Through this module, Creative Studio, I recently created a layout consisting of photographic images showcasing the forms of dead leaves from one of my Calathea plants in my home. Since the workshop, a blog post about this initial process and workshop can be read here, I have further expanded on not only this practice but the theme of the work in general.
The theme of the work from the original workshop outcomes, where the dead plants fit the brief of extinction and the natural world from the final major project and the project proposal from term one, I decided to undertake this process in a more personal reflective endeavour. In contrast to the focus being on the natural forms created by the dead leaves, over two weeks or so I collected the plastic waste that has accumulated through my modern lifestyle. This was then photographed and placed into a grid system in the same process as the original.
I believe myself to live a sustainable lifestyle, my home is powered with green energy, I recycle everything I possibly can and the lights in my home are all LED, to name but a few actions I take on an everyday basis to do my bit for the planet and the natural world. However, through this process, I was able to gain a glimpse into the waste that accumulates through activities we normally would never focus too much on such as eating. This process generated a visual diary of the non-recyclable (or man-made materials such as polythene and plastic wrap that takes decades to centuries to decompose) waste that I unconsciously send into the world through my lifestyle. The concern came not only from the volume of waste that was generated but the scale of some pieces. Some only the size of my index finger, usually the tear-off sections from sachets, that could be missed by recycling plants or stations. Do I truly know what happens to this waste once I place it in the appropriate bin?
This self-reflective process has enabled an understanding of my own lifestyle and how, although many steps can be taken to live a more sustainable lifestyle, many large areas can be missed. How can I change my shopping habits to eliminate the packaging waste being generated? Furthermore how can the outcomes from this process be used throughout the application screen designs for the final major project, the branding being created for the Professional Platforms Art and communication module or used as a bank of images to be used at any stage? Could this set of bibliographic imagery become elements I use within the outcomes, such as elements of the background, interactive elements built into the operation of the application or even as part of the potential gamification element? Using hard skills in Photoshop I will be taking steps to remove the background in the images, enhancing them to bring to light to finer details of each item, exporting as PNG’s and placing them into a folder both on my computer and in my Creative Cloud Libraries for use throughout the modules.
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