Story Boards

Anna and I have decided to work in a group to help Chastity break out from being shy, to keep her independence and feel comfortable around other kids.

To start, we have worked on story boards that explain different scenarios she may find herself in. In total we have 10 boards. Together, we worked on the scenarios and what they would be, but then split up the 10 to draw each of them. Below are scanned images of what my boards came to look like along with a brief description under each panel and a "Why" statement at the vary bottom.

During class today, we also thought about Chastity's life in terms of the article “psychological sense of community.” 

Our results are as follows:

While at the Pool:

Membership: 

• who intends to swim based on their attire, while others are merely  are there to watch.
• lifeguards

Boundaries:

• being aware of who can swim independently and who cannot, this is also apparent by swim gear.
• rules according to pool standards
• shallow water v deep water
• lifeguards

Influence:

• helping others in their swimming process
• encourage other children to play a game/race
• teasing whether it is in fun or mean terms

Integration/Fulfillment of Needs:

• having a choice in one’s role at the pool
• being active and participating in a social activity

*This is what Chastity truly needs to work on. She is independent but when surrounded by people she shuts off and her mother fears she will not maintain that sense of independence.

Shared Emotional Connection:

• playing with other members at the pool
• leader v followers

Virtu/Real Relationship Building

For the next project we have been presented with, we are once again working to find a way to better the community. In this case, our targeted audience is a child and his/her parent trying to figure out how a gap or place for improvement can be addressed. This could be to improve the relationship, a safety concern, or goals/dreams they have. 

To start, I chose my particular audience to be based off the lives of:

          kristyn (mom) and chastity (daughter)

To better understand who they are and their lives, desires, wishes and goals, I watched their videos and created mind maps based on their information. The maps, although address four different topics, are all related. This is why we worked on transparent paper, so that when laid over one another, connections could be made.

The maps explain the ideas as follows:

People: Their name, age, knowledge level relative to school and life topics (reading, school subjects). A mind map describing the child and their life.

Places: Where all of the relevant locations this child finds themselves that has a relationship to the mothers concerns.

Objects: Things used or associated with the child

Activities/Social Interactions: What communities the child is a part of. 

Reflection

Compared to typical in-studio projects, how did the realistic nature of this project (for the united way, viewed by the public, a budget, etc) impact your work? (for example, were you more motivated to do good work, or less? were budget and other constraints good or bad?)

Having to keep in mind that the nature of the project was not simply for a portfolio ( a student driven goal) but rather, for the community, was challenging and rewarding in its own nature. As a group of student graphic designers, not used to a budget or public viewing, we had to keep an open mind and remember that we were designing to benefit the community. Their needs and wants came first to ours. And honestly, I loved that feeling: helping others through design. Having the budget put the work, time, and production into perspective. Having to problem solve pushed limits and showed us just how much we could learn to "think outside the box."

How did the content impact you, compared to typical in-studio content? Did Erika’s involvement have any effect on your content understanding beyond your usual research process?

I loved having to approach this project with an open mind - a mind that really was new to the subject. I had to really dig deep to understand the information for myself, to then better communicate to others said information. It was a learning process in more ways than one. 

Having Erika's involvement had a large effect on the content understanding for it created a block to push off of. Her direction was exactly what we needed to better grasp the goals of the project. 

I do wish that perhaps we could have heard from others who were also involved, but overall, having Erika's input was very helpful!!