Traditional Russian stacking dolls in the form of bears
For my artefact I have been thinking about the bears being nested within a container, they are currently caged within a small cell behind bars, metaphorically they will still be contained, but in a better environment once they arrive on the Isle of wight. Looking online for bears and vessels I found the Russian Dolls bears. I tried to find more sculptures and models of bears across Europe, and whilst many are depicted in ancient texts there are remarkably few ‘models’.
3rd or 4th Century Italian or Byzantine Bear, cast copper alloy, note the chain and collar
For many years I have owned this silver bear pendant, its very simple bear shape is not dissimilar in pose to the bears I found for my mood-board.
My necklace is not dissimilar to the ‘Isle of Wight polar bear’, a chalk cliff in the West Wight, that from the mainland looks like a large polar bear.
I was thinking that the bears could be housed in a box that that is perhaps the shape of the Isle of Wight, as this will hopefully be their final retirement place
I decided to check to see if the Isle of Wight flag is copywrited, and was pleased to find out that it is in the public domain. I like the simple diamond shape, with chink cut out for the river Medina, would probably loose the waves, but who knows, maybe not?
How a business can work with raising money for charity
I decided to look close to home on my investigations, initially looking at a t-shirt printers on the Isle of Wight. Teemill, whose factories are solar powered run a cyclical production company and prints on demand. They offer online shopfronts for charities (such as WWF, Marine Conservation Society, Hampshire and Wight Wildlife Trust) so that a % of sale price go’s to the charity. I had a look at their website to see what costs were involved and how it breaks down. This will give me an idea of how to break down production costs for my artifact- In this instance I looked at a greetings card, but the % change with individual items. The cards seem to have higher % of profit than the clothing, but the clothing retails at a higher price.
After Teressa’s tutorial, the thought of a limited edition item seemed live a very good idea, the exclusivity of limited edition items could generate a higher selling price, and a desire to ‘have one’ before they sell out, then if they prove popular, perhaps a second edition could be released, whilst I am not thinking just books, as I know this can happens with prints, too so potentially could happen with my design too.
Another interesting infographic showing % of people who give to animal charities over human centred charities; slightly out on date, but probably still relevant
Charity Bracelets Items
There is a whole load of companies making bracelets and other mass produced promotional items for charity, and an awful lot of plastic seems to be involved. I thought I would look at this as another comparison example of a product that can fundraise for a cause. It is not clear to see on the websites information about production costs, and they run a different model to the print on demand model of Teemill, with a low price and minimum order numbers for each item. The enamel pin badges are rather nice, and could be a possibility if I decide to go down a more mass produced route, they are rather collectable.
Promotional Products & Branded Merchandise Items With Your Logo (gopromotional.co.uk)
A Map
United Kingdom and Azerbaijan, their positions East and West of Europe. I do like a map, and if I was to include a map in my deign It would have to be something older, perhaps round mid18C as this was when people started to realise that bear dancing was cruel.
Interesting to see how much Europe has grown since 18C
Alan shared to my post on the Ideas wall another tragic bear recure story, about bear bile farming, something I’d never even heard of. It made me wonder how any given animal charity decides which animals to focus on. It is terrible to think that we as humans can do this to another creature, but also encouraging to know that there are other humans trying to educate people and rescue. Which take me back to a something I said from GDE740 ‘Humans create yet decimate‘ it seems true in all instances.
Playing about with a map in the Isle of Wight flag shape.
After penning a short and silly poem about the hair left on a chair from my cat, I started thinking about words. How many words there that mean bear? How many countries will the bears ned to travel through and how do you write bear in each different
language?
And not really knowing what route the bears will take, and considering as they are European brown bears, why not translate bear into every language spoken in the continent of Europe?
It is only in relatively recent years (the past 200) that brown bears have become extinct in most parts of western Europe, this is due to human success, in both industrial and population growth.
Creating Personas
I have identified three potential personas as end users for my project.
Yep, I had a lot of procrastination time ‘cartooning’ my personas :D, but it kind of helps with processing information. Will fill in more details as the weeks go by.
Now back to the serious stuff…
How to Make a Customer Journey Map | Adobe Express UK
Customer Journey Mapping: Definition + Guide (adobe.com)
Charity Digital – Topics – Charity facts that you need to know in 2024How Graphic Design Can Help Charities Connect with the Public – Ginger and Tall
The value of the charity sector – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Charities in the UK – Statistics & Facts | Statista
CAPS_LOCK_EDUCATIONALTOOLKIT.pdf (valiz.nl)
The Charity Commission – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Slow Spatial Reader (valiz.nl)
Valiz, book and cultural projects
How do you calculate your freelance design rate? – The Design Trust
Some more graphs
Problem, plan & name
Start of business plan, it has evolved and will probably continue to do so, as these things do, but I think I am happy with this start to my plan, also have a name thanks to a very helpful chat with someone who pointed out the obvious with my name, Naomi Baisley: Nota bene (/ˈnoʊtə ˈbɛneɪ/, /ˈnoʊtə ˈbɛni/ or /ˈnoʊtə ˈbiːni/; plural form notate bene) is a Latin phrase meaning “note well”.[1] It is often abbreviated as NB or n.b. I have kept the curiosity & smile as I think it speaks well about what I do, but added the nb, Will probably change it, but it’s ok for now.
Curiosity & Smile (nb)
Executive Summary Mission and Vision
Curiosity & Smile (nb) will use in depth research and out of the ordinary design ideas to help ethical business, charities and cultural organisations to engage with their audience; through installations, tactile experience, product and print design. Design N.B will take the ordinary and twist it into the extraordinary, to tell the story from a different perspective.
Potential
(Issues business will address?) I have found ‘the problem‘.
In a world of increasing visual online stimulation, messages can easily get lost amongst the scrolling. We are overwhelmed with online images from the various social media channels, often these images are being ‘chosen’ by algorithms. There is an increasing propensity for validation of self through online likes and sharing, if it isn’t posted online, has it even happened? Meanwhile important information is lost along the way. Whilst social media has its place and is a good platform for initial traction it can lack depth and meaning.
Solution
The main output of Curiosity and Smile (n.b.) will be analogue tactile design solutions with an initial focus at a local level, bringing thoughtful physical solutions to real life problems. Utilising public spaces and the desire for personal ownership I will design engaging and sustainable eye-catching work that absorb the audience and ignites curiosity with visuals that tell the story and make the end user want to find out more, or to own a part of it themselves.
I will delve into the historical background and the issues of my clients and tell the story in an engaging, enchanting way.