Development
I began by drawing out some basic ideas, however I felt my concept needed a context and it needed to be purposeful and so I began to think I should aim it at animal lovers, however I felt that they would already know this and it wouldn't be purposeful, and so I began to think about the opposite side of animal lovers, and put myself in the mind frame of an animal rights activist, this is when I thought of whaling. And I then found an audience which would be whaling companies and fish restraunts, with the idea that I am from an animal rights company and I am addressing them with the message hunting these animals are wrong.
It is wrong because they might be able to speak to us and it would be inhumane. A human would not hunt another human, and so why would we hunt an animal that could speak to us as if it was human.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/whaling/
I will direct the mailing list participants to this address in my piece.
Our work to end whaling
We are working towards an end to whaling in the Southern Oceean Whale Sanctuary through our ongoing work in Japan to expose the corruption enshrined in Japan’s whaling industry. Two Greenpeace activists known as 'The Tokyo Two' were convicted after having exposed a whale-meat embezzlement scandal there and we are currently involved in an appeal process.
This case is bringing unprecedented public scrutiny to the whaling programme and can help build public support inside Japan to end the senseless hunt.
We are also working to end the Icelandic government’s whaling programme which is reliant on trade to sustain itself. And we are working around the world to increase the pressure put on Japan by conservation-minded governments at the IWC to close the political loopholes that allow the reckless hunt to continue and to highlight the vote-buying that keeps these loopholes in existence.
The statistics say it all. The blue whales of the Antarctic are at less than 1 percent of their original abundance, despite 40 years of complete protection. Some populations of whales are recovering but some are not.
Facts and figures
Only one population, the East Pacific grey whale, is thought to have recovered to its original abundance, but the closely related West Pacific grey whale population is the most endangered in the world. It hovers on the edge of extinction with just over 100 remaining.
Recent DNA evidence shows that the impact of commercial whaling may be even worse than previously thought.
Most estimates of historic whale population size have been extrapolated from old whaling figures, but this method is often very inaccurate, according to marine biologist Steve Palumbi of Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station in California, USA.
In 2003 Palumbi and his colleagues used DNA samples to estimate that humpback whales could have numbered 1.5 million prior to the onset of commercial whaling in the 1800s.
That number dwarfs the figure of 100,000 previously accepted by the IWC based on 19th century whaling records. Humpback whales currently number only 20,000.
Japanese delegates to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) constantly refer to a 1990 estimate of the Antarctic minke population of 760,000. But that figure was withdrawn by the IWC in 2000 because recent surveys found far fewer minkes than the older ones.
The new estimates are half the old in every area that has been resurveyed. The IWC's scientists do not understand the reasons for this and so far have not been able to agree a new estimate.
Consumption, contamination, catastrophe
Whaling is no longer the only threat to whales. The oceans, or rather, human impacts on the oceans, have changed dramatically over the half-century since whales have been protected.
Known environmental threats to whales include global warming, pollution, overfishing, ozone depletion, noise such as sonar weaponry, and ship strikes. Industrial fishing threatens the food supply of whales and also puts whales at risk of entanglement in fishing gear.
If you're thinking of eating whale, you might want to think again - the blubber of dead whales in some areas is so highly contaminated with organochlorines such as PCBs and pesticides that it would be classified as toxic waste!
Organochlorines are known to damage development of children and affect reproduction.
Despite these accumulating threats, an increasing number of nations in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) are voting for an immediate resumption of commercial whaling. Some new and enthusiastic members of the IWC include Benin, Gabon, Tuvalu and Nauru.
Obviously, these new memberships and voting numbers do not reflect a change in world opinion. These countries have all been recruited to join the IWC and vote under what is termed a "vote consolidation program" by the Fisheries Agency of Japan.
Great Expectations
Expectations for the recovery of whale populations have been based on the assumption that, except for commercial whaling, their place in the oceans is as secure as it was a hundred years ago.
Sadly, this assumption is no longer valid. This is why we believe that commercial whaling in all forms must be stopped.
Mailing List
RESTAURANT LÆKJARBREKKA
Situated in one of the oldest houses in the centre of Reykjavik, Restaurant Lækjarbrekka is a classic Icelandic eatery serving traditional fare in a warm and relaxed atmosphere. Don't be shocked to find horse carpaccio or whale on the menu as these are local delicacies in Iceland. Enjoy the langoustine soup with cognac and cream, while brave diners can sample a traditional Icelandic dish, grilled steak of Minke whale with mashed potatoes and Brennivin sauce. After dinner retire upstairs to the bar and cognac room to sip on an aperitif and enjoy the Icelandic hospitality. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Bookings recommended.
Goraebul (ê³ ëž˜ë¶ˆ)
Since the ingredients are so fresh, Goraebul often serves raw preparations of its seafood, whale, flatfish, and abalone to come chilled and sliced alongside sauces like the spicy and vinegary chojang or with some doenjang, fermented bean paste. The rest of the menu includes prix fixe courses that display the abundance of the East Sea with rock octopus, clams, and turbot.
Japanese seafood giants Nippon Suisan, Kyokuyo and Maruha jointly owned and operated Japans
whaling fleet for decades and devised a plan to significantly expand Japanese whaling in the 2007/2008
whaling season. Under the plan, first announced in 2005, more than 1,400 whales will be hunted in the
internationally recognized Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary over the next three months, including 50
endangered fin whales, 50 humpback whales and 935 minke whales. Later in 2008, Japan will continue to
target endangered whales in the North Pacific.
