San Jose State University | Spring 2021
Palm Oil & The Tropical Rainforests of Sumatra Campaign
A campaign to spread awareness about the palm oil industry's negative impact on Indonesia's biodiversity.
Deliverables:
Content Map
Brochure
3 Social Media Posts
Animated Video
3D Installation.
Content Map
Choosing a World Heritage Site
The assignment was to select a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site and devise a campaign to advocate for its preservation and raise awareness.
Instead of choosing a site based on personal interest, I decided to pursue a more impactful approach. I discovered that the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra in Indonesia was in danger, making it a great site to create a campaign for.
During my research, I found many issues Sumatra’s rainforests were facing such as biodiversity loss, deforestation, and pollution.
Designing the concept map organized my research and showed connections among concepts. In doing so, I found that the culprit for the suffering rainforests was the palm oil industry.
17 x 22 inches
Informative Brochure
The brochure breaks down what palm oil is, why it's an issue, and what you can do to help.
Folding Pattern
I wanted to break away from a traditional folding pattern so I considered my content and how to best showcase the information. Since there was a lot of information to include, I focused on making it easy for readers to navigate and understand. I experimented with different designs on scrap paper and came up with one that revealed each topic as the brochure unfolded. This folding technique made sure that the information flowed in an organized way. Moreover, the shape of the brochure was inspired by a palm tree, which added a nice touch to the overall design.
Diagrams
The brochure was designed in Illustrator but all of the diagrams were created in Photoshop where I composited many photographs.
Social Media Posts
Each post covers one of three product groups that contain the largest proportions of palm oil: food, cleaning products, and cosmetics.
Photographing & Photoshopping
All of the imagery for the social media posts started with photographing various elements to later composite together in Photoshop.
One of my favorites from the group is the orangutan swinging from ramen.
I started by cooking noodles and photographing them draping from chopsticks like vines from a tree.
To get the orangutan in noodle form, I traced a simple drawing on a piece of paper and photographed it.
I brought both elements into Photoshop to make the whole thing come to life and apply the campaign color palette, the palm leaf pattern, and a little steam rising out of the bowl.
Animated Video
This was my first time ever using AfterEffects. We only had two weeks to learn the program and create a video that used elements from the campaign.
I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish under these circumstances but I see now that the text animations could use some refinement.
1080 x 1080px
3D Art Installation
The final project of the campaign continues to bring awareness to the endangered animals suffering in the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra due to the palm oil industry.
Concept
The installation metaphorizes the deforestation cycle these animals are trapped in and palm oil replacing them.
Five of the most impacted animals are trapped on a merry-go-round revolving around an oil palm tree that pours palm oil into their transparent, plastic forms. Each animal is filled with the percentage of their population loss.
Location
This installation would be located in the large courtyard between the Academy of Sciences and the De Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco Golden Gate Park. It would attract the attention of visitors interested in both biodiversity and art. The Academy of Sciences not only exhibits environmental and sustainability education, but they also have a huge rainforest exhibit where visitors can further educate themselves about this installation and the value rainforests have for humanity.
Process
I created the oil palm tree in Illustrator and applied textures to it in Photoshop. The animals were also created in Photoshop. I sketched the background landscape in ProCreate.