For my third project, I decided to cover the Great Lakes. More specifically, I wanted to raise awareness on the issues facing the lakes as it is a fairly unknown topic. The purpose of raising awareness and educating my audience is that the issue is brought to the mainstream, and practical, real-world solutions can be implemented to save the lakes and preserve North America’s clean drinking water. This is an issue that itself stems from unawareness. Pollution and constant human ignorance towards the situation in the lakes is exactly what has lead to the problems it faces today. With an ecologically conscious population surrounding the lakes, the problems the lakes currently struggle with would undoubtedly be minimized. In the 1960s and 70s, for example, general knowledge about the environment and lakes specifically resulted in enormous amounts of pollution. Residents would often go to the lakes to dump trash as they felt they were so large that it wouldn’t have any impact on them. This project will build on efforts to raise awareness and prevent worsening conditions.
To accomplish this goal, I created four pieces of media targeted at creating change. The first was to give an overview of the lakes through an infographic. This includes general information like how much water we use from the lakes and how it helps stimulate local industries. Then the graphic goes into depth about several key threats facing the lakes and why they are happening. After general information is given through the infographic, I chose two key issues to explore in-depth; toxic algal blooms and invasive mussels. The toxic algal blooms are continually growing in strength, and I wanted to show this visually. I created a map where I compared two record blooms, one in 2003 and the other in 2011. The audience can instantly see how much worse this problem is growing through visual representation. The other is an informational poster showing and explaining the effects of invasive mussels. I chose to show a lawn chair infested by quagga mussels compared to a clean, new chair for a striking visual comparison. I then go in-depth on specifically how the mussels are impacting the lakes and give a few sentences describing each effect. The final piece in my project is a script for calling your representative. I give information on how to find your representative’s phone number, and then provide a word-by-word message to read to said representative. This project gives general information and background, goes into detail on key issues, and provides a way each individual can make tangible, real-time change.
I chose my plan by wanting to go beyond merely informing a reader. I wanted my audience to feel the impact of the lakes and understand that this isn’t a distant problem in the sense of location or time–it is happening right here, right now. I also wanted to make sure that if desired, my audience can call their representative and take real action towards fixing this problem. Although it may just be a phone call, it is also a symbol of awareness and action by the people. This is a uniquely American and Canadian problem, and the impact will be felt largely by midwesterners in particular. I wanted to advocate an issue that was of extreme importance, and effects myself, my loved ones and all my friends.
For this project I was influenced by some of our past readings in my process. I thought about Shipka and her use of sound to accompany her message. While I may not have used sound in my project, I did use a different form of interacting with the media I was presenting. I think my script for calling a representative is a fantastic interpretation of Shipka’s idea of engaging your audience with your media. Another reading I referenced was Springsteen and the Guerilla Girls. The Guerilla Girls used masks to create a brand and image associated with their message. I tried to create a brand for my project by using digital illustrations and consistent fonts and themes throughout my work. I also referenced Bolter and Grusins take of remediation. In their article, they talk about how remediation is the remastering or alternative presentation of a work or message. I covered many of the same topics in multiple pieces of media for my project (like algal blooms, for example), but each piece of media served a different purpose for elaborating on the issue. The infographic gave a background on algal blooms and what they are, while the map showed how they were increasing and in what areas. These articles helped lay the foundation for how I thought about presenting my work and which method would be best to do so.
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