warming It takes on a more complex nature when there are multiple intersections.

is a type of comes from is a solution to causes

cards that carry an element, occurence or action rectangular grid, no playing board required

Hexagonal grid, multi-player game It’s playing rules are the same as the previous but relationships here are defined by long rectangular connecting pieces.

Reference: SCRABBLE Reference: Settlers of Catan

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The connectors are available in different colours and have different game values. It’s a game in which each player scores a calculated no. of points per round and the player with the most points wins.

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Co-operative game with multiple playing fields and tasks, strategy

2–3 player card game

Multiple game boards

value tokens cards

In this card game, each of the middle cards are a human action connected to environment. Players have cards that can be causes or solutions of these actions. They must be played in a specific sequence. Players hold a limited number of cards at a time and can draw from the deck. The interesting part is that not all cards maybe exclusive to a single story. For example Carbon dioxide is a result of burning coal as well as driving a car.

In such a game there are multiple smaller games occurring simultaneously. So the players must defeat the odds of the game in order to win. The multiple challenges are in the form of threats which must be mitigated one by one. If all threats are mitigated, the players win. An interesting part of this game’s psychology is that you work with each other to win. This is a nice metaphor for our chosen theme because it reinforces the point that only collectively can we carry avoid environmental destruction. Reference: UNO

Reference: PANDEMIC

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In conclusion EXPLORATION 5 problem CARD Multiple mechanic, 2– 3 player game In this game, each player has a set of cards. They will be either green or red in colour. A green card is a ‘solution’ card while the red card is the ‘cause’ card. The first player spins the top with it in between the players. Upon landing one player is assigned ‘cause’ while the other is assigned ‘solution’. Now, a ‘problem’ card is picked from the deck of brown cards. And each player is expected to play a relevant green or red card. If a player does not have a meaningful card to play, he may draw another brown ‘problem’ card upto 3 times. In addition to the green and red cards are a set of ‘switch’ cards. These can be used by a player on any turn to reverse the colour that was assigned to them by the spinner. A player can trade his switch card for an additional draw of a brown card.

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solution CARD cause card

It was the first time I attempted game design and it offered me a unique perspective on designing interactions between people and a product. While designing print or web interfaces, you cannot predict a user's action or how they choose to respond. Game design offers this control in content and interaction with flexibility for a user to weave an individual journey through probability. Designing a game is like creating a small hypothetical fanstasy world where you can set rules and structure artificial experiences and scenarios. Understanding motivations, psychology and the dynamics of competition were key insights though this exercise. These lessons can be applied to any design process. The game offers a unique way to teach and test child’s knowledge about the environmental concerns. It serves as a improved substitute to textbooks. Bu this is also where we felt that the game was falling short. It wasnot bringing something new to the table from a messaging point of view. It isn’t adding a fresh perspective or interpreting the subject matter in an innovative way. The game simply offers a communication tool for existing textual information so it may be more easily digestible and enjoyable.

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A new direction With the activity calendar, the idea was to cover a variety of small easy to do eco-friendly actions over a year. In contrast to that concept, this idea takes up just one simple action and focuses its efforts in making it enjoyable and easy.

What is the big idea? The activity that I chose to focus on was balcony gardening. It arose from the realisation that by simply planting one tree, you are immediately and undoubtedly making a difference. It's a simple, sure contribution. By providing kids with a comprehensive kit that communicates the importance of the action as well contains everything necessary to carry out the activity of planting a plant, we can guarantee a better environment for ourselves. In addition, it opens up the possibility for childparent interaction and allows the child to understand related topics that may be taught in school.

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A booklet with at description of all the resources that you need In addition, a step-by-step instruction on how to set things up and begin planting

A seed library containing packaged seeds of different vegetables and flowers with information regarding that plant

Badges that a child can sport on a bag or t-shirt

Plant-specific booklets that tell stories behind different plants, their naming, recipes one could try with them. As well as instructions on special nurturing tips

A notepad to keep a note of observations or actions. Could contain checklist of actions along a timeline

A poster that explains the importance of trees or an illustrated artwork on the subject

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Feedback and learning In an initiative like this, our contribution as graphic designers maybe well justified but our role as authors of a message vanish. Everything that we need to execute such a project already exists. The process will be more focussed on sourcing content from different sources rather than drawing value from existing content.

Labels or name tags that help a track of what pot contains what seeds

Merchandise rewards for participants who submit documented notes or photographs of their garden growing process

A calendar that tells you about what vegetable or plant you should ideally grow in what part of the year

An accordion fold-out that explains how one tree can have a big positive impact on the environment Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

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Looking

for

the

dots

join

After

tackling

the previous three directions

the need was

to an exhaustive end,

felt to re-group by visiting the core of our project-the message. We knew

the domain that we were dealing with was environmental sustainability but what value do we

wish to add to the hundreds of environmental messages that already exist.

Ù A sketch done in Processing

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The data driven direction It triggered an idea that may me start thinking about the data it was representing and what it meant. And how we can tell a story using data to make it compelling. with data in a meaningful way

So what do we really want to do?

This is a booklet I found on the road outside a house that was being newly furnished. it provides information at a glance that proves the energy and costefficiency of LED bulbs –

A lot of us are aware about environmental problems and the need for conservation but this information is usually communicated to us in terms that stretch far beyond the sphere of our daily actions and interactions. It becomes difficult to identify our role in the problem and what we can do to help change things. Our role as communication designers in this problem is to visually depict the distant, intangible problems in a manner that our audience can understand. We need to draw the connection between us and the problem in a step-by-step manner.

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g n i n g i s e D A t e l k o o B ign int des r p n a C e unicat m m o c d to be use of ficance i n g i s the l action a smal ?

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The bo oklet a s a me dium, is a sim ple and familia to tell r way a story for a gr design aphic er. At t his sta ge, I wa trying to com s e up w ith ide for alte as rnate i nterac tions that a child w ould fi nd

The m

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ge After d iscuss ions, w ed mor e inves e thou tght int messa o the s ge that p e c ific we wa throug nt to p h the p ut acro r o je ss the ide ct, the re eme a to tra rged ce the key ele story o ments f three – energy , water and pla is not m stic. Ou eant to r story be an e on the ncyclo se issu pedia e s . What do inst we wa ead in n t to fi lter do relatab wn to a le narr s imple ative th the im at expla portan in c s e o making f huma n actio a diffe n in rence.

ught a o h t I and g n i t s e ld be u inter o w t forma n o i t a gning public i s e D . oring l p x e h at I h t wort g n i meth o s s a able t r o f print w m ly co e t a u q e was ad ' than n u f ' s ’s les t I . h t i w easily e b n a ut c b e m a ag as a h d n a uted b i r t s and i d e c n e erman p f o e sens ing. g n o l e b

to edium ecided As a m imary reason I d ecause

m is b The pr xa mediu s a t were e in s that visit pr ie ge r o t s s dar ta ke the y calen it I felt li iv o t c a een n at the I was k . l ia t plored n te e how t of po s to se p u k had a lo c o even t to or some m p g a d in a k a m let. ould a book ories c t t h s g u e o s r tho ed th terpret be re-in

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Mock up 1: Two-way open fold

Mockup3: Four way Open fold

Folding explorations

Mock up 4: In-Out Snake fold

The following pages contain folding explorations to test how information in the form of a simple point-by-point narrative can be experienced by opening and closing folds

Mock up 2: Triangular Open fold

• In this story, the user is first introduced to the singular action. For example, in the plastic story, the focal point was the action of throwing away a plastic bottle • As the booklet is opened up, it reveals two sides of the action- the back story and the consequence story • These further open in either direction to describe the sequence of events that surround the action

Model of storytelling • Product-centred approach: In this

story we take the user through the journey of the energy, water and plastic, pointing out the stages in their life-cycle at which human action is involved.

• User-centred approach: In this story

we begin with the human action and follow it up with the product journey ending with the consequences affecting the human.

• In this story, again, the user is first introduced to the singular action. • The booklet is opened up in four directions to reveal flaps which explain points related to the action

I wanted to focus on identifying the role of the audience in these life cycles. One approach was to make the human action a starting point in the story. And then slowly unravel consequences of the same negative action.

E K A I

The paper fielding explorations produced some interesting results but I was not completely satisfied with the amount of excitement it would create in the mind of the kid. It seems like right from the calendar idea I’ve been progressively trying to make things more intrinsically gratifying for a kid so that it is something they genuinely want to do and enjoy doing. The inspiration behind trying this approach of pop-ups and pullouts came from the memory of a book I had when I was in playschool.

An interactive book

POP!

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T at hes in m e w an ter ak er th im ac ing e a in e p at tio p tt fo ag e s ns hy em rm e om th si p at an e at cal ts ion dr co co ev nt ul ea en d ls to om n e

I po sta h p r me ow t -ou ted to ch he ts off ex wo an p to w pe rk ics ap un ith rim o w er de s en n th ork and rsta imp ts. es . I fo n le e c t w ld d ra a ft- s f lik un e

I took this opportunity to see how the print medium could be used to communicate the message. I quite enjoy the process of playing with paper and print formats. The thing that we were missing with this approach was the engagement level. I remember how when we received such flyers or educational pamphlets in school. I think most of us just looked over for comics or puzzles ad that was where our interest died. I can recall seeing all those pamphlets scattered on the classroom floor around the bin. I don’t think kids in school today have any more patience than we did back then. It definitely has the potential to be a well-crafted design artefact but I think it would fall short from putting a powerful message across that wold get kids to sit up and take notice. Ù Pop-out and paper craft explorations to incorporate in an interactive book for kids

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While exploring the idea of an interactive book I stumbled upon an animation

video that uses a pop-up book to tell the story of a drop of water through the water

cycle starting from our homes. It was a simple story that flips through the spreads

of a book, one-by-one, depicting the cyclical journey of water in a semi-abstract

manner. The video uses the book as an anchor while the medium of animation

narrates the story in a well-paced, visually delightful way.

I had presented this project with the objective of possibly creating a pop-out book

for kids. But the cost factor would greatly impact the feasibility of this idea.

A key link This is the project that led me to my final deliverable. It was a key case study that led to a crucial discussion amongst ourselves.

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Revolution (Life cycle of a drop of water) The video depicts the revolutionary nature of the life cycle of a droplet of water and it's cyclical journey. From the original idea, through the creative development and process, our individual skill sets enabled the project to spring to life. A film by Chris Turner, Helen Friel and Jess Deacon // Photography - Chris Turner: christurnerphotography.co.uk // Paper Engineer - Helen Friel: helenfriel.com // Animation - Jess Deacon: cargocollective.com/jessdeacon // Post Production - Neil Cunningham // Music and Sound - Joe Shetcliffe Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

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It was not long into the discussion before we identified what it was that made the message so appealing– the power of moving image.

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The minute the idea of making a stop motion film was thrown in, we all knew that it was the medium that had all the essential pieces that we were vying for. there was just one tiny problem-

How the IS a graphic designer SUPPOSED to make an animation film? mind=blown

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I was still trying to digest what exactly I had gotten myself into. I was excited at the prospect of making an animation film but at the same time extremely skeptical.

Though always in awe of the animation work I had seen through NID, I had never attempted any form of it.

