nathandiary

[nathandiary]

Low-Tech Article and illustration

Here is my article about low-tech. I experimented with an isometric illustration and that was quite the journey.

#09/04/2024 #studyblr #art student #graphic design #low tech #solarpunk

[nathandiary]

Here is the article I wrote and illustrated about human happiness and fundamental needs.

This is the reference I was looking at for the design:

This work was made by Carol D'Avilla.

"BASEMENT EVERYTHINGBOXSET is a personal project made with study purposes only.

It contains a book with lyrics separated by albums and four vinyls, all by the british band Basement."

I find this type of graphic design very stimulating to look at. I think that it makes sense that it was inspired by music.

#artist research #art student #studyblr #01/04/2024

[nathandiary]

Research: Happiness and Fundamental Needs.

This morning I have been reading studies on how researchers are trying to measure levels of happiness on a global scale.

In 2012, the UN started their yearly World Happiness Report, using ‘global survey data to report how people evaluate their own lives in more than 150 countries worldwide’. The UN also declared that in order for a country to improve happiness of future generations, sustainable development goals need to be considered. Sustainable development and happiness go hand in hand.

Moreover, in the 2023 World Happiness Report published by the UN, there was a chapter on 'Relationships between Altruism and Well-being for Altruists, Beneficiaries, and Observers’. The study shows that when somebody is being altruistic, not only does it benefit the person receiving help, but it also improves the well-being of the helper. The study also shows that people who receive help are more likely to help others, ‘creating a virtuous spiral’.

In conclusion, measuring human happiness transcends mere economic indicators, emphasizing the importance of quality of life and fulfilment of basic needs. The UN's World Happiness Report underscores the significance of sustainable development in fostering happiness globally. Additionally, altruism emerges as a pivotal factor, fostering a virtuous cycle of well-being and societal harmony.

#01/04/2024 #my research #art student #studyblr #solarpunk

[nathandiary]

New and Improved Front Cover

I fixed some anatomical problems and changed the facial expression so she looks less intimidating and a little bit happier! I'm quite happy with this cover. The burned orange background is a color that I'm going to include throughout all the magazine, I like the look of it.

#01/04/2024 #art student #studyblr #my art #graphic design #solarpunk

[nathandiary]

Research on Solarpunk

Today I am reading sources about the Solarpunk movement in order to write an article about it. I found those 3 sources that are very insightful:

This last source is particularly relevant as it is an academic paper that, among other things, shows how literary imaginaries influence real life social changes and build communities.

I also thought it was funny to see the same Tumblr post referenced in multiple articles, which goes to show how the internet can be a significant way to build a community.

#artist research #26/03/2024 #art student #solarpunk #climate change #solar energy

[nathandiary]

BBC Panel Event on Climate Change

On Thursday, 07 March 2024, members of the Climate and Science BBC team will held a discussion with students on the media’s role in raising climate change awareness. I attended the Q and A panel, here are a few questions that I thought were particularly interesting.

What are the main challenges?

Simply getting the article out there. A lot of people didn’t used to think that climate change was newsworthy. Why report on something that has been happening for a long time, that isn’t news. 15 years ago, you would have needed to explain what a carbon footprint is and what it means. Now, most people know that.

What role does social media play in the debate?

Social media is useful when you follow the right people, but it can become a bunch of echo chambers.

What answer should you give to people who argue that climate change is not real or not as bad as scientists say it is?

I would question the need to answer at all. It can be very time consuming and very tiresome to spend time arguing with people who have stock answers ready to counter any argument you could make. There are people who call themselves ‘lukewarmers’. They say that climate change isn’t as bad as it seems. On the other side of the spectrum, you have the ‘doomers’, who think that all hope is lost. To make sure you’re not leaning towards one side or the other, anchor yourself in science.

Climate change can be a source of depression and anxiety. How do you deal with that?

The answer would be to show positive sides and write articles about the solutions people are finding. The BBC is trying to focus more on solutions to keep people interested and engaged. Nevertheless, climate change keeps being an issue that is deemed very important to the audience of the BBC.

(This is not an exact transcript, I wrote this from my notes right after the talk.)

