Happy Birthday - DVB202 Assessment 2: The other side of the story William Pascoe - N11381558

Link to Behance: https://www.behance.net/gallery/198237235/Happy-B-day-DVB202-A2-The-other-side-of-the-story

Project outline

Within this augmented reality (AR) poster project, I have decided to focus upon the birthday party celebratory ritual. The overall aim of this task is to display how over consumption and waste can affect the environment after celebrations occur. Topics such as disposable plastic items, disposable decorations and food waste will be explored throughout this project. The poster that will be designed will be be eye opening and prompt the audience to think about how they unintentionally, negatively impact the environment. By conducting research, and looking into shocking statistics, I want to educate viewers, and provoke thought. This is because the wider community knows very little about the negative impacts of this celebration. Although the explored topic is confronting, I want the poster to be initially light-hearted in order to gain viewer attention.

Research on plastic waste (worldwide)

Birthday parties are all about celebrating a special person, although they generally produce a multitude of disposable, single-use plastic waste (Schreiner, 2024). After birthday parties come to an end, disposable plates, cutlery, cups, packaging and straws are left behind and added to the ever-growing amount of plastic that meets landfill. Each year "more than 430 million tons of plastic are produced" and two-thirds of this amount is thrown out after just one use (Padilla-Vasquez, 2024). Plastic waste is an important topic to address today as the natural environment including flora and fauna is negatively impacted and will be for centuries to come (UN environment programme, 2024). The worlds rivers and oceans disperse waste around the globe, and it is estimated that "1,000 rivers are accountable for nearly 80% of global annual riverine plastic emissions into the ocean", (UN environment programme, 2024). Although birthday parties are not directly responsible for all plastic pollution, by educating the public on responsible, sustainable party practices, emissions and harmful pollution can be greatly reduced.

Research on poster design.

There is a poster campaign which was created by the designer Frances Mastry. This work was published in 2013 and focusses upon the importance of sustainability, and placing waste in the correct bin. This work, (including other posters and signage), was incorporated throughout the University of Maryland in the United States of America. The use of scale, text and contrast emphasises the impact that waste has on our environment. The tagline that is included causes the viewers to think about their actions. I also gain great inspiration from Mastry's use of repetition, simples shapes, and glyphs within this work (Mastry, 2013)

Another poster design that I draw inspiration from is Joshua Anderson's Food waste campaign. This campaign incorporates depth and bright, contrasting colours to demonstrate a striking message to the audience while also being playful and inviting. The incorporation of a large textual statement line calls the audience to action by compelling them to "take only what you can eat" to reduce food waste. (Anderson, 2013)

Inspiration/Mood board

I draw inspiration from street-style, and graphic illustration elements. Thick lines and heavy contrast are things that I appreciate.

Storyboard

Poster Mockups / Ideation

Visual strategies outlining design principles used:

I want to communicate the design project through illustration, this strategy will allow the audience to easily follow along with the story that is being told. Through using illustration, the audience will be invited to investigate the meaning behind the piece. Many principles of design will be utilised in order to form a consistent design.

Cool colours will be included to calm the audience, and line will be utilised to create movement. Contrast will be incorporated into the piece in order to allow the audience to differ between certain characters and environments. By also incorporating movement, the audiences view will be guided around the piece. I have set a specific colour scheme that I will incorporate within the work, I want to include colours with limited saturation and vibrance as this adds to the sombre notion of the information that is being displayed.

Below is the final colour palette:

Software and tech:

Both Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator will be utilised in order to create the finalised designs. I have used these pieces of software in the past in order to form various designs, and I am starting to feel more comfortable and consistent when using these software pieces. In order to produce each frame of the piece, I will trace hand drawn sketches, then edit them digitally in order to create consistent work. Once I have combined each of the frames, and created an animation, I will use the EyeJack app in order to create an augmented reality artwork.

Artistic mediums

Once again, just like in the previous assessment, I will utilise both physical illustration, digital illustration, and digital manipulation in order to display the campaign. Within this campaign, I will also utilise animation in order to exhibit the negative effect of consumption as a result of birthday parties.

Process. Including sketches/scans/photos/screenshots.

In order to create my digital illustrations, I first had to physically sketch each asset by hand. Once my assets were produced, I scanned them into Adobe Illustrator and image traced them in order to convert them to vectorised images. After these vectors were produced, I was able to digitally manipulate them by adding colour, gradients, and changing some shapes and lines where necessary. Images of my physical sketches can be seen below.