How is stop motion done?

The closest I had got to animation was transition effects in Keynote and some experiments in Processing. That next week, my thoughts were plain cnofsuion. I didn’t know where to begin.

What are the different stages and components?

Isn’t this way beyond what I’m capable of doing?

In what order must I tackle this?

Shouldn't we hire an animator to do this instead?

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n a t r

l i c S F

v f e

Clay animation is usually the first thing that comes to mind when I hear stop motion. Stop-motion films are made with physical objects, constructed or real, which give it a very three-dimensional appeal. Some may refer to stop-motion as '3D' but that term is reserved for computer generated/rendered animation films only. Stop-motion has a special and powerful appeal of its own; the reality of the objects on screen enhances our expectations of them.

y d c

e o

d p

W H A T I S S T O P M O T I O N ?

In this second stage of information collection, I began watching animation films online, particularly stop motion films. I also started reading about stop motion techniques and films that documented the process followed to execute a stop motion film.

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Stopmotion techniques

Experimental animation has no limitation in terms of techniques or ideas. Animators use their instinct to use materials of their choice to achieve the final animation. e. post-it, ishu, sand

Experimental

It’s also known as hand-drawn 2D animation or traditional animation. In this technique animators need to make at least 12 drawings on paper for one second length of film. The drawings are later scanned or captured for post-production using computer. This technique was the dominant form of animation in film and TV series, until the development of CGI animation. In digital 2D animation technique, animation frames are drawn directly on software using mouse or pen tablet. This technique is used mostly for TV series and web animation. Ex: Ek Anek Ekta, Cartoon Network

Classical 2D

is one of the sought-after techniques in the current scenario. Using this technique, 3D models are created, textured, rigged, and animated in the virtual space. E.g.. Ice-Age, Pixar

Digital 3D animation

Other animation techniques

desired state or pose against its background to expose a frame, and then do slight modifications in progression and take another frame. The process is repeated until the desired length of animation is achieved and shot.

In stop-motion animation, one needs to set the character or object, in the

Whiteboard

Clay animation or claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is “deformable”—made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine clay. Traditional animation, from cel animation to stop motion, is produced by recording each frame, or still picture, on film or digital media and then playing the recorded frames back in rapid succession before the viewer. These and other moving images, from zoetrope to films to video games, create the illusion of motion by playing back at over ten to twelve frames per second. The techniques involved in creating CGI are conversely generally removed from a frame-by-frame process. e.g.. Taare Zameeen Par

Claymation

Cut-out animation is a stop-motion technique for producing animations, using flat characters, props and backgrounds made out of different materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or even photographs.

Cut out

Pixilation is a stop motion technique where live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing while one or more frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames. The actor becomes a kind of living stop motion puppet. e.g.. bed dream, Nokia N8

When making an animation film however, sticking exclusively to one technique is rare and films are often made using a combination of these techniques to achieve a convincing result

I knew that alongside learning more about animation through reading about the subject and watching videos, I would also need to explore ‘doing’. I remember the bouncing ball being one of the first, most basic animation exercises.

Boun ing Bal l c

2 These are the keyframes in the bouncing ball sequence

3 These frames show how the spacing between consecutive frames increases as the ball descneds to suggest acceleration

2 These are the object distortions which exaggerate the motion

Everything I did henceforth would start of with a sketch. It's the easiest way to put down an idea and helps you understand an action and digest it's subtleties better .

1 These are the keyframes in the bouncing ball sequence

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Path of action

Keyframes

Exaggeration

M o m e n t um

This is the line a long which the ball will move. Once this is defined I can break up the path into smaller bounces. An important suggestion that path of action can be used to provide is that of material property and weight. If the ball I’m animating is bouncy like a crazy rubber ball, it’s path of action will reach higher. But if it’s a heavy bowling ball, it will bounce very little and therefore it’s pathos action will remain close to the ground.

Every action can be broken up into smaller parts so that it can be understood better. Depending on the complexity of the action, it maybe more parts or less parts. In the case of the ball. 2 We identify points along the path of action at which extremes of an action occur namely the peak points and impact points. Once we have these positions and states fixed, it is simply a case of filling in the transitionary frames at the appropriate spacing.

It’s a useful flexibility that animation offers to emphasise aspects of momentum and weight. In the case of the bouncing ball,we can use the stretch and squash method. It means that when the ball moves faster, we can elongate it along the direction of motion. The squash on the other hand is used at the point of contact with the ground where its elongates perpendicular to direction of motion. It communicates impact and weight. So even if the ground line is not drawn, we understand that a surface is encountered. These devices along with one’s like anticipation can also be used to achieve comic effects. For example, if the ball slows down unnaturally at it’s peak heights in every bounce and speeds up suddenly along it’s downward trajectory.

‘What goes up, must come down’. With some knowledge of how gravity works, we understand that as an object rises into the air, the force of gravity slows it down till it stops for a fraction of a second and commences it’s downward descent during which it accelerates till it hits the floor. To suggest these variations in acceleration, we can use spacing. If in a given period of time, the space between two instances of the ball is more , the object will appear to move faster than if the space between them were less. So in the example of the bouncing ball, as the sped of the ball reduces when it goes up, we draw more instances of it to suggest slowing down. And as it comes back down, we increase the space between consecutive frames so that the ball appears to speed up on account of gravity.

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From the bouncing ball experiment I encountered issues like altering light and background shifts. I decided to shift my workspace to a more controlled and organised location. I put together an amateurish setup on a studio desk.

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I used a Canon D3000 with a zoom lens. I connected the camera to my laptop and shot with Dragonframe. Background was taped to desk. Two daylight lights, one clipped on to the window and the other two-member rotatable one attached to the desk, diagonally opposing each other. Tracing paper sheets were placed over them and taped to disperse and soften the light.

Hardware

Making ends meet

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Case study 01 • Die Post

Animation type Stop motion

Production: Cancanclub Direction: Bruno Conti Art Direction: Jimena Oddi Chief Production: Nati Ferrando Director of Photography: Juan Maglione

Production

Sound

Cinematography

The entire set is made of cardboard. Everything from the simplistic background elements to the the intricately cut characters. There is a great amount of detail into which the film goes. The reason why cardboaerd is menaningful in this context is because the ad is for a company that transports packages by mail. Cardboard is a fundamental material in that process. It also lends a hand-made feel to the brand which suppports it's intention to project itself as a personalised, more intimate service provider. The set for this film was 3-4 meteres wide and 6 feet high at the back. While the main character cutout was 6 to 7cm in height.

The narrated voiceover is the most prominent factor accompanying the visual. The sound effects are extremely subtle yet effective. The voiceover has some amount of inflection and change in expression at points which keep it from turning monotonous. I like how music has been used like a background texture here. The animation doesn't sync heavily or depend too much on the music track. Also, the choice of instruments sets a very happy-go-luck, feel good tone to the video from the very start.

The entire film is filmed is one shot. The camera pans right and then left. For such a shot, a rig was used that runs parallel to the set. I sent out a mail to the Director of Photography of this video, Juan Maglione. He was kind enough to chat with me and answer questions regarding how they executed the film and what he thought of my film at the animatic stage.

animation This film uses a lot of replacement animation. It is a stopmotion technique where in a different cutout of the character is used for each frmae to play out an action.So it involves a lot of labour. After every short the subject is replaced by the next frame and this continues to give a smooth motion on playback.

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Software

Dragonframe is a professional software that is used to shoot stop motion films. It provided me with a live-preview of the frame I am shooting. I was completely new to it so I spent time acquainting myself with the interface and it’s features.

Reuben Dsilva

I downloaded a trial version of the software to test it out over a month. The trial version allows you to shoot only upto 50 frames at a time. So I had to make my explorations planned and concise.

Camera settings This panel allows you to adjust all your camera setting like aperture, shutter speed , image size and quality, white balance etc from the software itself. This is particularly important in stop-motion because you do not want your camera to move by even a millimetre once you dsatrt shooting a sequence. And fidgetring with your camera will always give you some inconsistency.

draw tool The drawing toolset is another important tool for shooting stop-motion. It allows you to draw digitally over the frame you set. This means that I draw my paths of action and positions of various elements to match them correctly in the frame. This allows me to plan the movement in the shot and execute it accuractly while shooting.

timeline and frame viewer The timeline allows you to see all the previously shot frames in sequence. It also allows you to move frames around, copy frames and reverse order along the timline. This is important becasue in some cases it mayeb easier to animate something in reverse. The viewer window allows you to 'onion skin'. This feature means that you can overlap any two consecutive frmaes to observe the increment in the action. It's an extremely useful feature.

increment editor Increment editor allows me to mark the increments of motion along a path of action. I can edit the number of incrememts I require based on the frame rate I'm shooting at as well as use the graph editor to vary the spacing mathematically.

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Stop-motion Experiments I realised that sooner or later, the only way for the project to move forward would be for me to start shooting stop-motion. The medium is such that no amount of planning or reading can teach you what it takes to make a stop-motion film. This only way to learn it, is to try it and fail and try it again.

0 1 Chaitime

Experiment

In this experiment, I got a hang of how increments work. I was able to draw a path of action for the cup and place markers digitally for the increment in every frame.

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0 2 the hunt

Experiment

In this experiment I tried to create the illusion of a moving camera by shifting the background elements frame by frame. It was particularly bad because all the background trees, mountains and clouds were independent and difficult to move uniformly. And to make matters harder, each had to be shifted by a different amount in every short to achieve an optical realism. E.g.. The mountains which are far in the distance need to move less than the trees and grass that are closer in the foreground so that there is a realistic illusion of depth and distance.

ÙA work-in-progress shot of cutting the tree out of paper.

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0 3 rainy day

Experiment

With the direction that our story was taking, I decided to try animating a sequence that related to the theme of environment sustainability. Also, this sequence allowed me to try an animation in which there are multiple actions occurring simultaneously. To do this, it’s important to have a sketch of the storyboard so that the sequence of events and motion of specific elements is planned. Since shooting stop-motion is such a time consuming and tedious task, planning your shot is very important so that you know the challenges and can can avoid foreseeable mistakes.

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0 4 Flying fisH

Experiment

This is another shot that i visualised as part of the water story and so decided to give it a shot. It was a simple shot which involved moving the wave components to and fro. I tried to achieve the gravity momentum effect with the fish by slowing it down as it reaches the peak of its jump and speeding it up on the downward dive.

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On medium With a graphic design background, I came to comprehend animation as a medium in a fresh way. We learnt in our communication studies course, from theories by Marshall McLuhan, about the nature of media and how they are different because of the experiences they provide an audience with. From the little experience gained through these animation experiments, I felt like the 'learning-by-doing' model was designed for learning animation. Creating and experiencing is imperative to the learning process. This is because animation is a very intuitive. A process based on trial and error. No matter how long you stare at the most-well planned storyboard, you can only evaluate it fairly by executing it in some form. It is only when you experience the animation/action, that you understand what works, what doesn’t and are able to draw meaning from the film.

