Communication Design Project

Design Studies is a Fair Trade Workplace

Mark Mcguire — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:23:59 +0000

The Department of Design Studies recently applied to FTAANZ (the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand) to become cirtified as a Fair Trade Workplace. Yesterday, we received a letter and cirtificate (posted on the board outside the office) stating that we have met all of the requirements and will be added to their list of Fair Trade Workplaces. This is a fitting conclusion to a semester in which we focussed on supporting and promoting Fair Trade and the Trade Aid shop.

Last Lecture and Tutorial Plans

Mark Mcguire — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:42:27 +0000

Since the hand-in date for the Climate Change Awareness project is on the last day of classes (16 October), there will not be an opportunity for us to show and discuss the final submission with the class. For this reason, we will use the last lecture on Monday 12 October to hear short presentations from each of the groups about their project. Everyone should plan on attending, and groups should be prepared to provide a brief (3-5 minute) summary of their project. This is a chance to get useful feedback before the hand-in. If you want to show images, please provide these to Mark or Tracey in advance, or bring them on a USB drive to the class. Please remember that you will have one week after the hand-in date to record your peer assesment in Assessi.

Although you will need time during the last tutorials next week to complete your submission, we will use some of the time to complete the course evaluation (about 10:00) and have a brief discussion about you experience of the course. This formal and informal feedback is really helpful and we appreciate your comments. Please feel free to provide additional comments to Mark and Tracey by email, or to your class rep.

Mark McGuire: mark.mcguire@design.otago.ac.nz

Tracey Gardner: garhe004@design.otago.ac.nz

Climate Change Art and Action

Mark Mcguire — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:20:06 +0000

Many artists are using their art to draw attention to climate change. David Buckland’s ice texts document, and comment on, melting polar ice. Brazilian artist, Nele Azevedo’s installations of men sculped from ice sit thoughtfully as they melt in the hot sun. In Los Angeles, dozens of large globes have been painted and decorated by artists and school children to produce Cool Globes, a large public art exhibit about global warming. Eve Mosher’s High Waterline Project shows New York City residents how rising ocean levels would change their city. This video shows how the work allows her to engage with people as she makes her mark. In this beautiful video, Freida, a Greenpeace campaigner, tells the story of the reduction in Arctic ice from a personal perspective. Franke James uses her blog to provide an ongoing account of how she has changed her lifestyle in an effort to do her part to reduce CO2 emissions. The designers of the 100 Months Website have taken a more objective, scientific approach, by presenting the science behind Global Warming and alerting visitors to the little time that remains to address the problem. Street events, like this one outside a Wellington branch of the ANZ bank protesting unsustainable logging in South East Asia, can be a creative and effective way to highlight a specific issue. Greenpeace’s recent act of civil disobedience to draw attention to “Fonterra’s Climate Crime” attracted plenty of news coverage as well as some criticism. Some organizations, such as Act for Climate Change, and Beyond Talk, advocate direct action as a necessary way to work for real change. The activities that they promote contrast sharply with safer, uncontraversial strategies, such as the Portland project to arrange kayaks to form a floating number 350 on 24 October.

Dunedin 350.org meeting 5:30PM 13 Oct.

Mark Mcguire — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:26:15 +0000

The group that is organizing the Summer Spring Food Festival at the Farmers Market on 24 October (and other 350.org events) will be meeting on Tuesday 13 October at 5.30pm at the Centre for Science Communication, 303a Great King Street.

Jeanette Fitzsimmons: “Is emissions trading really the answer?” 1PM Friday 9th October

Mark Mcguire — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:21:00 +0000

Jeanette Fitzsimmons will give a talk, “Is emissions trading really the answer?”, at 1PM on Friday 9th October in the Archway 1 Lecture Theatre. She will discuss the Green Party Climate Change Response (Moderated Emissions Trading) Amendment Bill. You can read their Submission Guide for the Bill here.

Free “Age of Stupid” Screening 7PM 14 Oct.

Mark Mcguire — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:03:41 +0000

There will be a FREE screening of the film, “Age of Stupid” at 7:00PM on Wednesday 14th October in the College of Education Auditorium, Union St East (see this flyer). This is an independent screening by the New Zealand Youth Delegation, a group of passionate young people who are going to Copenhagen in December to represent the youths views on climate change.