Afterwards, I attended a lecture that was given by BBC’s Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt about ‘the most important topic of our time’. The talk began with a list of problems caused by climate change, such as melting glaciers, global temperature rising, and the rise of sea levels. It was also highlighted that this February was the 9th month in a row with record high temperatures. Rowlatt then made the case that we were reaching a tipping point, not in negative consequences, but a tipping point in social actions. According to him, there were signs that things were going in the right direction. First, he mentioned energy. While 80% of energy still comes from fossil fuels, those energies are getting harder and harder to reach, whereas renewable energies such as solar and wind are now ‘the cheapest option’. Indeed, he explained that ‘global investment in renewables exceeded global investment in fossil fuels in 2023’. According to Rowlatt, ‘the renewable revolution has become unstoppable’. He also celebrated the fact that the electric vehicles sales are booming, which he believes shows a change in the market.

After the talk, the public was able to ask questions. One of the last questions was asked by a student. She mentioned how young people get their news differently compared to previous generations, with an important role of social media. She asked if the BBC was aware of this and what they were doing to reach younger generations. Rowlatt confirmed that the BBC knew about that fact, and he (jokingly?) answered that young people should read more articles. He added that the BBC did have social media but he thought that short clips were limiting in terms of how much content could be shared, and that there was no certain way to know how well they would do in advance.

When questioned about his opinion on Barclays involvement with fossil fuels, he replied that we, as a society, are all complicit since we are all part in this society. It seemed to me a hypocritical comment. It reminded me of this comic:

He justified himself by saying that the people, the politicians, and the oil companies are all working hand in hand and since we live in this society it means that we are supporting the sort of investment that Barclays is doing in fossil fuels. He explained that what the oil companies are doing is completely legal and that singling out a specific company was no use. While he might not have been able to voice his own opinion because of the need to stay impartial within the BBC as a journalist, he did not have a solution for this particular problem.

After I left the talk, I felt angry without knowing the reason. As I talked to my flatmate about it, I realized why. I gave her the example of a comment that was made during the first panel. Elon musk was mentioned, and multiple speakers talked positively about him and his work toward renewable energy. This was surprising to me, as I have a very bad image of the billionaire. These two points of views a representative of two generations that don’t perceive things the same way. The sort of sustainability that Rowlatt was praising is not about changing the world or creating a new one. It's about keeping the status quo while surviving. A sort of green capitalism. I don't share this vision as I am more partial to trying to fix social injustices as the same time as fixing the planet.

#my thoughts #26/03/2024 #oops i forgot to post this after I wrote it #BBC #Justin Rowlatt

[nathandiary]

Illustrations I will use for an article about Manfred Max-Neef's fundamental human needs theory. This theory proposes 9 categories of needs, that must be satisfied in order for humans to be fulfilled.

Here they are (can you tell which is which? I didn't put them in the same order as the pictures on purpose):

Subsistence

Affection

Protection

Idleness

Identity

Freedom

Participation

Creativity

Understanding

#my art #art student #24/03/2024

[nathandiary]

My little characters: some of the illustrations that are going to live in my magazine.

#24/03/2024 #my art #art student

[nathandiary]

Front cover reveal! I'm really pleased with it. I still need to tweak some aspects of the illustration but it's nice to know what the magazine is going to look like.

#24/03/2024 #art student #my art

[nathandiary]

Here are some fun drawings I did this week

#art student #02/03/2024 #drawing #procreate #illustration #funny #comics #rat #duck #raccoon #my art

[nathandiary]

Here’s a poster I just finished! It’s about learning to do things yourself and how learning how things work connect us to them.

#art student #studyblr #graphic design #27/02/2024 #my art

[nathandiary]

Exciting things

Last week, as part of a sustainability event organised by the careers department of my university, I got to meet some people working in sustainability. I interviewed one of the speakers and I should interview another one sometime next month. This is really exciting because it is going to bring another dimension in my magazine and make it more professional. This also motivates me to work harder and have a really clean finished product.

I also got to visit the National Library and see some private press artist books and zines. It was a great opportunity to look at the private collection of the library and I loved being able to handle such precious books. I would like to explore artist books and zines further, but this won't be part of my main project.

#studyblr #art student #26/02/2024

[nathandiary]

Here is what I'm working on at the moment! These are works in progress, they are either drafts or incomplete posters. I am focusing on drawing for now and after I'm done I can import my drawings in Photoshop or InDesign and deal with the graphic design aspect.