If I were to design a publication, communication is achieved by revealing information in a desired order through a tactile interaction like flipping pages. In my booklet exploration, it was done by opening folded paper. /

The same effect is achieved more subtly through devices like typographic hierarchy. But in the case of animation, at any instant of time, every ‘frame’ exists. I may choose to go through a book page by page, or flip through it randomly. Some like to read the end of the book or the blurb on the back first. This leaves the process of meaning-making more subjective. In animation, we can construct and control the manner in which information is fed to a viewer if we wish to do so. For me, this makes it a powerful tool for persuasion. I am more likely to endorese a product after watching an ad on TV rather than a version of it in the newspaper.

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Ú The image on the opposite page is onne that I took on a weekend trip that we made to Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj in Novemeber 2013

This is primarily because animation is a time-based medium. It relies on the dimension of time to dispense meaning. At one instant, something exists and in the next instant it changes and hence does not exist. This is an obvious but fascinating phenomenon to experiment with. It offers so much that I can do for a viewer.

snoitcefleR Reflections noitaMina no on aniMation muidem a sa as a medium cihparg a rof for a graphic rengised designer

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Storywriting The next thing I needed to do was start working on a story. What would be the message of the film? What perspective will the film have on the subject? What is the tone of the narrative and how do we communicate it a clear message.

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shreeya

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S dahiya

SSSSSSSSSSSSSS

SSSSSSSSSSSSSS S

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Ú That's me trying to revise and improve the story

There are many cartoon shows on TV like Dora the explore, Johnny Quest and Dennis the menace, the presence of a central character that served as an aspirational personality for a child viewer is common. What this does is make the child feel like he/she is that character. Similarly, we too decided to try this approach in this storyboard. Through this story, we elaborate how more consumption by us in cities can lead to shortage of water for people in rural areas. The story then shifts to the amount each of our families can save through different things around the house and how if we follow through with smarter choices, everyone can have enough water.

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We took this storyboard back to Mr.Harsh Purohit. We needed to know if our story was factually correct and if what we were assuming through our light research was actually a ground reality in the Indian context. Through the conversation, most of our claims were validated. If we wanted to convince them about saving water by depicting the bad consequences of their action (or inaction) there can be two possibilities• it will affect you • it will affect others. The former would be more effective.

He provided us with some interesting factual insights into our story 1. The animal and rural connection is distancing the urban kid. They will find it difficult to relate to this problem and it may fail to invoke empathy. 2. Water down our basins isn’t rendered toxic or useless. It sinks back into a groundwater source. 3. Nearly 65% of our potable water in homes comes from groundwater 4. 70% of our agricultural water comes from groundwater

Sharing session w

5. Reduction in groundwater table is a very real problem. In Delhi, it maybe as close to 1 foot per year.

Harsh Purohit

He suggested the story play on a more fun, feel good tone that can delight the child and make them feel good about doing the action and spreading the word. Can we sell kids the idea of how big their actions can become. By pulling away from realworld seriousness and allowing the story to be more wonderful, the message is easier to digest and act upon.

In a nutshell:

Let the narrative focus on the scaling story instead of the consequence story. Keep the examples and events as relatable to the child as possible

Visually dramatise the numbers and induce wonder instead of guilt. 176

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His immediate response to the story was that it sounded extremely academic &. Like a textbook being read out to kids. From his experience working with this demographic on environmental issues, he rated them pretty highly on awareness. This means that kids nowadays know that saving water is important and the details that we’re providing aren’t doing too much to motivate them.

Sharing session w

5. Reduction in groundwater table is a very real problem. In Delhi, it maybe as close to 1 foot per year.

Harsh Purohit

In a nutshell:

Let the narrative focus on the scaling story instead of the consequence story. Keep the examples and events as relatable to the child as possible

2500L

18l

1008L

Side note: Hidden water

1799L

Harsh introduced to a related concept of ‘hidden water’. You might be surprised at how much water it takes to bring that hamburger to your plate to make your favourite t-shirt. Compare apples to oranges, beer to wine, wind power to coal. This is a fascinating idea that I did not know of.

Visually dramatise the numbers and induce wonder instead of guilt.

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story

Water is awesome and you can help save it!

S S

S The way forward I thought that Harsh’s feedback was very useful and set us in a more hopeful direction. Being communication designers, our competency is in taking existing information/content and making it meaningful and enjoyable. The scaling story is something that has a lot of potential in this regard. Info graphics are always known to be more impactful than numbers in rows and columns on an Excel sheet. There's is something about seeing the quantum that those numbers stand for in non-textual form that makes the information more impactive. If we could visually tell the story of one drop becoming millions of drops we would be doing our job. It’s a gap that only a communication designer can fill. And if traditional worm graphs and pie charts can do the job, imagine the impact an animated story could have.

In this version of the story, I tried to make the story a lot more light-hearted and fun from the last version. It had to be something that kids would enjoy and feel good about attaching over and over. I tried to incorporate things that kids valued when it came to water.

A question I asked myself was ‘why would water matter to kids?’ There were a number of ways in which kids enjoy water that the story could capitalise on. After establishing the connect, we can go in to scale the numbers and wow the viewer. The theme behind this version of the story was‘Water is awesome and you can help save it’

By doing this we’re not pressuring the audience into doing something in a desperate attempt to save the world or out of sympathy for parched villagers..

We realised through discussion that the message might be too heavily loaded. By pointing so many diverse scenarios and skipping from one to another, we’re saying a lot. An because of this we're not really driving a single point strongly.

S S S

S S

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Asking The Critical Questi n

After the last version of the storyboard, the need was felt to try and work with a more singular message and simpler storyline. It lead me to question what our core message was. If I had to make one meaningful statement to sum up the story, what would it be? I wanted the answer to that question to shape my brief.

Was it

Because that would mean the story gives a point-by-point list of scenarios at home and school where kids can make smarter choices.

Because that would mean highlighting negative consequences of water wastage.

‘How can kids save water daily?’

‘How does water wastage affect us?’

‘Why is it important to save water?’

After giving this some thought, I was reminded of the initial information collection stages where in we discovered the common problem of public littering. It made me question the behavioural psychology of us humans and why we do the things we do.

Why do we throw that wrapper on the ground? Why do we leave the light on in the next room when no one's there? Why do we leave the tap running while brushing? all inspite of knowing and being reminded time and time again that these are things we should not be doing. 182

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And why do we remain indifferent? Are we just plain lazy? or could it be that we don’t think it’s a big deal?

The last line struck me

"It’s not a big deal."

I could even picture myself saying the same thing.

Let’s face it, maybe the reason no one really cares about environmental problems like climate change, deforestation and water shortage is because they can’t see it, or experience the drastic effects in their day to day life. Turn the AC on! It's so much hotter this year!

There's no electricity?!

Madam, bag chahiye? Nai.. ..Haan, chalo de do...

The generator's off or what?

So it just doen't feel like a big deal. The consequences don’t seem dire enough and the rewards aren’t gratifying enough.

Plain apathy is one thing but there’s a more significant reason as to why small actions are ignored

"It’s the fact that everyone thinks that their action is insignificant in the larger scheme of things. And similarly, that by doing the right thing, they alone can never make a real difference."

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S My story needs to let people know that every small action makes a difference, when many people do it together. It must communicate to kids the power that we collectively possess to put an end to these gigantic problems if each of us chooses to take responsibility and do the right thing. The premise of my story became crystal clear.

S S

The storyboard that we finally decided to take forward

S S

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Building the 5tat1stics Story There were two primary aspects of the story that needed to be addressed. 1. How does the amount I save if I close my tap while brushing add up to the amount my city could save? Through rounds of research and correction, the following calculation was made. The desired audience for our film was going to be kids in urban (metros and tier two cities). We also needed to offer factually correct, conservative data to make sure we’re presenting the most real average figures of an Indian city. 2. What are the different analogies that we can use that to compare these amounts of water to things within a child’s sphere of everyday experience? This was a very important

part of our story that we knew we had to do differently.

This was a crucial part of the storybuilding process. We needed to create a convincing case with numbers. Which means we had to first uncover the numbers and then find a way to presnt them in the most meaningful way possible.

Ii. Water visualisations - statistics & calculations

% Urban (census 2001) = 10%

120 Million litres (amount wasted by a small city in a month)

Amount consumed by an individual in one brushing session. The average tap fills a 1l bottle in ~8 seconds. Assuming an average person brushes for ~120 seconds, this gives us a total water consumption of 120/8 = 15l If 1/3rd of that is used for actual brushing/cleaning the toothbrush/etc. Then that means volume of wasted water is 10l

Total urban population = 13,300 Assuming a family of four = 133000/4 = 3,325 3325*1200L = 3,990,000l / month

48 Olympic swimming pools (an Olympic pool has ~2,500,000l of water)

Source: Http://censusindia.Gov.In/dist_file/datasheet-1001. Pdf

If you pour this into cups, the cups would cover more than 400 football fields. Calculation: 120,000,000L = 480,000,000 (at 250ml/cup) Assuming a cup has a diameter of 8cm, the area taken up by a cup is 64sq.Cm. 64Sq.Cm. X 480,000,000 = 30,720,000,000 sq.Cm. = 3,072,000 Sq.M = ~3 sq.Km A football (soccer) field has an area of ~7140 sq.M

Amount consumed by a family in one brushing session. Assuming four family members: 10l x 4 = 40l Amount consumed by a family in a month of brushing (once daily) 40L x 30 days = 1200l Amount consumed by a typical large building / colony in a month of brushing (once daily) Assuming 100 flats: 1200l x 100 = 120,000l Amount consumed by all people living in similar buildings / houses in*: Major district (e.g.. Mumbai): 6,210,000,000l Medium district (e.g.. Ludhiana): 577,500,000l Small district (e.g.. Bettiah): 3,990,000 Let’s assume it’s a misc. Small city (100,000 households): 120,000,000l *City-wise water usage calculation: Mumbai: Urban population (census 2011) = 20,700,000 Assuming family of four = 20700000/4 = 5,175,000 5175000*1200=6,210,000,000 Source: Press information bureau of India - census 2011 Http://pibmumbai.Gov.In/scripts/detail.Asp?Releaseid=e2011is3 Ludhiana: Population (census 2011) = 3,500,000 % Urban (census 2001) = 55% Total urban population = 1,925,000 Assuming a family of four = 1925000/4 = 481,250 481,250*1200L = 577,500,000l / month Source: Http://censusindia.Gov.In/dist_file/datasheet-0309. Pdf Bettiah: Population (census 2011) = 133,000

Pune: Population: 6,050,000 Assuming a family of four: 6050000/4=1,512,500 Total consumption=1,512,500*1200=1,815,000,000 Misc. Small city Number of urban households = 100,000 (For reference, faridabad has ~215,000) Total wastage / month = 100000*1200 = 120,000,000l What can you do with all this water? 1200 Litres (amount wasted by one family in a month) If you stack these many bottles one on top of another, the tower they form will be more than 75 floors tall. This is almost as tall as the Eiffel tower and as tall as 4 qutab minars stacked one on top of another. Calculation: 1200L = 1200 1l bottles Height of a 1l bottle = 25cm 25X4 = 100, therefore 1m = 4 bottles 1200/4 = 300M = ~75 floors Eiffel tower = 324m Qutab minar = 75m 1200L is enough water to fill 15 bathtubs. Calculation: An american bathtub is ~24 gallons = 84 litres. 1200/84= 14.3 This is enough to fill 80 buckets of water. Calculation: Assume a medium-size bucket: 15l 1200/15=80 This is enough to water a large garden Calculation: A garden hose uses approximately 35l per minute. 1200/35 = ~34 Minutes If it takes half an hour to water your garden, i think it’s safe to say that it’s fairly ‘large’, especially in the context of a city-dwelling child.