Climate Change, Art, and Performance

Mark Mcguire — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:18:21 +0000

Two examples of ads that use animals to highlight the dangers of climate change illustrate very different approaches. This 30 second animation is in a cartoon style while this one-minute commercial uses a more realistic style and delivers a bleaker message. The Blue Man Group incorporates this multimedia piece into their live performances. Improv Everywhere is known for their public events that involve large numbers of volunteers, like an the freeze that was staged at Grand Central Station in New York. They don’t plan these events to communicate a message or to suppoet a cause, but we can learn from their techniques. The Yes Men design their pranks to expose and embarrass coporate leaders and unethical corporate practices. Their projects include imitation websites, such as this one for Halliburton, and fake products, such as the survivaball, and related promotions. A recent project involved the design and distribution of a fake edition of the New York Post, which they used to communicate factual information about the possible effects of Climate Change on New York. The Yes Men have also launched the Fix the World Challenge, which invites anyone to come up with an action using their tactics and upload a video of the result. Mark Jenkins, who is known for his street art installations, teamed up with Greenpeace to produce a series of works to draw attention to homelessness among polar bears.

Dunedin 350 Meeting Tuesday 29 Sept. 5:30

Mark Mcguire — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:22:00 +0000

I just received an email from the Dunedin 350 crew, who are organizing the Spring Food Festival at the Farmers Market on 24 October, about their next planning meeting. If you want to link your DESI 222 project with this event and hear what the Students for Environmental Action are doing, this is the meeting to attend.

“We will be hosting the next meeting on Tuesday September 29th at 5:30pm. Just to mix things up a bit we are holding our meeting alongside that of SEA (Students for Environmental Action) in the Evison Lounge, which is on the first floor of the Clubs and Societies building on Albany street. The plan for the meeting is to have a general overview of where we are at so far, and then to split off into groups (Community, Logisitics, Media, Stalls and workshops, Entertainment, and Funding) to figure out a plan of attack!”

Dunedin Wake Up Call 21 Sept.

Mark Mcguire — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:14:12 +0000

Dunedin Wake Up Call 21 Sept.

Protesters gathered at 12:30PM on Monday 21 September in front of the Otago Museum to raise the alarm about climate change (see earlier post). Politicians were phoned to hear the protest and the 350.org campaign was promoted. My photos can be viewed here. Click the player below to hear a one minute recording. You can also see how the event was covered in the ODT and on Channel 9.

Project #3 (group): Climate change awareness

Mark Mcguire — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:56:25 +0000

This information about the Climate Awareness Project was presented during the lecture on 21 September (and is also in the course handout). Please note that you are asked to form your own groups of 3-4.

Due date: Friday 16 October 4:00 PM. Submit work in appropriate media (CD-ROM, printed A3 or A4 documents, etc.) to the office. Make sure that your name and tutorial stream is on all work. Upload files of all work to Assessi.

Assessment: 25% of total mark for the course

Client: The population of the world (especially Dunedin)

Brief: Develop an idea for an event, action, or strategy that effectively communicates issues relating to climate change. You can design an action for the International Day of Climate Action (see www.350.org and the posts below), or you can devise another project (with the approval of Mark or Tracey). Create a set of A3 posters, short videos, flyers, a website, or other artifacts that promote your action and explains the climate change issues. Your submission should include an A4 document (min 8 pages) that summarizes your research and process, and clearly explains and illustrates your plan and promotional strategies.

Groups: Form your own groups of 3-4 and send an email listing the names of the people in your group to Mark (Thursday tutorial) or Mark & Tracey (Friday tutorial).

mark.mcguire@design.otago.ac.nz

garhe004@design.otago.ac.nz

Possible projects include: Dunedin Spring Food Festival (promotion, workshops, information campaign), your own 350.org event, print communication campaign (flyers, posters, buttons, etc), Internet site or event, social networking ideas, street theatre, exhibition, education material or event, video or animation, radio or newspaper promotion, protest, public art, publicity stunt . . .

Assessment: Design research and development, clear and convincing proposal, successfully engages with audience, increases awareness of climate change through designed communication, provides ideas for further action. You can see the Assessi marksheet for this project by logging on to the student site or by clicking here.