#art student #studyblr #26/02/2024 #art wip

[nathandiary]

A new way to work

Let me tell you a little bit about my work method and how I organise my time. So far, I’ve been planning things in advance in my notebook so everyday I can open it and see what I have to do. The problem is that I tend to plan too much work and I don’t have the time to do everything, so I lose my motivation.

So in order to keep myself motivated and excited to create work, I made this wheel:

So now when I want to work on something, I spin the wheel and I work on whatever it lands on. It’s more interesting because I don’t know in advance what I need to do that day. It also helps me refine ideas. There have been a few times when the wheel landed on something I really didn’t want to work on, and it made me realise that it shouldn’t be included in the magazine at all.

It's been helpful so far and I've been a little bit more productive and motivated since I started doing this, so I will keep going.

#studyblr #art student #26/02/2024

[nathandiary]

A team of Rhode Island School of Design students and researchers have created tesselated, floating planting beds made of a mycelium biomaterial to cleanse waterways of pollutants and restore wetland habitat.

The floating Biopods act to introduce native plants back to degraded wetland systems while cleansing the water through bioremediation, or the re-introduction of microorganisms that naturally decontaminate their environment.

"Because of the urbanization of the Providence River itself, a lot of the wetland that acts to actively remediate pollution had been removed. So the project is really about reintroducing this new biology to kick start these ecosystems again so that the river might repair itself."

"It's interesting, the relationships that we have to biomaterials and the way that we are connected to systems that have the potential to remediate in a way that isn't electricity intensive or chemically intensive," said Banerjee.

#sustainability #design

[nathandiary]

Weekly breakdown: week 3

Monday:

Jo Davies, who’s a writer and illustrator, came to the school of art and gave a very interesting talk on being an illustrator. It made me think of the ways I could use my illustrations and how I could reach out to potential clients. We also had a tutorial with her, and she gave us feedback on our projects from last semester. She said that my illustrations showed a range of applications while keeping a consistent style. She also suggested doing the same type of illustrations and changing one thing (like switching a male character for a female character), which would show even more applications.

Tuesday:

We had a group tutorial and showed the progression of our work. I showed the Subsitence poster I made last week and it was suggested that I change it to something that appeared more friendly and positive.

Thursday:

I made a few different versions of the subsistence poster and I am happy with the last ones. They aren’t as playful as the previous one and have a more ‘organic’ look to them. I have different versions of them with the text in different places. I’ll show them to the next tutorial to decide on the best one.

Friday:

We had a talk about the essay we will have to write for the exhibition. I started a draft with ideas, but I think that a lot of the content will be based on the presentation I made last semester.

I did research in the library on graphic design and borrowed a few books to look at when I need inspiration.

Weekend:

I found books online about sustainable design and I would like to make some infographics to make some of the information that I found in there more pleasant and easy to understand.

#18/02/2024 #studyblr #art student

[nathandiary]

Semester 2 week 1 and 2

Week 1 breakdown:

Monday

I wrote an article on low-tech

Last semester’s magazine got delivered and I was finally able to see it in printed version

Tuesday

Group tutorial: we showed each other out finished work and talked about our ideas for the exhibition

I wrote an article on upcycling

I did thumbnails for a comic called We Were Fine

Wednesday

I did thumbnails for a series of posters based on Manfred Max-Neef's Fundamental human needs’ theory

Thursday

I wrote the foreword for the magazine

I did some studies for the We Were Fine comic

Friday

I wrote an article about slow living

I did the underdrawing for the We Were Fine comic

Week 2 breakdown

Monday

I did the inking for the comic using the lightbox and my underdrawings

Tuesday

I finished the Human Needs thumbnails

I started the studies for the Subsistence poster

I had a tutorial where we went over the magazine and looked at all the little mistakes in the layout of the pages. I am keeping those in mind when working on the new file.

Wednesday

I did a bunch of things but none of them were related to this project

Thursday

I painted the We Were Fine comic with watercolor and scanned the pages

I finished a version of the Subsistence poster that I might tweak later

Friday

I started my InDesign file and put some articles in there

Weekend

did a spot illustration for my upcycling article

Next week’s goals

Put all the articles in the InDesign file

‘Protection’ poster

‘Affection’ poster

#11/02/2024 #studyblr #art student