Enough water for 1400 elephants to drink for a year (an adult elephant drinks ~225 Litres/day)

120,000,000L is enough to fill 120,000,000 1l bottle. If you put these many bottles in a row, the line will stretch from kashmir to kanyakumari, three times. Calculation: Diameter of a 1l bottle = ~8cm. 1M = 100cm, divided by 8 = 12 bottles. 120,000,000/12 = 10,000,000 Meters = 10,000kilometers Length of India = ~3200km This is enough water to fill the world’s biggest aquarium. Five times! Calculation: World’s biggest aquarium (georgia aquarium) has 24 million Litres of water. 120/24 = 5 Swimming pool stats: Pune: Population = ~6.05M = ~1.5M households = ~1.8B Litres of water = ~720 Olympic pools Mumbai: Population = ~20.7M = ~5.2M households = ~6.2B Litres of water = 2,500 Olympic pools Ahmedabad: Population = ~6.2M = ~1.5M households = ~1.8B Litres of water = ~720 Olympic pools

Sid, our in-house content writer and researcher, got to work immediately looking for sources of information, validating them and doing the math

One key concern of the project from the start was to put things across in a fresh, more meaningful way. For example, If I were to tell you that the amount of water that your family can save in a year is 8500 gallons, it may not mean much to you except that it’s a large number. But if I told you instead that the amount of water that your family could save in one month would fill enough bottles to stack up to four times the height of the Qutab Minar, it becomes real. Because you see a bottle of water day in and day out. And you have seen the Qutab Minar. It was this process of identifying with the audience’s everyday experiences and making that believable connection which makes our message valuable. These are some rough calculations I had started with while framing posiible story lines for the scaling story

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Case study 02 • The Seed

Animation type

Production

Story and direction : Johnny Kelly Production manager: Jo Bierton 2D animation: Michael Zaune Paper modeler: Elin Svenss Stop frame animation: Matthew Cooper

The stop-motion parts of this animation are all down with actual paper cut-outs. Each of the solids have been constructed by hand first and then shot. Again the size of this set would be nothing less than 10ft in length. Paper animation is also laborious because eveything has to be constructed by hand. The 2D animation bits could be possible on any computer. What's nice about the selection of this combimnation of techniques is that it draws in Adobe software which reinforces the message.

Stop motion 2D Digital animation

Sound There is no voiceover in thie film. The entire story is explained through visuals only. It has an edgy electronic soundtrack that sets the pace for the film. There are no sound effects as such. The music is heavily textured and intricate as is the animation and it's execution.

Cinematography The camera rig is fairly complex. It hangs over the set so that the animation can be performed on a horizontal surface. This requires more than your average tripod setup. Also, it moves along a path that needs t be measured carefully from frame to frame to make sure that the are are no unnecessary jumps from frame to frame.

ANIMation The stop-motion parts are shot regularly frame by frame. They also use a lot of the replacement technique. For example in the human body sequence, the lungs that look like they are pumping oxygen are animayted by constructing a geometric solid out of paper for each state of the expansion and contraction. Ø A work-in-progress shot of the layout for the human body sequence

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Animatic 1 The first version of this animatic was done on Keynote. Mohor told me about this feature to record a presentation in Keynote. You can flip through slides and simultaneously record an audio over it. Then I played it over and corrected it so that the transition of slides and my voiceover synced better. Keynote even allows you to export the recorded presentation in a video format like mp4. It postponed my introduction to AfterEffects, if only by a day or two.

Ù The record presentation feature in Keynote allows you to sync an audio recording with the slide sequence

This is a preliminary version of a film, produced by sketching successive sequences of a storyboard and adding a soundtrack

Flow Once we tweaked the storyboard and were happy with the the structure, the next step was testing it's flow by making the animatic. An attempt to overlay the frames form the storyboard with an audio narrative along a timeline. It gives a rough idea of the film’s impact and how long it will be.

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Timing The animatic offers a first indication in the animation film process of ‘timing’. Pace is crucial to a film and the animatic suggests how the storyboard ‘feels’ when played out. What are parts that need to take more time? Do certain sections feel rushed? Is the audio narrative fitting well with the visuals?

Pace is crucial to a film and the animatic suggests how the storyboard ‘feels’

× Screenshot of animatic#2

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Every animatic was preceded by quick sketch of the sequence that I would put up on a board for an internal discussion.

Animatic 2 In this version, I re-sketched the frames and made some changes based on discussions amongst ourselves. By doing this digitally, I also had the freedom to more easily fill in sketches of intermediate frames. This gave me a better idea of the flow of certain sequences that were so far only imagined. At this stage I needed to think about things like camera movement as well.

Recording the narration I did a rough recording on my own on the voice recording app on Fazal’s phone while sealing myself in the studio library. I recorded a couple of versions at speeds slightly deviating from natural pace to test how it sounds.

× Screenshot of Animatic#2. The frames were drawn digitally in this round.

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Sound is a big part of any animation film and it is important to begin working with it at the animatic stage. It informs the timing of actions and gives us some key cues to help guide the final animation process.

Sound Design

× Audio files that I downloaded to compile a small library

9 Animatic with Sound effects The first step was to go through the animatic frame by frame and note down all the possible sound effects that I wanted to have in the film. Once I had this list, I searched through online sound libraries for sample recordings. I downloaded the ones I found suitable. At this stage,I didn't care too much about the quality of recording and the consistency of effects. It was just to serve as a reference. Ù Screenshot of the final animatic with sound effects

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I added these effects over my animatic with the voiceover pre-recorded and started playing with the sequencing. It was amazing to see what a big difference even an amateurish sound effect can make to the watching experience. It instantly makes the action more believable and real. This preliminary version of the sound design process is called 'scratch' soundtrack.

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We visited her at her lovely home in Vasant Kunj, Delhi

• Exploit sound effects It can add a whole new layer of communication: I had gone through many videos so far, but when Priya mentioned this aspect I realised that sound is a very subconscious experience when watching n animation and it’s actually difficult to pay attention to. To design the sound, I would need to pay closer attention to how it’s done in the videos I had collected.

• Plan the physical layout of each shot In general, Priya stressed on the need to plan every detail of the film. By ‘layout’,she was referring to the background setup/elements that need to be moved or covered by the camera. How many pieces does it need to be? How big does it need to be. There are a lot of physical considerations that need to be taken into account with stop motion. Not just with regard to the shot but with regard to the execution of movement. For example, the joints of pintu’s shoulder and elbow. Will the model one be able to perform all the necessary actions that pintu needs to do through the film? What scale should Pintu be constructed on so the entire set can be proportionally constructed around him and accommodated within the allocate space? He needs to be big enough so that movements can be easily done by hand without shifting around other elements in the shot (and getting rid of tweezers)

I took the opportunity of Holi to make a short promotional stop motion for folks in the studio. After the first two experiments I was reasonably familiar with the basics of the software and motion. I saw a stop motion video on Vimeo that sparked an idea for the clip.

0 5 happy holi!

Experiment

These sharing sessions were important because I was I occassionally kept doubting if we were on the right track or not. By letting a professional in on our progress and ideas , I felt more confident going ahead

Sharing session w

priya kuriyan r& children’s book illustrato

to a m ni

•Make a dope sheet to get your timing of specific elements right. It also allows you to see the entire film at a glance as opposed to watching it in the form of a video where you can only see one frame at a time. 196

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I knew that we were looking at a stop motion film so I decided to ghet started. We would need to construct different elements with paper and other material and backgrounds. With the little experience I had gained from the initial experiments, I decided to try and construct the opening shot of pinto brushing his teeth.

ÙÚ Images of paper model mock-ups that I made after rendering with water colour

Ù Making the paper models at my desk

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Stop-motion Test

Using this model, I tried a stop motion sample. It was shot at 10fps with the same setup I introduced earlier in Dragonframe. I was still using a trial version at this stage with a couple of weeks left on my subscription. My idea of a deadline.

×ÙÚ Work in progress images of paper modelling

Animating even this simple motion was very hard to achieve. I made a lot of mistakes which helped me realise the kind of patience and attention to detail that shooting an action in stop-motion takes. I would move around the elements with a tweezer because using my hands made me feel clumsy as i unintentionally shifted other stuff around in an attempt to move one thing. This was particularly true for the drops. I spent the entire afternoon to pull off these measly two seconds.

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In the meantime, I was watching a lot of animation films.

A lot of animation films.

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Case study 03 • Back To The Start

Animation type

Production

animation

Sound

Production Company: Nexus Nexus Director: Johnny Kelly Camera Assistant: Max Halstead Model Assistant: Joe Jame Set Animator: Matthew Cooper Compositors: Alasdair Brotherston, John Taylor Production Designer: Graham Staughton

The entire set is modelled physically– from each and every tree in background to the characters. The characters are 3D printed each around 10cm in height. One of the primary challenges was to fit a set spanning 50 feet into a 20 foot room. This was tackled by sliding the set along from right to left which makes it seem like the camera is moving from left to right. The production assets included roughly six chickens, seventy two pigs, sixteen cows and eight hundred and seventy four trees.

The first step in such a complex animation process was to create the storyboard. The storyboard takes the viewer through the cycle of a year in the life of a farmer. No it annotates details in texture and sound. What followed was the animatic. This one was done in a 3D software to replicate exactly what they would shoot. So the film was practically made digitally before it was actually shot in stop-motion.

The sound effects as such are very subtle. For example, these is some amount of background sound like the chirping of birds and other ambient noise that is audible. But the focus is clearly the song which a is a cover of Coldplay's 'The Scientist' by Willie Nelson. I like how the title of the film has probably inspired the soundtarck because the last of the chorus says 'Oh take me back to the start'.

Stop motion

Cinematography The entire film is filmed is one shot. For such a shot, a rig was used that runs parallel to the set. It is marked with increments for each frame. One inetersting thing is that they did not want the shadows of the subjects to move so laong with the set, the lighting setup also moves. The camera movement is very ambitious and dramatic. It moves up and down with a tilt in the frame. The extremems shift from a straight-on horizontal shot to an overhead vertical shot. The lighting changes to suggest a change in weather and time of day.

Ù Ratio of set to human

× Lighting effects Ù Animatic and camera movement mockups

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So how do we build a character? I had not done character design before or learnt about the right way to do it. It was a very instinctive process that I began by writing and doodling.

× Description of character, background and environment

I would keep thinking about what kind of a character I wanted Pintu to be. This was a very loaded question at the time because when you’re representing a character visually because if you decide on certain aspects of a character, many related aspects need to fit in as well. There are so many different things that you are communicating to the audience in a frame. Things that you have complete control over and hence respoinsible fort thinking through and representing intelligently. By describing the character I could put down those ideas and then extend those facets into any direction that the script demanded from it later.

