MINOR PROJECT
Yeoh Xiao Shi (0331577)
Minor Project
Minor Project
In the first class, Mr Mike started it by introducing us on social enterprise as well as the sustainable home, Earthship. As our upcoming project will mainly revolve around the Earthship, we were then assigned to research about it and briefly present in the class.
Besides, we were also introduced to Mr Ruben Cortes, the co-founder and director for Build For Tomorrow. The organisation has been building sustainable homes focused on energy management and renewable energy generation, water management, water sourcing, water filtration and wastewater management with the communities.
Here is the slide compiling my group's research.
Embedded PDF of my group's research slides.
On the next class, Mr Ruben Cortes came to give us a talk on sustainable living as well as explaining the Earthship with more details. Meanwhile, he also brief us on the tasks we need to do in the upcoming weeks. For this project, we were required to propose our ideas on how to raise awareness and educate the public about Earthship by the end of this semester. The class was split into five groups, and I have teamed up with Farzana, Shan May, Kitty and Afsah.
Once the groupings are done, we were told to start thinking about the possible design solutions that we could be working on. We were also told to conduct more research on the Earthship, how they are currently being promoted and the approach to inform people about them.
Moving on from that, we need to track the progress of our project weekly by documenting in the Google Docs provided.
Here are some slides showing my group's working progress.
Embedded PDF of Pre-production slides.
Embedded PDF of group progress timeline.
Embedded PDF of mockup presentation slides.
Embedded PDF of final presentation slides.
REFLECTION
Week 1
Through the process of researching, my group members and I found that it is concerning how fast the rate of waste build-up is compared to their disposal. We’ve understood the concept of how Earthship can help save our environment and people who are facing daily living issues. The materials study of Earthship has widened our sight and knowledge of how designers can use their ideas in helping people live better lives. Also, we observed that the development of Earthship in Malaysia is still lacks attention from the public.
Week 2
At first, we have the ideas to create awareness through online and print. However, we were told not to use print as it is still a wastage of energy even if we printed on recycled paper. Other than that, we realised that the things we wanted to achieve for the project are too much right now and it is impossible to be completed in 14 weeks. Hence, we need to narrow down our ideas. Moreover, we observed that it is important for us to find out which area of social media we want to focus on and link it with selected social media favourites of our targeted age group.
Week 3
We learned that to make people open up to change, especially lifestyle changes, we shouldn’t bombard them with all the environmental issues that are only going to pile up on top of the stress that they have in their daily lives. We should think creatively to come up with an interesting “hook” for people to listen and take action.
Week 4
For this week, we got an opportunity to visit the Planter House in Bangsar which implements the system of Earthship into normal houses. Mr Seamus, the owner of the house said that they built a practical sustainable home and not a house. The house implemented the water harvesting system which is where the water is recycled throughout the house and the systems. The water harvesting system uses three pipes, each pipe is built within one another and once the first pipe overflows, the water goes to the second pipe and into the second layer of the planter. The house furnishings were made of mostly recycled materials such as discarded materials. We also learnt about composting and how the process is carried out. In an open air area, with a ratio of green and brown materials. If the ration is balanced, the BSF fly will come and lay its eggs and the larva will start eating away of the decaying material creating the soil that can be used for harvesting. At the end of the house visit, he shared his thoughts with us and told us that the current housing developers should be stopped and shamed since they are building houses and are basing them as an item of profit and not living.
Week 5
Before going to interview, we managed to consult with Mr Mike. We were told to give some options for the interviewee while interviewing as we could not expect them to provide all the answers. After our first interview, we learned how to handle the duration of the whole interview and we also realised that we have to be more flexible while facing different situations in the interview. We observed that there are many environmentalists in Malaysia and they’re enthusiastic to share their thoughts and willing to spread their words to encourage people in practicing zero waste. Lastly, we found that there are people, especially the youth, who are willing to volunteer in environmental-friendly events or workshops that are affordable.
Week 6
We noticed that all the data gathered from the interview is more than enough for us to move on to the next step. Hence, we can start to search up some references for the art style we want to go with as well as listing out the details of the event.We realised it is important to create a timeline when planning the event as it helps us to visualise the project actions, event objectives and event flow better.
Week 7
Our group felt lost when it comes to identifying the art style because we need to ensure it suits the event. Hence, it took us some time to browse through different visual references. Also, we faced difficulty in coming up with an event name as we don't want it to sound more like an eco-friendly event. Instead, we hope it can convey the concept of Earthship and minimal living more. We also realised that there is not much time left for us to work on the project. Hence, there is a need for us to plan our time effectively.
Week 8
As there is a limited time, we reorganised our tasks to be working on so we can complete on time. At the same time, we are also planning more details on the event so we don’t miss anything out. Now that we have the timeline, we need to rush our tasks as not much time is left. We also started to feel panic when we can’t meet the expected course of action on time.
Week 9
The team is now more focused on their assigned task so we can work faster. The event section is completed so now we all have to focus on the art direction so the progress is faster. We are all very worried as everything is behind. We have to put side assignments away to work on the illustrations as they are heavy.
Week 10
Once the art style is finalised, the direction is much clearer now. So, four of us started to work on the illustrations for the video animation. Also, our group leader compiled the colour swatch to be shared among us. At the same time, we also worked on the event details.
Week 11
We realised we spent too much time focusing on the illustration which slowed down the progress and details for marketing strategy. The project is planned with clear direction and content however this week we have to really work very hard to speed up our progress. Additionally, we should come out with confirmed assets within the week so that it helps to speed up the progress and ease the work for the members who are illustrating for scenes and social media posts.
Week 12
Next week is the mockup presentation and we realised there are still lots of parts we need to cover in a week. Therefore, we need to push ourself to work faster. We feel stress and kind of tired because of the heavy workload we have even though we have four of us doing the illustrations part. In this crucial time, we realised that teamwork and communication are really important for us to ensure our progress goes well. Hence, we meet up during the weekends and to work together.
Week 13
There is a mockup presentation this week before the formal presentation. With the feedback given, we found that there is still a lack of our contents. We should explain more on the strategy part instead of explaining the rationale for the usage of social media. Hence, we need to figure it out and refine the content in the slides. Also, we need to make sure our presentation flow is smooth.
After staying up late for a few weeks, we finally complete this module. We were satisfied as we managed to propose an eco-friendly event that not only promoting Earthship but also educating people about sustainable living. Undeniably, the event planning progress was not easy for us as there are lots of aspects and strategy we need to consider. Also, there is the time when we feel lost, but in the end, we managed to have a continuous group discussion to find the way out. I do appreciate all of my groupmates' hard work and dedication in completing this project. It wouldn't be complete successfully without them.
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