The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Applied Communication Theory

Y Pham

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of five main gyres in the oceans. Its
trash cannot be measured due to the impossibility of the task, but its
estimated to be over 2x the size of Texas and contains at least 705 tons of
trash (measured from the trash that ships throw away)

It is extremely harmful to the environment and to humans through both

biomagnification and photo-degradation.

Much of the patch cannot be measured due to marine debris (what is

underwater, from a few centimeters to a few meters.)

These are images of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, some that was not in the previous slide.

info, images, then more info (like why chose this topic: important to raise awareness, and the importance: were killing our oceans)

Examples for this topic

Examples > graphic and bold (captures audiences eye)

a study in semiotics and sign-making this is researching the meaning and intent of my subject; these are other signs that people have made

Examples of topic

Graphic, bold, and eective as well as relatable imagery something that I wanted to pursue in my designs.

The hourglass one is a digital painting by yuumei; its a nice commentary on the state of our planet and how when we damage the environment, we are in fact hurting ourselves.

Matrix of my possible subtopics & signs ended up with:

biomagnification, ecological impact, impact on humans, clean up eort, biodiversity, prevention

Study of semiotics (study of meaning making) and thats what were doing meaning making with our signs.

Icons, Indexes, & Symbols

Signs can be icons (representation), indexes (allusion), or
symbols (learned).

Icons (representation), indexes (allusion), symbols (learned).

Sketches from previous exercise still fleshing out all of the details and possible stylization of the signs. Shows sign, signified (concept of object or thing), and signifier (the object/thing)
sign cannot exist by itself, but must be a combination of signifier (concept) and signified (object).

Semiotics: meaning making and pragmatics (study of how context influences meaning ties into connotation).

Three Tight Sketches

Three original tight sketches and three more refined ones.

Connotation & Denotation

Connotation is the context the audience takes away from the sign.
Denotation is the literal meaning of the sign/word.

Connotation & Denotation context vs. literal meaning

Pragmatics (study of how context influences meaning ties into connotation)

scary

I picked this connotation to invoke warning, to show the detrimental eects of the garbage patch.

biohazard fish > biomagnification (symbol because learned)

turtle in bottle > ecological impact (index because of implications)

net > clean up eorts (icon because representation)

offical

I picked ocial to add some form of legitimacy to this topic; I am hoping to appeal to audiences using extrinsic ethos. Not many know about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

biohazard fish > biomagnification (symbol because learned/confusing)

turtle in bottle > ecological impact (symbol because of the cross over it)

net > clean up eorts (index because implying but can also be icon)

cute

Cute was chosen so that the topic was more approachable and more available to younger audiences. While it does not evoke a sense of urgency, it does evoke sympathy, appealing to pathos.

biohazard fish > biomagnification (symbol because learned)

turtle in bottle > ecological impact (index because implied)

net > clean up eorts (icon because a representation, though a less motivated one)

Then I made a mistake

in which I misunderstood our assignment

So I redid it

cute

So following the assignment, I picked the three signs to explore, using the same elements to redesign them.

symbol > learned and stylized

index > because it implies

icon > representation

harsh/creepy

This is my harsh/creepy. I chose this connotation, again like scary, to warn the viewer. I really liked designing for this connotation so I continued to explore it a bit more.

biohazard fish > biomagnification (symbol because of the biohazard, but also index)

turtle in bottle > ecological impact (symbol & index)

net > clean up eorts (index & symbol, but could also be icon because it is a representation of what would happen)

finalized revisions

These are the final signs, including a colored version.

liked the fish bone motif so repeated it across the signs

colored version blue so there is an ocean/water association

syntagm: the syntax of signs (in this case, it forewarns something)

paradigms: mutually exclusive signs that can substitute for each other

mock-ups
these are the mock-ups of the finalized versions as a wall design, a
business card design, and a poster design set in an urban environment.

I decided to add color to my signs, using a deep, warm blue. I wanted to add the connotation of water and ocean with this color, and in context of the mock-ups, I used a
gradient to add some depth (having a flat color was not pretty.)

exhibition wall

Exhibition wall has the text, the ocean clean up project as a reference to an actual project dedicated to cleaning the garbage patch.

In this case, the dierent signs are paradigms that can stand for each other in a cultural context because they all relay the message of warning for the future of the ocean/what were doing to it now.

posters/billboards

I did multiples of this sign because one didnt seem to have the impact I needed. Repetition creates power in some circumstances and in this case, it creates a presence for the sign.

can run into the issue of polysemy (many meanings) so must make sure the message is as clear as possible for viewers

phones

Advertising the opening screen for a possible mobile app for the Ocean Cleanup Project.

business cards

Business cards used a gradient and waves (adds some depth and connotation for the signs.)

anchor & relay

Anchor is text/image that solidifies the meaning of the sign
while relay is text/image that adds to the meaning of the sign.

These are some of my anchor and relay designs. I wanted to be funny with some of them, because sometimes humor catches the eye more than serious passive-aggressive guilt does. Several are in multiples
to solidify the message and add weight to the signs; they felt too simple and incomplete by themselves. I also grounded a few by placing them inside shapes.

anchor/relay helps with polysemy in signs

anchor and relay utilizes myths create a story within the signs

Anchor & Relay in Context

In context of bumper stickers as advertising and informing other viewers.

Mock-up for possible sticker design, this is an image anchor and lots of text relay. I think I rely a lot on text relay to get my message across, and slogans. I enjoy slogans a lot. But the circular
format is appropriate because its easy to place on surfaces.

More examples in context.

I found an exciting thing!

https://www.facebook.com/HuffingtonPost/videos/
10153666021071130/ (go watch this video!)

So a 21 year old student has invented a system that takes advantage of the oceans currents to clean up the plastic trash thats in the oceans!

The theory is to create a barrier to surround the trash and have the currents gather all of it in one place, containing it and allowing for clean. It has been implemented o
of the coast of Japan in their gyre, and it works!

The ocean could be cleaned up within 20-30 years if there is enough funding to continue the project.

Bibliography

http://img05.deviantart.net/7860/i/2014/099/b/6/countdown_by_yuumei-d3lllcp.png

http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch

http://education.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/plastics.html

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/human-impact.html

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch2.htm

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/great-pacific-garbage-patch-is-destroying-the-oceans/