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Drawing portraits

Now that I had a rough idea of the demographic I was representing, I began sketching portraits of the central character Pintu from image references. At first, I was just flipping through pictures on the Raahgiri Facebook page because I felt like the audience received at the event characterised the personas I was looking for. But when I began sketching these portraits with thought, I had a chance to think about the character from a different perspective.

Drawing is thinking in that sense. It enabled me to understand what I was trying to represent in a more intimate way.

For example, when I drew different contours of a face, different hair textures, different types of features like eyes, eye brows, ears and noses I found myself thinking about what each of these elements lent to the character of the boy.

Drawing is a conscious activity that allows me to build character using shape, line quality, tone and texture.

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Discussing attributes and personality I slowly moved away from the realism of character in the previous round to more abstract form with simplified shapes and lines. This is typical of cartoons because children are able to more easily grasp simpler shapes. I continued exploring secondary character attributes by trying different clothes etc. This also raised a lot of questions related to PIntu's personality-

"Is he friendly or introverted?"

"Does he prefer video games to "Is he studious?" football?" "Is pintu a sporty, athletic kid?"

× Sketch explorations

exploring proportion and body forms

× Character references

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Through quick pencil sketches, I tried different permutations and combinations of body to head proportions, body forms and features. The aim of this exercise was to try and exhaust all possible representations of the character so that we could have sufficient material to look at and evaluate. Reuben dsilva diploma document 2014

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But which Pintu is the Real Pintu?

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character #!

character #2

character #3

character #4

From the sketches in the previous round, there were some that we collectively felt had the potential to be our final character. It was a highly subjective decision making process. The primary factors for judging these explorations was likability from a achild's point of view. It had to be a character that an average kid can relate to. The aspirational quality was not a priority as much as identification with the audience.

character #5

what makes a family a family? To understand how to tackle this part of character design, I dug up some popular cartoon show characters. They offered concrete references on character design fundamentals. Each cartoon show has a certain character and iconographic representation. In that sense all characters of a particular series are a family. Some aspect of the design must hold it together, like glue.

meet pintu!

Flintstones Characters are very different in size and proportion. Butt features like hair retain commonality across male and female characters

There was something about this character that we thought matched the storyline and personality that we were looking for. The hairstyle, his demeanour; he possessed a visible characteristic that we thought was very likeable.

Welcome the family

Exploratory sketches

After choosing our primary character, the job was to extend the character to the remaining family members as well. This task of abstracting the visual character from Pintu and creating a related family of personalities was not as simple as I imagined. I began with sketches.

Was there a way to make the characters look like they belong to the family yet have a distinct difference?

meet mom!

meet dad!

South Park Characters are very similar in proportion and features. Eyes are identical, body forms are simple scaled up and down. Facial features are minimal. Colour and clothing are key differentiators.

Simpsons Body forms are varied more subtly. The yes are a consistent across gender and age. The yellow skin tone helps establish commonality.

Family Guy The common thread is the circularish, heavy body forms.

...and the family!

0 1

There has to be...like...some language na?

treatment

But what is this film going to look like? So far the discussion and explorations were regarding ‘what’ we were representing. And having gained sufficient clarity on the subject of representation, it was time to begin exploring ‘how’ we were going to represent that subject. This was a part that I was really looking forward to exploring especially after the short model making exercise earlier that triggered a lot of questions as well as ideas.

× One frame of the film is selected. A simple line drawing serves as a base for treatment explorations

Colour is used to emphasise water since it is the main character in the film. All other elements and backgrounds are treated in monotone. To organise these treatment explorations we decided to pick some constraints. The simplest way to do this choosing a still frame and making a simple line drawing of it. Once we had this consistent form, I could digitally apply different effects and treatments and compare them to one another.

REFERENCE IMAGERY × Stills from films made by Fims Division, India

A key point in this process was not to treat this exploration as I would have during an illustration course in second year. In such courses, the intent is to familiarise a student with the nature of a medium and how it behaves. But in this case, I had to use that learning to carry out exploration with direction and thought behind it. Each exploration needed to be purposefully different and not just variations of medium. This is where my conceptual notes came to use.

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0 3

treatment

We support our eco-friendly message by re-using household waste such as packaging, cardboard etc. to create the elements, textures and backgrounds. REFERENCE IMAGERY

treatment

Water is treated with a watercolour and other elements, with ‘dry’ pastel. Green hue is used to group secondary (passive) elements in the frame REFERENCE IMAGERY

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0 4

0 5

treatment

A combination of poster colour treatment and use of recyclable cardboard. Use of material like cloth for the towel and reflective packaging for the basin shine REFERENCE IMAGERY

treatment

Vivid colour and distinct texture is used to emphasise moving elements Secondary elements are constructed with cardboard and have minimal detailing REFERENCE IMAGERY

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A simple cut-out style animation in 2D plane complements the simplicity of our narrative and message. Also, it will be way simpler to execute.

ÙÚ× Media explorations

Ù References for cut-out style illustration | Drawings by Estonian born Graphic Designer Eiko Ojala

We do not represent water in the traditional shapeless fluid form • fluids occupy ‘volume’ which makes it hard to comprehend amount • fluid dynamics are harder to animate

SSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS 224

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Instead water can be depicted in multiples of one drop. The same way money is denoted by multiples of a unit (Re.). It is countable and finite. This way the role of each and every drop, in churning out the unimaginable amounts in the end, is made explicit.

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towards EWorking a final treatment So what do we think is working?

Over a course of discussion, we were trying to find a balance between things we like from the different explorations.

One visual concept that we wanted to stick to was the subtle hinting at re-usability and recyclability. So using elements and texture that came from materials like cardboard, waste paper, waste cloth, packaging etc. Though this concept did not directly connect to our message of water conservation, it definitely adds a meaningful layer that comes from the same point of view. The other decision was to keep things colourful.

Colour Another thing we focussed on was colour palette and how colour would be used. I wanted to colours to be vibrant but not harsh something that looks really good on screens. I reached out to an animator in London named Will Samuel because I really loved his work on this particular animationthat was in a similar space to mine. He replied with some feedback which I incorporated when thinking about colour usage.

Characteristic features of selected visual style I zeroed in on using just three textures- cardboard, newspaper and reusable cloth bag. With variation in colour and usage, it offered a good visual consistency to the film. and some depth.

The use of urdu newspaper script to create hair texture

E cardboard texture

recyclable bag for fabric texture

water drops have blue tarpoline texture indian scripts as texture

Typography as texture An idea that was suggested by Fazal while I was creating these treatment stills was to use hindi newspapers for the texture. This adds a local flavour to the composition which is something I wanted to achieve. I took this suggestion a step further by not limiting it to Hindi but incorporating multiple Indic scripts in the composition. A feature of typography that we are taught to appreciate in Typography2 module is that of ‘texture’. A simple application of this was how certain Indian scripts lend themselves well to certain elements as a texture. For example, use of Urdu letterforms in the hair because Urdu letters have long swashes and strokes that complement the form of hair. Or how the Oriya script has very circular letterforms and matched the form of bubbles that are formed from froth while brushing. Apart from an aesthetic harmony, it also indirectly builds a sense of identity and belonging for the film.

Drop shadow The drop shadow makes it seem like the elements are actual paper cut-outs. It therefore lends that feeling that we were hoping to achieve with stop motion. It felt nice to bring in that aspect of tangibility and craft. By doing this we also add depth to the composition by layering elements one on top of each other.

White boil The white outlines are to be used on foreground moving elements so that the motion is highlighted. The idea behind treating it in this way was inspired from the plastic crayons kids use to colour with. It’s a subtle touch but when we use it to achieve a boil effect in animation it brings life to the form.

But will this work for that wala scene?

Treated stills

In the next step I picked out select stills from the animatic and began applying the selected treatment to them. We were slowly converging towards a style but what we needed to do was test if it would hold through the film. To do this I selected nine stills from the animatic that I felt covered every major sequence and went on to apply the treatment to each of these frames.

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This exercise helped me rationalise what elements of the style needed to be used in what way. It was the first time I looked at all the frames collectively. For example: • No frame will have more than twothree hues • The background colour of each scene changes to retain the viewers interest • The cardboard textures would be used for neutral background elements. • The newspaper texture can be used to emphasise the foreground elements. • The white boil effect can be used for important but stationary elements.

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Haan, you know AfterEffects na?!

Animating t Film

I had never animated in AfterEffects before so this part of the project, apart from being important, was also very challenging. By this stage though, after all the effort that had gone into reaching this far, I was feeling quite determined of finding a way to animate this film well. This confidence held me in good stead as the learning process commenced.

Going digital It was during the sharing session with Priya that she suggested we take the film forward in AfterEffects itself. At the treatment exploration stage, I tried animating two sequences digitally which looked vaguely convincing. I was feeling confident of achieving the paper cut-out effect that I wanted. After giving it some thought we realised that there was really not much to lose from doing it in AfterEffects. The advantages of animating digitally are manifold. This being the first time I was attempting animation, there was bound to be a lot of trial and error learning of the basics. As I mentioned earlier, animation is something you have to do and playback to experience to understand it’s effects and learn from them. You make corrections based on this and replay and repeat and iterate over and over. Completing these learning loops is much faster if done digitally. AfterEffects offers more control over motion and eliminates the physical challenges that come with stop-motion. It's also physically less labourious and can be undertaken single-handedly.

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Once the voiceover script was finalised, I went ahead with one final recording to which I could begin animating. It’s important to finalise on the narration before animating and stick to it because things like timing and action can only be achieved when the voiceover serves as a reference. If both keep changing, it becomes very difficult to evaluate and iterate the film.

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I began by watching a lot of online tutorials, blogs and by reading forum discussions to understand the basics of the software. As I progressed, I became more fluent and hence faster at doing things. How to set keyframes, how to prepare a composition, how to loop a particular action, masking etc. were some of these basic commands.

Oh, that's pretty cool ya.. Ú Screeshots of reference tutorials on You Tube

Some handy tools that I picked up In this section, I want to go over slightly technical bits that I picked up over the course of animating this film. The learning process for me was most instinctive. I would look at my animatic, visualise the shot and try and reproduce it in Ae. Sometimes, I would come up with alternate ideas for the shot on the spot which meant quickly duplicating the composition and trying it out to see if something else works better. Things were haphazard in that sense. I would have something in mind, and want to figure out a way to do it which would drive me to find answers; from internet searches, video tutorials or even e-mails and calls to animation friends. Everything I've learnt is because I needed to learn it for the film. This is why I've always believe that learning a software cannot happen for the sake of learning and knowing a certain set of functions. It becomes valuable and can be digested when it is learnt in a context of application. Alot of what I will share over the next few pages may be boring and obvious to anyone who has worked in AfterEffects, but for me each of these technical nuggets were small discoveries that gave me immense satisfaction and impetus as I went from one day to another, figuring out what it takes to animate a film.

I've always believed that learning

(a software for example) cannot happen for the sake of simply knowing a certain set of functions. It becomes truly valuable and digestable when it is learnt in the context of 'application'.

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Preparing and organising source files Source files are basically anything that you import into Ae which you then want to animate. For example, when I had to animate Pintu and his family brushing their teeth, the action involves different parts of each of their bodies moving in acertain way, which means that each of these elemens have to be animated separately. Therefore, each figure needed to be broken up into upto 10-12 parts in Photoshop first and exported as image files first.

