OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

OVERFISHING

A fun take on the intricacies of our solar system.

Understanding the increasing damage of our dying oceans.

DURATION

March 2020

TYPE

School Project

ROLE

Information Design, Motion Design, Illustrations

SOFTWARE

Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, Painting

RECOGNITION

SOFTWARE

RGD Award for Motion Design / 2020

Our Solar System is a fun look at celestial bodies, what classifies as a planet and of course, the question that is on everyone’s mind, why is Pluto not a planet? As this was an overview of our solar system as a whole, the information was to describe overarching concepts. As the concepts and language described in the video are more simplified, the target audience is aimed towards children.

As a young child armed with my local aquarium pass, I loved the ocean and learning about the beautiful world that lived under the sea. Having lived on the west coast it is clear that the ocean has become interwoven with our way of life. However, this makes overfishing a growing problem that could leave thousands of people without jobs and without food. This informational brochure and app aims to raise awareness of the drastic changes overfishing has causing to the ecosystem and the potential impacts it has on humans.

Exploring ways to make information fun, relatable and memorable with unique imagery

PROCESS

Engaging ways to display concepts

Intentional Illustrations and Storytelling

The design brief was to create a video with both analog and digital components. With this in mind, I wanted to create engaging and personable graphics by making a stop motion video with digital typography overlaid on top to describe the illustrations. Creating entertaining visuals such as the milk jug pouring out the milky way was used to help viewers correlate facts to imagery, especially children.

RESEARCH

Research informs structure

Intentional Illustrations and Storytelling

While researching and compiling relevant data for the video, I used it to structure the overall narrative of the video. I began by looking at a large overview of our galaxy and specifying the information into more granular concepts such as classifying planets. How the information flowed also relied on the flow of imagery, as stop motion requires detailed planning and transitions. I described this narrative clearly by creating graphics and text that directly correlated, allowing for the viewer to easily grasp concepts.

IDEATION

Storyboards

From general research, I started sketching out concepts and ways to display information. I also thought about how this would transition to stop motion. I organized the information and script by location. I started off by beginning with the milky way, to the man made object furthest away from our orbit, to our solar system and finally explaining the planets.

Visual Styling

For the overall aesthetics, using everyday objects would add a handmade and more relatable feel. Stop motion was used to help break down more complex ideas in creative ways. String, beads, saran wrap, scrap wallpaper and watercolour paintings were all used in the making of the stop motion.

FINAL ANIMATION

TAKEAWAYS

Take chances.
As the beginning of the pandemic coincided with this project, it was a daunting task to plan and create an entire stop motion while I moved cross country. However, I learned that sticking with an idea, and utilizing the tools and resources at hand was key to creating a project I was happy with.

Say Hi!

Let's grab a coffee- feel free to email me at hmchen98@gmail.com.
Here's my resume!