Centre for Alternative Technology Visit
On the 1st of November we went to visit our client at Llwyngwern Quarry in Wales. Overall this was a very informative and inspiring trip where we were given a lecture about the current situation with climate change.
Going up these lifts powered by water hydraulics was a different experience for me and it created a sense of what we can achieve as humans to reduce our impact on the climate. From just being inside these lifts, it gave me a sense that CAT tries to recycle as much as they can and use natural resources making you feel like man has a place within nature when you arrive at the building.
The image above was taken of the Zero Carbon Britain talk and this was a very eye opening lecture about climate change.
Notes
- 28% of the world population uses 77% of the energy produced. - Power is switched off in some countries meaning they have to go without energy for days, sometimes weeks, for example Zimbabwe.
- China is one of the biggest manufacturers in the world. We import a lot of products and materials from factories owned by the UK, but we are putting the blame on other countries.
- We live energy extreme life styles because of planned obsolescence (thins which are designed to break) which started in 1958.
- Before planned obsolescence things used to be able to be fixed such as cars. mechanics at the time could simply replace a car part whereas now you would need to replace the whole engine which costs more.
- We cant cope as a society with snowfall or floods, if we were to suffer effects of climate change immediately there would be a food shortage within 48 hours.
- We are monetising our environment.
- The media do not communicate properly as they are owned by the wealthy top percentile.
- Calculations done by lecturer over 10 years ago suggested 2.1 PPM (parts per million) every year but this has only been accelerated.
- Prediction of mass migration, lack of food, 400 million people lacking access to water by 2024. I personally think this is already happening if you look at countries such as Yemen.
- 2029, runaway climate change, there is no going back and no way to stop it.
- 2033, 15%-35% of world species become extinct.
- We only have 3-4 years to tackle climate change.
- In the western world technology has set us at a disadvantage compared to poorer countries.
- Can we save ourselves from ourselves?
- Not everything should be measured in terms of money (referring to government)
- Oil costs £60-£70 a barrel.
- We travel more than we should or need to.
- Gas and electricity are the biggest emissions.
- If travelling long distance (for a car) a plane emits 35% fewer emissions to fly rather than drive. eg. from CAT to Edinburgh.
- If fossil fuelled vehicle does 60 mpg it will be less polluting than electric.
- We have the money to act on climate change but the government is doing nothing about it.
- Use pro active messages in my designs and dont shame anyone.
- 64% of adults are overweight or obese.
- We consume too much high protein food which we do not need (meat)
- 30% of food is wasted in Europe (2011)
- Plasma destruction can break down anything including plastic.
- If the UK becme 100% organic it would increase emissions by 50% from transport.
- UK enclosures act
-We are stuck in a cycle of working hard - Earn More - Buy more and repeat.
The most shocking thing I have learnt is that we only have 3-4 years to do something about climate change and that has really inspired me to do as much as I can for the environment. I have been vegetarian for 3 years but this talk has inspired me to become Vegan.
It is shocking how we are stuck in a capitalist system where our current UK government wants to keep the rich wealthy while turning a blind eye to climate change. I think as a society we all need to do our bit to reduce our emissions and waste but unfortunately we cannot stop climate change, the government has the power to do so.
Lecture by John, Graphic Designer for CAT (Above)
Notes
- They include a lot of data which means it is not visual. How do we as designers solve this?
- Design has to be simple.
- Zero Carbon britain is not simple.
- Not an educated audience.
- Include visuals people will understand
- Look at visual metaphors, look at animations.
- Little symbols you can enter into google to find them.
- the best thing we can do to tackle climate change is to vote.
- How can people change? link this into politics?
- think of audiences such as business men and aviation. How would you go about designing for this audience?
- The design has to be friendly
- You have to show answers to questions in your design.
- Think of trees. There is so much to base a design around them, they have roots, branches and people like this idea.
- Pre-conception?
- If someone delivers a fact, the media picks and chooses, they can twist things to suit them.
- Use scientific answers and think about how you will show them in your design.
- Use standard fonts.
- Keep in mind what people at the end of the line can do. They only have access to Photoshop so I must design in there.
- Dont go for the obvious. Speak how we feel.
- Message is inside of the image
- Communication campaigns - Friends of the Earth, Jillian Anderson
- Look at mainstream campaigns, not just CAT.
- Look at emissions in Worcester.
- Hierarchy of information graphics.
- Local community centre action group. Transition Worcester/ Malvern.
I came across this book in the CAT shop and I really admired the design on the front cover. I think the combination of blue and gold is quite interesting as usually the standard design would be to include yellow if it was about bees. This design looks very smart and formal and it could work for a poster.
This was a very interesting and relevant find. I really admire the layout of this poster as it has got limited text. I like the use of the green colour scheme as it compliments the illustrations used. I quite like the the idea of having the text outlined by boxes to make the key points stand out. This could be a useful idea when I come to design my roughs.
The main element I like most about this poster is how the colour green is the most most dominant colour but it is complimented with splashes of colour which do not interfere with the overall look and layout of the poster.
Overall, this was a very interesting trip which I found beneficial to my brief and has inspired me with creative ideas as well as inspiring me to become a better person for the climate as it is in my future interest. I do wish we had a bit more time to look around and have a look at information graphics they had on the walls and in specific activity rooms.
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