Working in Layers The fundamental concept of layers remains a consistent part of Adobe software. It allows you to place and move different elements along the timeline. In addition, you can also treat these layers with effects as you would in Photoshop. Each layer has some basic transform parameters that you can set keyframes for. Like Position, Scale, Rotation etc.

Because animation involves working with four dimensions, the pricess can be very confusing and complex. This is why organising the files that you are workibg with is very important. It is extremely easy to lose track of files if you haven't labelled them or grouped them correctly. I've learnt this the hard way by having to spend a lot of time late, searching for the files or creating them again. You can never be too particular. Also, it helps to have things organised do you can revisit them in the event that you have to make changes or update a particular file.

Ù Layers within a particular sequence. They contain images and sub-compositions

02 Working in Compositions Any independent singular action can be made as a composition. A composition allows you to drastically simplify your timeline. This is because when animating, you tend to generate a lot of working layers because in amny cases, a particular shot may contain multiple actions each having multiple layers. By creating a composition, I can reduce the number of layers in my final sequence. Ù Source file directory containing all the imported images and compositions

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05 Layer expressions

04 Masking paths Masking a layer in Aftereffects is an extremely useful tool and also functions similar to Photoshop. However, in Ae, it is possible to not only mask a layer but also to animate the mask. For example, in the opening shot with Pintu brushing at the basin, I depict the sun rising outside the window behind the city skyline. When this is happening, I wanted to animate the sun's rays passing through the window and shining on the charcter's face as it's angle changes. For this I needed to animate each node of the sunlight's mask separately.

Ø Notice how the transparent yellow path is animated to match the surface of Pintu's face as the sun rises

Layer expressions are basically snippets of code that allow you to automate a set of actions for that respective layer. I used one expression in particular extremely frequently- Time remapping The need for this expression arose from having to repeat certain actions in a loop. For example, in the bathroom sequence, Pintu is brushing his teeth. This hand movement of brushing was one that needed to be repeated for the entire duration of the shot. Now instead of manually repeating the keyframes by copy-pasting it along the timeline, I can simply use an expression from time-remapping called loopOut(). When I do this, I have to specify keyframes at the beginning and end of the action that I waish to loop and set the duration for which I want it to go on. This saves me a lot of trouble.

Ù This is a screenshot of the timeline view that displays time-remap function

06 Boil effect composition This expression was also used to achieve the boil effect that you see throughout the film. Here I created a composition in which the white outlines simply alternate between two or three frames. Then, using the time remap expression, I loop the composition. One point to note here is that The time remap interval needs to match the frames per second specified.

This is what a typical composition for boil effect looks like. Ú

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Mesh Warp effects

Working with 3D

In the swimming pool sequence, I wanted the elements to feel like they were liquified or fluid in some sense. To do this I applied the gradient transformation tool to to the layer with the water. What this does is apply a mesh of desired number of rows and columns on the layer and allows yoyu to animate the nodes independently. So the the subtle elastic effect that can be noticed when Pintu dives and swims across the frame is animated in that manner.

AfterEffects has 3D rendering and animating capability. Initially, for the city zoom out shot, I thought I would have to make an extremely dense, high resolution artwork and zoom the entire frame right from Pintu's room to the cityscape. However, I realised that this was a stupid idea when I learnt the basic 3D tools in a You Tube tutorial.

What 3D allows you to do is arrange 2D layers in a 3D space. So if each of of my buildings were layers constructed in Photoshop, I had the freedom to place them anywhere in the 3D space. Perspective effects would naturally come into play so that a distant building automatically looks smaller than one in the immediate forgeround.

To give the number 2500 a fluid effect, I decided again to use the 3D object toolkit. Here, by simply rotating the numerals along the Z-axis in addition to the X and Y-axis, it created an illusion of the objects floating underwater.

Ù The 3D week view opens up panels that display side, front and active camera views

08 Camera in 3D

Ù Screenshots of my Ae work window showing the mesh warp tool in action

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This was an amazing discovery for me to learn to animate a camera. I learn that not only could you arrange and move the subject (layers) in 3D but also the camera. This simplified as well as dramatised the zoom out shot. I created a path for the camera to move along through the cityscape. Though i didn't experiemnt with it, the camera settings can also be changed depending on the subject you are capturing.

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Revisiting sound The process of writing the script for the voiceover was an iterative one that stretched right from the day we decided to make the film till the day we did the final recording. After the rough cut of the film was done, I decided to look back at the narration and invest a little more in achieving the right quality.

Sound Design We knew that we had already taken a big leap out of of our comfort zone by attempting animation. Fortunately, it didn’t work out too badly for us and we were confident of refining it to our satisfaction. Looking back, I realised that we were able to tackle it because animation, after all is a visual construct, and the basics of visual communication are what we are familiar with and helped us achieve the end result. So we were still only thinking visually and at the most verbally.

Animation appeals to the visual sense which offers an amount of tangibility. But sound is an abstract, intangible element which hence takes a very different sensibility and way of thinking to execute well.

It’s proven that when it comes to the an audio-visual experience, sound is responsible for a larger share of the film’s final impact. We can easily understand what this means by watching a film without sound. Whether it's a 30 second ad spot or a feature length horror film, there is an immediate disconnect with the audience in the absence of sound. A visual maybe induce a sense of awe or believability but sound illicits emotions and feelings. So designing sound is an even bigger jump beyond animation for a graphic designer.

Sound design is something that the viewer is often unconscious of. It’s a very abstract element in the recipe for an animation film. You will find that after watching a dramatic film in a theatre, the audience is quick to appreciate things like the visual effects, cinematography or the storyline but to find someone commenting on sound effects or the score is rare. Yet it is what brings the film to life. To be very honest, we had seriously underestimated the effort and expertise required to design sound for the film. I was convinced that the film was complete when I completed the animation but I was very wrong. One of the driving factors for Rising as an initiative was self-sufficiency; to do as much as we could on our own with the resources we had. The point behind this was not only to prove to ourselves that we could but for others to know that such initiatives can take shape and even be of a respectable quality without exorbitant funding or professional expertise. To maintain control over the output we thought of creating something that could serve as a indicative sample of sound and music so that a professional could step in and take forward however necessary.

Sharing session with Pushpendra Misra

Advertisement/Film maker and Writer Being someone who is well acquainted with this format of short impactful videos from his years of experience in advertising, Pushi offered some very relevant feedback in the final stages. He had a lot of appreciation for the visual animation but was very unconvinced about the sound design. We ran through the film and he pointed out some examples of how elements of sound were lacking. Pushi kept stressing on the fact that we shouldn’t take sound design lightly as it is an integral part of the film and needs a lot of patience, time and attention. This was the stage at which I realised that I would need to really pull my socks up and put a lot more effort into the sound– the voiceover, music and effects.

Ù Raw files of recorded music were imported from the phone to my computer

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× Sid worked on the first version of the voiceover that was recorded at Katharas Studio in Delhi

Ù Sid worked on the first version of the voiceover that was recorded at Katharas Studio in Delhi

The Voiceover

It was after we got back to the studio, that I tested the sound recordings with the film. We shared this copy with Pushi who immediately felt like we could do more with it. Upon analysing what went wrong, after listening to it over and over, what I leant from the voiceover version we did with Sid was that we tried too hard; trying to exercise control over every detail. Something like a voiceover needs to be done naturally. Before the first recording, we had practiced and planned the voiceover to every last word. Indeed, a good voiceover is characterised by the details of emphasis, pauses and modulation, but force fully choreographing it will produce a result which won’t feel quite right. Pushi, who was also kind enough to help us with the translation of the script into Hindi, did a sample voiceover for us to pick up cues related to timing, emphasis and phrasing. These inputs helped us realise what it was that we needed to be conscious of while recording.

Once we had established what we were aiming to achieve with the voiceover it was a process of recurring iterations, one after the other. The initial version for the purpose of producing the animation with some reference was done by me but I wasn’t too satisfied with it. So I followed it up with a session of auditions within the studio. From the samples I had collected, we chose Sid to do the English narration. Over the next couple of weeks, we did a series of recording practices in the library. I would take the audio recording and test how it sounded by adding it to the animation. This gave us an idea of where and how we could improve it. Once we felt like we were ready for a final take we went ahead and booked a recording studio for a session. Sanchit put us in touch with a school friend of his Chaitanya Bhalla, a freelance sound engineer and music recorder. We recorded the voiceover line by line generating alternatives along the way.

In tone

In language

Language is a powerful tool that you can keep tweaking and changing and this flexibility is exactly what one needs when making an animation film. In the initial storyboard, it sounded a little academic in its tone. Sid and Mohor worked on improvements to make it feel lighter and more casual. The visualisation was that of a elder, knowing sibling narrating this to a younger sibling so it doesn’t sound preachy but retains some authority and respect.

It was also decided to not only do it in English but Hindi as well so we’re able to reach out to a larger audience. We passed on the latest version for translation into Hindi. It wasn’t as easy as you would imagine because it needed to match the animation in two respects: Timing: Since the animation was worked on, we needed the Hindi narration to sync with the cuts and transitions as well as the English version did. Tone: It needed to match the degree of informality that we had achieved with the English narration.

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With a newfound sense of confidence, we returned to the recording studio two weeks later. Another change we decided to make in the method of recording was not to take the recording line by line as we did on the earlier occassion, but narrate the entire script in one take. This makes the result significantly better because the voiceover can build over time and have a natural flow.

Ù Printed copies of the script that were used to record the narration. We would record in the studio library.

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The Music Music for the film was something I was keen on tackling from the start. We decided that it should play the role of a background texture to the film as opposed to a very dominant one, since there is a lot of dialogue. The beauty of music in a film is the ability for it to subtly set a mood through tempo and melody. This is something that all film makers can use to their advantage. I’ve always had an interest in music through hobbies like playing the guitar and singing recreationally. But I had never taken it seriously enough to try record or compose anything. So I had an abstract idea of the kind of music I wanted and built up somme ideas in my head but needed to find a way to put them down, whether or not I executed them. There was a ukulele that was lying around the studio that I began strumming. I really liked the soft, happy tone it produced so I chose to take it forward in some explorations for the melody. I recorded a couple of compositions using GarageBand. The quality wasn't great but worked satisfactorily in the background. Since the topic we were addressing was rather serious in nature, I felt like a light-hearted tune would make it more enjoyable and inviting for kids to experience.

At this stage, Sanchit introduced me to Logic and suggested that I work in it because it has a much better library of instruments and allows one to compose music by programming notes using a keyboard along a timescale. This was a relieving breakthrough because I could finally externalise and test my ideas quickly. I had some issues finding a suitable installation package of the software. The main issue was the file size of the library package while the older version, Logic Pro 9, was incompatible with any OS beyond Snow Leopard. The solution to this was to run the installation file and download the library packages from an online source other than the App Store.

