The Carbon Footprint (2020)

THE CARBON FOOTPRINT

DES 151 Class at UC Davis, California

S P R I N G 2 0 2 0

PROJECT SUMMARY: This final is focused around the idea of sustainability. While researching for this project, I wanted to do my animation on a global issue that can be easily fixable. My project targets air pollution and the size of our carbon footprints. The message I’d like to convey is that something as simple as taking time to conserve energy in our homes and using alternative forms of transportation can make a huge difference if we all just do a little bit for the environment.

Creative Brief

AUDIENCE PROFILE

My primary audience are busy bodies who use private means of transportation and use up a lot of energy resources. I myself am a very busy person; I’m always on the go to a certain place or using electricity for work. I’m pretty guilty of keeping lights on in my house just because it’s more convenient to walk around without flipping the switches. By watching my animation, I hope it’ll serve as a reminder to people like me and others to be courteous of their own carbon footprint in their everyday life. I’m going to try to make my animation very simple and eye-catching. So, the other audience group I’m aiming for are younger people. Young children are very impressionable and deserve to be educated about these things, because they’ll be living in a future climate/environment that the rest of us are responsible for. Besides us, children should be educated early so they know what their and our actions hold for them later on.

PERCEPTION/TONE/GUIDELINES

I’ll be implementing a simple structure. The animation will begin with a fun fact about pollution and the carbon footprint, segue into the issues that it brings, and then come up with some simple things that people can do to help the environment. Among some things that the animation would suggest are alternative forms of transportation and/or responsible usage of lights in the house, to more productive things such as planting trees, and/or investing in alternative forms of energy (i.e. solar panels). Adding a website to learn more and suggesting people to share the video on social media is also one way for people to take a step and get informed.

TARGETED MESSAGE:

Little things can make big differences.

BRAINSTORM NOTES

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

The overall message is to convince people that small actions in our daily lives can add up to help our environment. In other words, a simple decision can create a ripple effect. If our society can work together to lower the global carbon footprint, we can make an impact

Consider: How could one animate the words to express meaning- theoretically, literally, emotionally, metaphorically, socially, politically, graphically, and historically? Further your understanding of the influence of static typography on communication and interpretation by exploring the elements of time and motion to convey deep levels of meaning. Study the role of color in relation to communication of emotion in the statement.