Going into Week 2, I try to narrow in on a project that will really motivate me, and I have some reservations about pursuing a project related to primate conservation.
The project direction I decide to follow is not one from the original list, yet it is one that I feel could do a lot of good. It will also offer a lot of scope for creative experimentation.
As an outlet for the work of John Maeda, the studio promotes generative art and digitial design. Projects like the Inkspace one featured in the video above show that generative art, and coding in graphic design, can encourage high levels of interaction with our work as graphic designers.
In the case of Inkspaces this goes a step further and allows people to become designers in their own real spaces. This is something for me to keep in mind as AR could offer an engaging and different way to bring a solution to the problem I try to solve.
MY GORILLA FAMILY
Figure 1: Home of the Gorillas. 2022. [app icon]
David Gonahasa and Fidelis Kanyamunyu of Home of the Gorillas created this app that lets people engage virtually with mountain gorillas.
This app showed me that there's a lot of work going on to help primates in the countries / contexts of their natural habitats.
THE WWF
Figure 2: WWF. 1986. Panda symbol. [logo]
Spending some time on the WWF's website also revealed that the charity does a lot of work on the ground and fundraising in countries foreign to the primates.
With so much good work going on related to primate conservation, it would be difficult to establish a relevant angle for my own project.
Perhaps one of the strongest leads I found in the area of primate conservation and protection was something that would convince Westerners to stop going to orangutan boxing shows when in the East. Orangutans are typcially captured when young are forced to entertain tourists (World Animal Protection 2016).
Since Westerners frequently go to watch these types of shows, I could pursue a project that convinces them not to, thereby defunding the shows to some extent.
After careful consideration, though, I decided that I might need to change direction and to undertake a project more relevant to my immediate context.
CHANGE OF DIRECTION
Figure. 4: Tolga Akmen 2022 [UK protester dressed as Boris Johnson]
Following my research this week I decided not to pursue the primate conservation angle as it was difficult to establish meaningful impact as a designer based in the Isle of Man. Although I could have looked at issues surrounding the sale of palm oil products in Manx supermarkets, I felt that there was likely a project more relevant to my local context.
As an extension of the pros and cons I’d listed for a project focused on environmental issues, and as an amalgamation of that angle with one of one of political engagement, I turned my attention to the emerging energy crisis and the related issues of fuel poverty and decarbonisation. This became my central focus for the project going forward.