× I used Sid's ukulele to record short melodies

Ù A screenshot of my composition in LogicPro

In Logic the interface offers some basic features like:

Ù I imported my recordings into GarageBand that let me edit and assemble the track

At this stage working in Garageband helped me understand the overall pace that the film would have as well as a tentative arrangement for the music. Garageband is an easy-to-use software and can help get you started but doesn’t offer a very extensive library of instruments. So far, I was just mixing my recording with shakers and rock percussion and found it quite limiting. From my references, I wanted to be able to generate as many compositions as I could and figure out what combination of instruments would work well. But I felt limited because the only instrument I really knew was the guitar.

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Channel mixer: This allows us to flow different layers of audio along the same timeline and adjust their levels and effects. Input/Output/Send: It is a descriptor of the channel that defines where the sound is coming from and where it is being sent. What this does is send a part of the channel signal to Bus, which is a channel that collects related inputs.

Effect loops: Logic and Garageband, both have a set of music loops and sound effects that are useful. Extensive instrument library: There are downloadable instrument packages that run in Logic which cover instruments from natural to electronic Video preview: This allows you to preview your music alongside the video in case you need it to sync to action.

Audio effects: We can add effects to any particular channel or bus like Reverb, EQ, Delay, Gate, Compression which enhance the audio output. Keyboard composer: This dialog allows you to compose music through any instrumet via a keyboard interface.

REUBEN DSILVA DIPLOMA DOCUMENT 2014

One of the biggest things I learnt in this process is that even though sound maybe called post-production, the thought process behind sound design needs to begin even as soon as the storyboard is finalised. Sound design requires one to acquire a ‘feel’ for the film and the script.

Sound effects I was getting a hand of the basic softwares and their technicalities but I needed to learn more about how sound is designed as opposed to just being engineered if I were to make a good soundtrack. So I began watching tutorials to find some basic tips on doing good sound design. After the initial scratch sound version that I did for the animatic and the rough draft, I had an idea of the basic effects I needed. But there were some problems that needed to be addressed. There were two types of consistency that I was looking for:

Ù A screenshot of Audacity., in which I cleaned up my sound clips

Language: In quite the same way that my visuals had a a consistency of representation in terms of form and colour, sound too needs to follow a language. For example, if I’m using very natural sounds, then I should overly animated, hyper sounds seem out of place. Quality: Because my sound effects were from different sources, there was a lot of difference in terms of recording quality, level, dynamics and noise.

To achieve this consistency, one must be able to edit sound effects for which a sound editing software is necessary. For this, I used Audacity and Adobe Audition. I came across these software suggestions in Youtube tutorials on sound design so I’m not quite sure if they’re the best or most suitable but it is what I used. But before one can begin with softwares, one must make an exhaustive list of all possible sound effects that the film could have. In animation especially, almost overt moving element can have a sound, that is in addition to ambients background sounds. So the sound layer can be very rich and reinforce almost every small animated action. Once I had this list, I simply went through all the sound libraries I had, primarily free sound.org and one that Pulak gave me. After choosing a set of sounds, I took the effects to Audacity. Here, I performed operations like compression, noise removal, dehumming, normalising and amplification. The edited sounds were then exported and imported into Audition where it was synced with the video track. Audition allows me to easily match my audio to the track. Ù A screenshot of Adobe Audition, In which I edited and synced my sound

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Launch and Promotion

The website in addition to showcasing our incubated projects, also hosts an archive of visual communication project from the world over. It allows people to submit suitable work and Rising would curate and comment on it. This was the larger system in which my project would exist.

The good part about choosing animation as a medium is that in the age of the internet it has the most powerful distribution network imaginable. And it costs practically nothing. Video archives like Youtube and Vimeo allow us to host content and have it open in a public-domain while retaining ownership. Our launch for Rising was centred around three primary communication channels– Website, Facebook page and Twitter handle.

For the opening page of the Rising website, we wanted to make a quick introduction to explain to visitors what the project is about. After a series of quick discussions, we came to the conclusion that it should be a quick video that can explain the premise of Rising– Visual communication for change. For this, the idea that we came up with was to take up different devices of visual communication and reflect their impact on a direct manner. In a matter of two days, we came up with a storybaord, shooting setup, production and art direction, sound design and editing. It was a great eperience to be a part of this crash exercise in which everyone in the studio pitched in to help and make it possible.

× Screenshots from the promotional videos

ÙØ Screenshots of the twitter and Facebook page that we used to publicise the project and spread awareness

Ù A shot of our work in progress while shooting the film in the studio lunch room

REUBEN DSILVA DIPLOMA DOCUMENT 2014

Thank You! I would like to thank a few people who, as clichéd as it may sound, have helped make this project possible. IMMANUEL SURESH, my academic guide, for always being a sincere and encouraging teacher since my first day of Foundation. RAJESH DAHIYA AND MOHOR RAY, at Codesign, for investing faith and energy in a confused design student running a semester late. THE CODESIGN FAMILY – Saddam, Sid, Shreeya, Pari, Kshitiz, Pulak, Fazal, Mehar, Abhijith, Shobhan, Sanchit, Pragun – thank you for your contributions throughout. I feel proud to say that this project is indeed a team effort. MY FAMILY

Every friend, student, faculty member, non-teaching staff member and acquaintance who in some way or the other, contributed to my life-changing experience at NID.

REUBEN DSILVA DIPLOMA DOCUMENT 2014

E A GLIMPSE OF THE JOURNEY The time I have spent on this diploma project has undoubtedly been the most significant period in my academic journey so far. This experience has bit, chewed, swallowed and spat out all the notions of communication design I’ve harboured. On a more personal note, it has helped me learn more about myself- my strengths, weaknesses and the role I have chosen to play in the larger scheme of things by choosing to be a professional communication designer. The experience has put me through the frustration that comes from grappling with a vague idea and creative freedom as well as the adrenaline that comes from breathing life into one by building it from scratch. The personal satisfaction that the project has brought me is unparalleled and I have enjoyed every step of the way.

MY EXPERIENCE ANIMATING This experience has bit, chewed,

swallowed and spat all the notions of communication design I have harboured thus far. Over the course of my project, I have worked and played as hard as I possibly could, made many mistakes and learnt so much more than I imagined when I started out. This document attempts to put together all that has gone into this project. Spanning across why I came to choose this project to why I chose a specific colour in the final deliverable, I have done my best to clearly explain things in as much detail as possible and in the most natural way I know. In places it may break away from a formal tone or timeline, but it is only so that I may most honestly communicate my experience. Most of my writing is just a personal view on the concerned subject and may sound as inexperienced as I am.

REUBEN DSILVA DIPLOMA DOCUMENT 2014

On looking back, I was extremely under confident of picking up a skill as new and complex as animation. But I think the key lied in jumping into the deep end of the pool before I could even hold my breath. I’m glad I mustered the courage to do that because it was worth it. A week into the process, I rediscovered the joy of learning something I didn’t know. It felt like meeting a long-lost friend. I realised that since second year, I’ve just been running the same Illustrator- Photoshop-Indesign circuit over and over. It may help you work better and faster, but not necessarily think smarter or differently. Tools can really limit you if you choose to be limited by them. The vulnerability and uncertainty that comes from self-learning is crucial to personal improvement. There is a desperation with which one works when things are unknown and uncertain; a willingness to struggle to get something right. And the desire to find out if there’s an easier way to do A or a better way to do B. Once I got a hang of it, animation was immensely gratifying as well. I would spend more than a couple of days on a shot but when I played it back, saw it and absorbed peoples' reactions and their appreciation for what I was doing, I felt a renewed sense of self worth; like I had ‘done’ something. I think that is the kind of joy that can only stem from creating something that has come from within you and no where else. I feel fortunate to have experienced this in my dip project because it's a very special feeling.

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21: Social Design Network Creative For A Cause Design Ignites Change Volunteer, work, intern, organize, hire and connect. Change the world - idealist.org

J DESIGN ACTIVISM Creative And Innovative Navigation Designs | Smashing Magazine Internet.org A Modern Designer’s Canvas | Smashing Magazine Keep It! DP Case studies CUP: Urban Investigations CUP: City Studies CUP: Teacher Trainings CUP projects CUP: Projects Graphic Advocacy: posters as a vehicle of change Robbie Conal’s Art Attack + Art - Barbara Kruger - Photograph Collage, Advertising, Slogans, Art The Design in the Construction of Cultural Identity - Socially Conscious Graphic Design - Blog - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network Visual Storytelling to Communicate Sustainability The Water Project | Background Story Inspiration Water Journey | Background Story Inspiration Comunication for children - Socially Conscious Graphic Design - Blog - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network Density Design | Research Density Design | Brain houses: three ‘intérieurs’ stories Density Design | Net@Work Helsinki Design Lab Posters 2013 on Behance RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) on Behance Information graphics in context on Behance Comparative Cartography Assists War on Drugs & Crime - Socially Conscious Graphic Design - Blog - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network Social-consciousness Meets Style-consciousness - Socially Conscious Graphic Design - Blog - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network GetH2O Challenge on Vimeo Good aid: the video | Oxfam International Design Can Change :: issue How Can Design Save Democracy - Socially Conscious Graphic Design - Blog - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network I Am Here, by Alex Ostrowski - Socially Conscious Graphic Design Blog - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network YCN Studio The Girl Effect, n. - Socially Conscious Graphic Design - Blog - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network Get Out the Vote Buy Nothing Day + Buy Nothing Christmas #OCCUPYXMAS | Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters Massive Change by BruceMauDesign Design Education - Thousands of Design Resources dropping knowledge :: Table of Free Voices Global warning: dropping knowledge StopWaste.Org | Underground Earthjustice | Underground Water Saving Heroes | Underground Official Home of the Free Hugs Campaign - Inspired by Juan Mann Home Chris Clarke | FTPBTP | i/o Can Cute Cardboard Animals Teach Us About Responsible Energy

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Use? | Goodlifer Citizen governance, no leaders crocodile in water, tiger on land. A is for Activist! by Innosanto Nagara — Kickstarter socialdesignsite.com - Genderpoo Election Design Field Guides | AIGA The Miniature Earth Project ::: Official Version Goodwill Social Work Centre, Madurai, India | a professional social work organisation deeply committed to the development of children, youth and women Prompt. on Vimeo | Global Oneness Project Click to climate change | www.reset.org Mine is Yours - Share makes you happy! | Www.reset.org 10 tactics for turning information into action | www.reset.org Simulation Gaming-2012 Osocio: Home | The best of non-profit advertising and marketing for social causes Hot Potato Hack - Project M - Thinking Wrong since 2003 NADA Bike - Future 425. Speak Up Archive: Project M — Vol. 1 Kiran Sethi | What Design Can Do DESIGN FOR CHANGE PUBLICATIONS ACK To the Streets -- Social Design Notes 5 Awesome Indian Graphic Novels Every One Should Know About 99 Life Hacks That Could Make Your Life Easier Graphic Design Projects | Social Design Kamal Meattle: How to grow fresh air | Video on TED.com Designing A Research Project Design process for kids PBS//designsquad Behavioural and Attitude Change through Design | Designwala MICA//social change through design Creating Resilient Community, Through Design And Advocacy | Co.Exist | ideas + impact New Socially Responsible Designs: Best of 2012: Design Other 90% Network | Smithsonian Freedom HIV/AIDS : Smithsonian Focusing on School Improvement | Smithsonian Why We Need a New and Hyper-Local Model for Design Activism, by Julie Kim - Core77 Socially Conscious Graphic Design - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network Social Design « cristina chiappini studio Creative Review - Towards Creative Activism AIGA | In Search of Ethics in Graphic Design Eye Magazine | There is such a thing as society* Streetgraphix History of Graphic intervention by Steven Heller: tytq Density Design Density Design | Cooperative Design Knowledge AIGA | Design to Empower the People Man Made Image - Socially Conscious Graphic Design - Blog - DESIGN

