OUGD603 - Research Brief - Plastic Society

I am going to be looking into plastic for my research brief, as this is a topic which fascinates me on a daily basis. There are a number of things that interest me about plastic, the most prominent being its overwhelming presence in modern society. I find it pretty scary the extent to which has infiltrated pretty much every aspect of Wester society. When you actually take a moment to contemplate the levels to which plastic plays a part in our civilisation, it's simply overwhelming. 

An estimated 90% of all the products we interact with on a daily basis involve the use of one of the seven main types of plastic. We have become more or less dependent on this toxic material, we have entered the plastic age. In the past, human epochs have been defined by such resources as stone, bronze and so on, but there is no escaping the notion that we are a plastic society.

Many types of plastic are indeed recyclable, but the option of recycling doesn't seem to be putting off people producing more and more plastic. I am interested to find out whether or not recycling plastic is actually sustainable or environmentally friendly, or if it is just exacerbating the existing issue of our overdependence. 

I am also really keen to discover the extent of our waste and disposal of plastic on the natural environment and various ecosystems which exist on land and in the ocean.

The fact that the humble plastic bottle can take between 450 - 1000 years to 'decompose' startles me. In fact, plastic can never totally disappear. It breaks down to microscopic levels, but then the chemicals within these microscopic pieces become released into the environment, infiltrating the food chain, ultimately affecting human beings.

Plastic is pretty much indestructible and will certainly outlast the human race. This sense of eternity intrigues me. I plan on researching into other objects/cultural phenomenon which are linked to the theme of eternity. This may lead me down the route of religion, architecture, language, art and so on 

OUGD603 - Collaboration with L6 Photographer

Today I met with Ash Renshaw, a L6 photography student to discuss an editorial collaboration that he instigated. Ash approached me through Instagram and mentioned that he admired my style and work and asked about the possibility of me doing some editorial layout design for a publication that he is planning to use as his Final Major Project.

He described the publication as a fashion-focused piece which will aim to explore masculinity through photography and fashion. He has noticed that a lot of high fashion editorial pieces tend to use black and white photography, and he wanted this editorial to reflect and emulate a similar aesthetic.

He explained that he is completely open to a range of possible editorial treatments, so I basically have complete creative freedom with this project which I am excited about. He needs the editorials done by the 24th of April at the latest which is good as it will prompt me to work as efficiently as possible.

OUGD603 - Collaboration - Tree House - Contextual Research

This short documentary: '101 East - The Orangutan Whisperer' has been incredibly useful in regards to my collaborative brief in providing me with contemporary information, opinions and facts about the threats that face Orangutans in Indonesia.

Before starting the research for this brief, I thought that I knew a fair amount about the species, their environment and the range of human imposed threats they faced. It turns out that I didn't know much at all, as this video opened my eyes to the extent that humans are impacting their habitat and livelihoods. I come away from this video with a more informed stance on the issues that myself and Charlotte are attempting to articulate and tackle in our children's publication. 

OUGD603 - Crit Session - 09/03/17

Today's crit session was very useful. We discussed our interim submission in detail in small groups which I appreciated, as I felt I received much more focused and relevant feedback than I would have done had I been in a larger group. I also found it refreshing and reassuring to get an idea of where other people are up to with their briefs in this module.

I used the crit to discuss a number of briefs that I am currently juggling as well as a couple that I have lined up for the coming weeks.

I got some constructive feedback on my proposed research brief, which is going to focus on plastic.
I also got some helpful feedback on a publication brief I plan to do which is basically re-doing the type in context brief from level 5. I was originally planning to simply re-design the book with the same content, however, the crit group made a good point by suggesting I produce the book with new content but still focusing on a similar theme. I thought that this was a valid suggestion as it will push me to explore new creative leads and possibilities.

OUGD603 - Weekly Plan - 06/03/17

I intend to focus mainly on PPP this week, as I feel have neglected this module somewhat since coming back from the Christmas break.

I also plan to make headway with my personal branding and really make informed considerations about the scope and range of my identity which will hopefully carry me well after graduation. 

I am also going to use this week to make more of an effort in terms of attaining a placement or studio visits. Over the past few months, I have emailed a number of studios in the UK, locally and in the south, but have only received rejections so far. Admittedly, I would say that there has not been too much effort on my part and I certainly could be trying harder. These rejections have caused frustration, however, I realize that I can't let this stop me from trying harder and widening my approach in terms of making contacts and putting myself out there. 

Monday - Book print slots with James for after easter, Complete End of Year Show pitch with Megan, Email Ditto Press in London and The Beautiful Meme for a placement

Tuesday - Finish off DBA presentation with group, continue with smaller publication briefs

Wednesday - Continue with self-branding experimentation and do some research, plan out briefs that I intend to complete for EP in preparation for the crit

Thursday - Crit with level 06

Friday -  Screen print aprons for Feed a Friend brief

General to-do list for this week:

       Write out the briefs that you intend to complete for EP – establish deadlines 

        so that you actually stick  to them

·      Write down individual to-do lists for each ongoing brief

·      Starting thinking of concepts for Sustainability brief w/ Charlotte

·      Come up with a research brief for EP. 

OUGD603 - Collaborative Brief Meeting

Today I met with Charlotte from BA Illustration to discuss some important details of our upcoming collaborative brief which will explore the concept of educating children about the impact that humanity is having on the planet through the format of a series of children's story books. 

We devised a rough time plan for the brief in order to feel more organized and collected, agreeing to aim to have everything complete by the 10th of May. We thought that it would be sensible to set a long amount of time for this brief in order to do it justice. We want to be as ambitious as possible because we both feel passionate about the subject matter and feel that this project could potentially have a place in real world classrooms or children's book shops. 

We also arranged to meet at least once a week to help keep things ticking over. 

Initially, we both envisioned this project as being a singular publication. However, today we came up with the concept of producing a series of smaller books which would come packaged in a box of some description and work as a series of stories. I think this is a much better way to approach this brief, as it will ultimately break the information down into bite-size chunks which will hopefully be easier for the target audience of 5 -10-year-olds to understand. 

We outlined a number of wide-ranging areas/issues in which we want to address in the books:

Palm oil

Deforestation

Meat production

Overfishing

Throw-away-culture

Minimalist culture

Polar bears

Coral bleaching

Plastic

Buying locally

And then thought it would be appropriate to split the books into different environments, to make them less overwhelming for the audience to read:

Oceans: coral bleaching, overfishing, pollution, rising sea levels

Rainforests: stop buying palm oil, deforestation, cutting down on meat prevents desertification and meat-production

Urbanization: buying locally, consumerism, minimalist culture, waste

We then came up with the idea of embedding some sort of simplistic narratives into the books instead of making them purely factual and statistic based. This was always the loose plan, however, we both agreed that the books would benefit from inventing characters and universal storylines in order to appeal more to the target audience and their parents. 

OUGD603 - The Future Is Beautiful - Visual Research

János Hunor Vári - Flyer recycling project

https://www.behance.net/gallery/47424469/FLYER-RECYCLING

Ben Hutchings - Ghost Signs Project

https://www.behance.net/gallery/31215485/Ghost-Signs 

Sofia Clausse - Chicago Zine Project