AWARENESS ON COMMUNICATION

The disturbing Story of my life (written by a plastic straw) is an illustrated children’s book that tells the story of the journey of a plastic straw that ends up in a human’s stomach. Mike, the straw, will meet characters along the way and will guide children through the book giving them fun facts, playing games, and challenging them.

The book is focused on raising awareness of issues of environmental & social responsibility within young children. It aims to serve as a conversation starter with children, as a way to start introducing them and engaging with the topic.

The aim of the posters isn’t making people feel guilty.
On the contrary, I want to tell them that changing to be more ecological is possible and in addition it is cool.

The quote “I’m not a virgin” evokes the sexual world so it captures the attention. You need to read and think to understand because it could be tricky. Actually, the subject is the recycled plastic itself and not a person. Since it is not a virgin, it leads us to think is cool.

The aim of the video is to spread awereness on good behaviour about the actual plastic overabundance on our planet.
We developed a cartoon animated video for its universal way of communication.
This video is only a part of the project we conceived, which is made of 10 different ipotetical scenaries.

Concept:
DReAm/r integrates Augmented Reality and IoT in an interactive installation.
The aim is providing an immersive experience on Bio-Materials as plastic substitutes.

The idea:
Make people aware of Bio or Sustainable products available on the market, which could represent effective substitutes to same-function plastic products.

The experience:
DReAm/r is a board composed of a vertical structure and linkable modules, called tokens. A token represents a recyclable element, compatible with other tokens. The experience begins with a real interaction: the user creates a combination of the tokens on the board. Through its own device, he frames it and discovers the generated Bio Materials in augmented reality.

Data:
The experience is visible online on a custom made Dashboard which collects Data in real time during the live experience. It’s called DreAm/r Dashboard.

SforSustainable is an online platform dedicated to sustainable interior design. Featuring a curated selection of sustainable products, it explores the complexity behind the word sustainability, proving that sustainable, beautiful and good quality can actually go together.

Driven by content, SforSustainable presents each item with a detailed explanation of what makes it a sustainable choice.

While selecting the products to feature, special attention is given to plastic upcycling as well as other projects that promote the development of a circular economy.

SforSustainable is a manifesto of the opportunities that come from looking at every material as a resource – even plastic.
A practical tool to start making more sustainable interior design choices.

“The Stone and Bronze Ages are so called because most implements were made of those particular materials. The asset of plastics is that, unlike precious metals and stones, it is a universal material, available to everyone. Synthetic resin is transformed into articles that can be exclusive and expensive, or cheap rubbish.” / Penny Sparke: The Plastics Age
This book sets out to explain the difference between the major types of plastics, their historical context and the value they manifest. It illustrates the history of plastics, traces their use and development in the past, to envision its future.

The project began with the idea to put an underappreciated material on a pedestal, in an attempt to make it seem luxurious, and, thus, affect people’s opinion on it. I chose plastic because it is a material the value of which has changed a number of times throughout history; the story of plastics is one that reflects the story of humankind itself. By looking at plastics from an archaeological point of view, I imagine a future where plastics are no longer produced and become a resource found underground, a relic of long gone days. Already today, the earliest items in this material, not being made anymore, are seen as luxury goods, while, at the same time, we carelessly bin plastic wrappings every day, only proving that scarcity is luxury. The project resulted in an encyclopedia that I call The Cabinet Of Anthropogenic Specimens, where I present plastics as gemstones dating back to the era of Anthropocene to educate our future and present selves about the different types of this man-made fossil that will be ‘found’. By portraying plastic as a valuable jewel, I hope to make us see it as such, to reconsider its application as disposables and question our throwaway attitude.

Plastic Water project proposed an innovation way to bring swim practice into the world’s water-scarce areas to reduce the child drowning death rate in the region, and further promote the recycling of PET bottles to decrease the plastic polluting the ocean.

A pool filled with plastic water balls made up of recycled PET bottles will let you experience the same buoyancy as in water without changing your clothes.

One plastic water ball could be made with 15 recycled PET bottles, US recycles 150 million pounds of PET per year, which means approximately 170,000 plastic ball pool tracks can be set up.