Books //Creative For A Cause Design Matters | roundtable discussion between 6 designers about design and social reponsibility Re3 StoryHack - A hackathon for storytellers with a conscience. October 5 & 6, 2013 \ NYC LUST | Graphic and Interactive Design | Grafisch en Interactief Ontwerp Welcome to the ‘play rethink’ network! :: play rethink Home | 10 tactics remixed Leaching it of any meaning | johnson banks | thought for the week 7 types of design inquiry | eye “Design won’t save the world go volunteer at a soup kitchen you pretentious *&%#!” - Socially Conscious Graphic Design - Blog - DESIGN 21: Social Design Network Project M - Thinking Wrong since 2003 John Bielenberg | What Design Can Do Roadmap | The Living Principles for Design Act: What yo can do « The Story of Stuff Project SocialDesignZine The Info-Activism How-To Guide | Strategies and tools for digital campaigning Guns, Butter, and Ballots -- Social Design Notes A Five-Step Process For Conducting User Research | Smashing UX Design GURGAON WELCOME TO JANSAHAYAK... gurgaon.nic.in/pdf/rti-act-eng.pdf Contacts Gurgaon: India’s ‘Millennium City’ | Sustainable Cities Collective In Gurgaon, India, Dynamism Meets Dysfunction - NYTimes.com India Rising, Off the Grid - Video - The New York Times Gurgaon: Model City and Cautionary Tale - Slide Show - NYTimes.com Sanjay Kaul - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia People’s Action gurgaonscoop A sacred forest struggles for survival in Delhi’s backyard Aravali Bio-Diversity Park Curtain Raising On World Environment Day June 05 2010 | Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon BBC NEWS | Business | India boom threatened by slowdown : Mangerbani Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon mulls resident welfare associations’ role in sanitation work - Times Of India myblog: = Gud?gaon The city never sleeps,Gurgaon - Travelogue What we do | Energy Centre I Am Gurgaon NGO’s in gurgaon Gurgaon’s population set to touch 58 lakh by 2031: study - Hindustan Times Mystery of how Gurgaon got its unique maid population - Times Of India Gurgaon: How not to Build a City - Forbes India Magazine Atal Kapoor | LinkedIn ‘We focus on better infrastructure for migrant population of Gurgaon’ - Hindustan Times Gurgaon will be a global city in next 5-10 years: CM - Hindustan Times How India’s Landlords, Both Benevolent and Self-Serving, Create Affordable Housing – The Informal City Dialogues Stuck? Blame it on lack of synergy - Hindustan Times Your Gurgaon, Your Voice - Hindustan Times Government takes note of Gurgaon toll plaza woes - Hindustan Times

How urban ghettos, highrises co-exist - Hindustan Times Shortage of cops sends crime rate soaring - Hindustan Times Gurgaon gears up to campaign for ‘active commuting’ - Hindustan Times 12-hour power cuts cripple Gurgaon - Times Of India Residents pay through the nose as gas cylinder black market in Gurgaon grows | Mail Online Water shortage worries Gurgaon residents - Hindustan Times 11 months on, work still in progress in Gurgaon - Times Of India Why I Hate Gurgaon - India Real Time - WSJ Designing With People | Putting people at the heart of the design process OpenIDEO - How might we increase the availability of affordable learning tools & services for students in the developing world? - Winning Ideas - Evaluation Purdue OWL infographic Span Chart | InfoDesignPatterns.com RTI Right to Information Act (India) rti.gov.in/rti-act.pdf Shailesh Gandhi on RTI -Part1 - YouTube DAD

DESIGN CASE STUDIES SanParks - Educational Toolkit on Behance Educational Toolkit/Workbook on Behance The Travelers’ Game on Behance Mission C+ . Educational Board Game on Behance Revolt on Behance DOKAEBEE : Korean monster identity, character design on Behance Kumon // 2000 + 12 Calendar (DESIGN) on Behance Creative Creatures on Behance ABC iPad App on Behance Legasee: Berlin Airlift on Behance What We Learn When We Learn by Doing Global Warning on Behance rainforestheroes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/TeamTikiPacket_PDF_March2011.pdf Greendex: Calculator - National Geographic Toys from Trash, Arvind Gupta habitat patch on Vimeo GREEN ACTIONS Top 10 actions Battery Recycling Take Action Ecoreporter Earth Day Canada Switch off! campaign for kids act for birds plant a plant bring your own bottle Raising Earth-Friendly Kids Future We Want - Outcome document .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform www.epa.gov/epawaste/education/pdfs/home-gs.pdf Consumer’s Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste | Wastes | US EPA energyquest.ca.gov/teachers_resources/documents/COMPENDIUM. PDF Energy Ant The Story of Change - YouTube 10 Ways to Go Green and Save Green | Worldwatch Institute

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Energy Saving Tips: 85+ Ways to Save Power - Sustainable Baby Steps Gardening, step by step Save Our World - YouTube Make Every Day Earth Day! 8 Ways You Can Help Save the Planet | Spoonful Green Tips for a Cleaner Environment | Pages | WWF Sustainability explained (by explainity) - YouTube PowerSave Schools | Alliance to Save Energy Getting around while burning less CO2. Bicycling Counts - YouTube TED: Ideas worth spreading organisations 5 levers of change- Unilever psychology of sustainable behaviour India is polluted but the greenest country in a National Geographic Society survey. The gas game | Down To Earth CSE Directors | Centre for Science and Environment Researchers test strategies to motivate students to save energy, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability EVS books Orient Blackswan Pvt. Ltd. Orient Blackswan Pvt. Ltd. Green fingers How to grow a garden on your balcony | MNN - Mother Nature Network Grow your own food - The Ecologist Planting Kits | Planet Natural Grow Your Own - ALLOTINABOX® Allotinabox Teach kids sustainability: What Does it Mean to be Green? - YouTube PLASTIC Plastic per capita consumption to double in 5 years The Times of India My Plastic-free Life :: Think we can’t live without plastic? Think again. In 2007 I committed to stop buying any new plastic & I’ve almost succeeded! Won’t you join me? Let’s see what plastic-free looks like today… for the health of our bodies, our ocea My Plastic-free Life :: Think we can’t live without plastic? Think again. In 2007 I committed to stop buying any new plastic & I’ve almost succeeded! Won’t you join me? Let’s see what plastic-free looks like today… for the health of our bodies, our ocean

ANIMATIONS Vanishing Point on Vimeo Where things come from on Vimeo SNASK on Vimeo Giangrande - Paper Plane (Official Video) on Vimeo Kalle Mattson - Thick As Thieves (Official Video) on Vimeo Té de manzana on Vimeo stop-motion Good Energy: Stop-Motion Environmental Education Project - YouTube So We All May Live - YouTube Environmental Stop-motion Animation - YouTube GOOD Transparency: Water Conservation - YouTube A story for kids - Saving Water! - YouTube Climate Change Stop-motion - YouTube Saving The Environment - YouTube Post-it Stop-motion “The Tree” - YouTube Amazon.in: Buy Generic Cne02608-6-Feet-Printer-Cable-Canon Online at Low Prices in India | Generic Reviews & Ratings The Story Of Energy on Vimeo Viliam on Vimeo Sherbet Christmas Card 2010 on Vimeo do bem™ - Açaí Juice 100% fruit (Tic Tic Tac Wafer’s Keyboard) on Vimeo Michael Pollan’s Food Rules on Vimeo B/W Races on Vimeo Columbia Water Center | “Deeper than Water” on Vimeo BEST WISHES 2013 • REBUS on Behance This is Service Design Thinking - Book Trailer on Behance Marvel Realtor on Behance ET- ACETECH 2013 - YouTube stop-motion - YouTube How to make a paper on Behance Die Post on Behance Les talons rouges / The Red Heels in Animation Telling Stories on Vimeo Little Monster 2 in Teen Animators on Vimeo Remix Animation Summer 2013 in Teen Animators on Vimeo Energy Save on Vimeo “Some Will Have To Go” by Char2d2 / Video : La Fraicheur on Vimeo The Seed on Vimeo Grieves & Budo “Cloud Man” Music Video on Vimeo JESS COPE- raven that refused to sing ArtHouse - Dutch tv online on Vimeo Masterclass Atelier - Daniel Crespo on Vimeo recycle stop-motion by bombay design house CO EXPLORE - COLOURNEXT 14 on Vimeo Cheila - Swift Wings in Construction Paper Animation on Vimeo Vimeo Staff Picks on Vimeo Water - Who Needs It? - YouTube Save Water In Australia - Infographic - YouTube Sustainability at Unilever - A smaller footprint - YouTube Sustainability at Unilever - The Value Chain - YouTube See How Your Small Actions Lead to Big Changes - YouTube small act big change - YouTube Unilever & the Sydney Festival: Small Actions Big Difference - YouTube Water Conservation Video _ Ashley Nicole Greene Narrator - YouTube Save Earth Save Water Indian Drama - India International Trade Fair 2011 - Delhi - YouTube

Sesame Street: Water Conservation - YouTube jagar vishesh -save water - YouTube It’s Nice That : Animation: Super fun animation created to teach children about the perils of the internet STORYBOARD Storyboards on Behance Anomaly - Storyboard Animatic on Behance “Morning Routine” Storyboard on Behance Bedtime on Behance JAM | A short film to promote Public Transportation on Behance Cartoon Network is working on an app with 15-second shows | The Verge Glimpses Of Indian Animation - YouTube Emile Cohl - Fantasmagorie 1908 - YouTube It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World - title sequence by Saul Bass - YouTube Roll No.21- pataal lok ka paani - YouTube Dead stuff: The secret ingredient in our food chain - John C. Moore YouTube Little Monkey new world Animation For A Cause (English) on Vimeo WAter/ Van Marcke/Unicef on Vimeo Bertram on Vimeo sound design It’s Nice That : Animation: Johnny Kelly and Co. are back with Shape, a beautiful animation promoting design to young people

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TUTORIALS Create Particles Stroke Effect in AfterEffects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIEvpKDBShE AfterEffects Series - The Weapon Hand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv7ayM0mrls AfterEffects Tutorial: Invisible Skateboard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVhmksLFZGY AfterEffects TUTORIALS - Disappearing to Dust!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MedMDDWXdtw Free 2D Intro #69 | Sony Vegas & AfterEffects Templathettps://www. youtube.com/watch?v=8Zr4irXJvng AfterEffects Basic Beginners Tutorial 1/7 - How To Create Cool VFX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyvyRKtvGXU Adobe AfterEffects CS6 For Beginners - The Basics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHeHqhLHggI AfterEffects Basic Tutorial for Beginners https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MANEY1jmMeM LEARN AfterEffects IN 20 MINUTES! - Tutorial for beginners | https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tR3fpv4Aco

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