I created this short series of posters focusing on a kind of communication that is positive rather than aggressive, with bright colors, playful and ironic. When we think of plastic, in our minds we usually visualize bags and bottles. There are, however, many niches of objects that are rarely taken into consideration when treating these topics. The target of the campaign I conceived is small children, who are often excluded from environmentalist messages because considered unable to understand them to their core.
It’s not necessary to try to explain the issue in complex terms, but to make them reflect and stimulate them to contribute with what is part of their own “microenvironment”. So many toys are made entirely of plastic, often of different types of plastic and, after the short period in which they’re used, kids get tired of them and put them aside. To avoid these toys getting thrown away in the trash I ideated a campaign aimed directly to children (in this case of pre-scholar age) and the people around them: parents, kindergarten teachers. The posters should be hung up in places mostly frequented by these kids and their parents, such as parks and schools. The toys in the pictures (actually used) speak directly to the child and ask them not to be thrown away.

The topic of plastic so important today, places this contest as a personal commitment to the environment and to the way of seeing the plastic material, without demonizing but evaluating the essential aspect of recycling.
My photographic idea regarding the theme is that of the reuse of plastic materials, of any type for recreational purposes, both for children and adults, I thought that the image of a city rebuilt with waste materials was a possibility, see not plus the object itself but reassemble it, color it and make it an element of the game landscape.
I collected some pieces of plastic in a landfill near the Naviglio Canal, I washed the pieces and assembled them, these strange decontextualized objects take on a different concept and give a new appearance compared to their primary use, I imagined a child taking bottles or other things from home and builds, colors, assembles for his own world, just as an adult could do with modeling, the sky and the roads that I put are a photographic freedom that I allowed myself for a realization that would make the scenery more credible.

My generation was born in a world were plastic is not just a material, but the very material of our society. However just my grandparents’ generation could tell us the story of a world without plastic. This world – I think we, young people, need to envision it to be able to work our way towards it. First of all, we need to be able to imagine how it would be, a place were plastic is just one material out of many, used for what it is best for, not for everything just because it’s cheap, regardless of its counter-effects. To do so, I believe that us, as communication designers, need to bridge the gap by helping people see how feasible this actually is!

I started by researching on plastic waste. I wanted to base my campaign on the most common plastic waste elements found anywhere in the world, and it turned out that they were all very familiar, everyday objects. I researched in depth the composition of plastic and the various types of polymers, in order to represent them in my campaign (I was particularly interested in portraying cigarette butts, the “forgotten plastic pollution”, which most people don’t even know are made of plastic).

The idea of Tick-Tock-Tuk-Tuk stems from a strong sentiment of making the larger part of the world population, specially the segment that is uneducated and under exposed to the perils of plastic waste. We believe that Plastic waste is a global concern and it is a hot topic amongst the educated segments of the society and developed countries or communities are already aware of the damage and problem created by the same, and taking steps or at least striving to make changes.

However the unprivileged and uneducated pollution is far away from realizing the gravity if the situation. It becomes our responsibility to send/translate the message for them in a way that is reachable and relatable to them. The problem of plastic pollution is a world problem and if we want to strive to make a constructive difference we cannot leave behind any segment of population to participate in the movement, specially the one that constitutes not just the maximum strength in terms of numbers but also in terms of the momentum it can create.

Our proposed solution focuses on one such idea that is to start a communication movement in the public in developing countries by leveraging the local/ colloquial ways of spreading message. The proposed solution is to replace the existing canopy of auto rickshaws by canopies that are made of recycled plastic. Auto rickshaws are one of the most widely used local transport mediums in India. and are seen all around. Our idea is to create a mobile installation that can carry the message with itself for longer distances and to people of all sectors. The recycled plastic prints have the potential of creating unique patterns and designs and once it catches on can become a great design trend.

The Plastiglomerate project is inspired by the book “The Sea as a Craftsman” by Bruno Munari.
The Italian designer compares the sea to an artist elevating his artifacts to works of art.
Plastiglomerates are no longer pieces of plastic waste, but represent the new works of art of the sea; we must enhance them, interpreting the message that the sea wants to communicate.
Therefore the project wants to make us reflect on our environmental impact and to make us appreciate the work of the sea in transforming pieces of plastic into real sculptures of modern art.

The project aims to tell the story of a reality that is afflicting the existence and survival of everything that lives on our planet. And how, as far as possible through this albeit modest means, communicate to the world a message of respect for the conservation of the earth and seas, transforming waste into useful-objects like this: the sea in a drop.

Inside the “ampoule lamp” made of recycled polymers we make waste objects live without the need for recycling, reusing them as design objects, considering the importance that every small gesture can make a difference. We could not help giving the story a poetic look that tries to redeem the drama of its contents. Among our various design projects we have chosen one that we love so much for its purity and its elegance, making a bet on its cathartic power by adapting it with objects belonging to the category of waste that are polluting the waters of seas and rivers.

It is a recycled plastic ampoule that for its genesis can be broken down and filled with objects:
the light, inserted in its base, passes through the ravines between the objects and explodes all around and upwards with magical effects that restore value and dignity to the objects downgraded to the rank of waste. Only at the end of the route will purification take place due to the presence of water from the seas, lakes, streams and rivers: and the light, indeed, will be enhanced through the water and charged with energy.

My campaign represents two mugshots at the police of a detergent and a toothbrush.
They are condemned for an act that they are not guilty of: pollution.
My campaign wants to point out that a piece of plastic on its own is innocent. The acts of waste that make the pollution exist on our planet are done only by people. We had created plastic and we need to know how to use it in relation to our planet.
The change is in our hands.

“Plastic is not enemy” is a project that promotes the use of plastic on a daily basis.
At the moment, we are talking about the overconsumption of plastic and it’s resulting pollution. Indeed today, we can say that the use of plastic isn’t well seen. But initially, this material also made it possible to create objects that could prevent accidents and even save lives. The aim of this series of visuals is to show others that “plastic remains a material that can help society, only if it is not overproduced and overconsumed”.

End of Waste is a helpful tool designed to develop virtuous practices within the various initiatives / exhibitions / performances that make up a large urban event. EOW consists of an Observatory in progress called “Let’s make the point”, that generates a Database and an App / map to guide people (entrepreneurs, visitors, designers, clients, dealers) through the selected events based on circular economy and low -impact features marked with an EOW symbol. A booster even more necessary in the post -pandemic reconstruction, where a new consciousness about the impact of human actions on the environment is needed.

Through the “Playstic – Simple to Learn” advertising campaign, we look at making the ‘plastic emergency’ an easier to understand concept for a younger public through the use of synthetic and fun payoffs, using rhyming words.  This stylistic technique, enhanced by simple and immediate illustrations that further facilitate its understanding, derives from the need to make a very complex and widespread theme (so complex that it’s become almost a trend) just a bit lighter.

Costumes are often wrong, not materials. Since plastic is undoubtedly still useful in many sectors and contexts, we must learn the best ways to dispose of it and reuse it (avoiding it when possible). It is often the idea that people have of plastic worse than plastic itself. We strongly believe that, in order to overcome the every-day abuse of information on the topis, simplicity is the perfect key to truly open people’s heads (especially children, our future), simple solutions that everyone can implement. Let’s learn how to recycle plastic and at the same time let’s work to find as many alternatives as possible.

Looking at a young audience, we thought about the use of rhymes. Rhyme has always been used as a method to memorize important and yet complex concepts such as poems, mathematic rules and grammar concepts. And what about the songs that resonate in people’s heads?!
Short slogans, easy to memorize, immediate concepts (supported by bright, colourful and evocative illustrations as well as simple and clean lines).

We are Plastic is a project highlighting the environmental issue around the abuse of plastic and the challenging task of recycling through a different approach, through ART. 

Inspired by the obliteration action of repeated patterns taken by famous artist Yayoi Kusama I have decide to turn an everyday object like a plastic bottle in a piece of Art using my dotting technique. 

At the moment I am working on this project with the association “QuadrilegiO’ for Parma Capitale della Cultura 2020. 1300 students are involved in painting thousands of recycled plastic bottles following my signature technique. Together we are aiming to build a huge installation focus on Parma skyline and its most famous monuments. The installation will be up for few weeks in Piazzale Santafiora. The opening day will be on March the 27th. 

At the end of the exhibiting weeks the installation will be dismounted and the dotted bottles will start travelling towards a new project, becoming a continuously changing itinerant installation. 

We believe Guiltless Plastic RO is perfect opportunity for the ‘WE ARE PLASTIC’ project next step.

Barbara de Vries’ RO Prize entry is for a DESIGN CURRICULUM at the Harbour Island Green School, Bahamas, 2021, that teaches the reuse and retail of up-cycled beach plastic. Barbara’s program, Plastic is Forever, uses art and design to raise awareness of plastic pollution while empowering the underserved minorities of island communities that are disproportionally affected by worldwide plastic waste. The goal of The Green School and Plastic is Forever pedagogical partnership is to educate, reduce environmental pollution, recycle and up-cycle, teach the impact of sustainable design, and generate income for their community as well as the cause.

The project:
#souvenirdamare – Quindici Racconti Restituiti dale Onde
(#souvenirsfromthesea – Fifteeen Stories Recovered from the Sea) comes  from the collaboration between the students of the Master in Visual Brand Design of the Domus Academy with Elisa Chiodo (Designer and Program Leader of the Master) and Angela Ponzini (Designer and collaborator of Studiolabo).
It is a graphic/visual project that aims to involve an audience of adults and children on environmental issues, in particular those related to the pollution of the seas and oceans. It proposes new visual and narrative modalities to create environmental awareness.

The photographic archive: Angela Ponzini’s aim is to share issues related to sustainability and environmental awareness. She created and shared, in the summer of 2019, an archive of photographs called “souvenirdamare” consisting of fifteen plastic objects found and collected from the beaches of Vasto, within the Punta Aderci Regional Nature Reserve in Abruzzo, specifically between the beaches of Mottagrossa and Punta Sinello. It was a portion of uncontaminated land, about 300 meters, literally covered with debris, rubbish, plastic of all kinds. Angela, with the company of her children, collected in plastic some objects, the “treasures of the sea”, which for various reasons deserved to be preserved and shown to the world.

From the idea to the result: Each of these “treasures” was photographed and stored, later shared on Angela’s personal Instagram account. Angela also did a careful research regarding the origin was made on each of them. Angela, invited by Elisa Chiodo to tell the experience at the beginning of November 2019 at Domus Academy, held the lecture, during which an object was assigned to each student.

GamePlast is an innovative outdoor game It is made up of 33 boxes since a WWF article states: “More than 33 thousand plastic bottles end up every minute in the Mediterranean”. The game board is characterized by various types of boxes that range from decorations with images, symbols, rules to follow to useful tips and teachings for everyday life; the first six boxes show the abbreviations of the types of plastic. It is important to know, from an early age, the strengths and weaknesses of plastic and its consequences as we now disperse it in the environment; we want to convey, through GamePlast, the importance and respect for the ecosystem to educate younger minds with simple concepts that can make a difference.

Opacify is a black, opaque and heat-sensitive coating for PET bottled liquids.

It is a noise-free filter designed for metropolitan consumers to shop without unsolicited marketing and branding bombardment while enjoying the interaction with the products. Though the bottle appears entirely black at first glance, when one desires to know more about it, one may reach out and hold it within the visual field. With the warmth of human touch, the blackness turns translucent to reveal the hidden information about the product.

While our fixation on continuous growth feeds into pathological consumption culture, we are also posing detrimental threats to the environment and ourselves. To break our well-trained shopping instincts, Opacify serves as a behavioural and cognitive nudge for inconvenient consumption. Our research suggests that the inconvenience of identifying a product would prevent shoppers from unnecessary purchases and thus promote conscious decision-making and reduce post-consumer waste.

The purpose of the project is to organize a ‘Say No To Plastic’ environment education and design thinking program in schools and colleges to create awareness on hazardous effects of plastic materials. As part of the program we educate students on types of plastic waste and how we can re-purpose them and align towards 3R Principle – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The project executes the setup of used pen refills collection boxes which are transformed into miniatures of famous structures across the world. In the last14 years 8500 pen refills were reused to make 10 miniatures of famous structures.