All three Japanese companies have previously stated they would stop selling whale products after
international pressure was exerted on their U.S. subsidiaries and trading partners. However, the
companies have refused to shut down the whaling fleet, or withdraw their expanded whaling plan.
Instead, the companies enabled the plans continuation by passing their shares to the whaling institute,
(the Institute of Cetacean Research-ICR) and non-profit entities. - http://www.eia-global.org/PDF/Article--YahooNews--Species--Dec07.pdf
Nippon Bldg,
2-6-2 Otemachi, Chiyoda-Ku
Tokyo 100-8686, Japan
Kokusai Sanno Bldg,
3-3-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku
Tokyo 107-0052, Japan
Maruha Nichiro Holdings, Inc.
1-1-2 Ohtemachi, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8608, Japan
Whaling Imagery used to help inform my ideas ( google images)
Visual Development
As whaling has been illegal in many countries including England since the 1980's I have to direct my mail at companies in Japan where companies and restraunts are finding loop holes in the system and they are the main contributors to whale farming. Norway and Iceland also do this but I will have to focus on one country and this is Japan.
I may use simple phrases and translate them to Japanese. But I would expect big companies in Japan would be able to speak English too.
I began by designing the front of my envelope, I wanted it to create interest and have impact. I felt that images of the harpoons where perhaps a little sinister and therefore intriguing. Also sticking to the blue theme I had already established from my posters I used this again. Blue again is more eye-catching than an envelope that is white. I have changed the colour blue slightly as I feel the lighter blue adds a lighter feel to the images and it is brighter more eye-catching and overall a more aesthetically pleasing blue. As well as this I did not want to use dark blue and dark red together as I felt the image look very drawn and you may not want to look at it.
Originally I had put the red blood into a white droplet as I thought it would stand out more, however after going back over my designs and heavily influenced by the design of my main copy piece, I changed the blood droplets. I removed the white background of the droplets, this was distracting and drew the eye away, it was an un-needed extra element. I also connected the droplets to the harpoon to really emphasise the idea of killing and slaughter.
After designing the front of my envelope I moved onto the design of the main piece in the middle, which from my ideas, I wanted it to fold out gradually revealing more thoughts and more of the story. Making the audience think as they opened it.
I began by editing the whale I had previously drawn. I needed to change this whale from alive and happy, to dead. And so I began by changing its facial features. And so i began by trying to close the eyes and change the direction of the mouth. However in this example below the eyes do not look closed or dead, and they alongside the mouth just look misshaped and you can't really tell that its a whale or that it has died.
And so I striped the facial expressions right down, I used a very recognisable stroke for the eyes which represents sleeping or dead, I also removed the mouth as it was confusing me.
After I had changed the eyes, I added the mouth back in again as one simple stroke, in a downwards motion to add a feeling of sadness. Also its mouth is closed as it can no longer speak as it has been killed/ silenced.
I then set up an A4 page and I made the whole whale. I also turned its flippers downwards and inwards to give of the idea of being withdrawn, and hung. The guidelines showed me where the folds would go and The whale touches each section as it is the main focus.
I then added a similar illustration to the whale as the front of the envelope, I felt that this made it really obvious what had happened to the whale and it connected everything together. The droplets also lead your eyes down the page.
I did try putting a white outline around the droplets but like the original design of the front of the envelope however I felt that this looked too complicated and it took away from the blood red colour.
I then experimented with different typefaces for the website at the bottom of the page, this is where I was going to direct the audience too.
I chose this one above as my final typeface as I felt it was strong and loud. It also looked quite natural as there was a slight mixture of weights throughout the font.
I wanted the type to go out the bottom of the A4 I wanted it to be central and to spread right across the page.
I began experimenting with how I could make it more interesting by adding blood droplets and connecting the whole piece together.
I began by trying to make the droplets look like speech, however I felt they where disconnected from the other droplets on the page and so I had to find away to connect it all together.
And so I continued the illustration, making the droplets drip down into the type leading to a pool at the bottom which also highlighted the word 'whaling'.
I then I made the net for the envelope, I added the Illustration to the front and I placed the address on the back. I thought that pure image for the front of a letter is more interesting and eye-catching as it is unusual. The address is in the same font as the website, and so it is loud and quite serious looking.
I then designed the mailing list I wanted to keep it simple. I used the same font as the website I felt that this was strong and simple. Also when you turn it landscape the copy looks like the waves of the sea.
However I felt that this was slightly too simple and had no relevance to the whale. And so with a half tone of the blue I had used I added the whales tail and I think this created a more interesting piece.
And so I began printing. I originally wanted to use cartridge paper to print on. I wanted to use this as it was a bit thicker that normal paper, it has a textured surface and it is a bright white. However when I printed onto it the colours didn't absorb into the paper and they looked very textured. I did think this was nice for the blue, but I wanted the red to be bright and full.
'Murder' went slightly orange and patchy.
Again from a distance it looked okay but up close the red was slightly orange and slightly patchy.
I then printed onto 80gsm matte paper. This made the colours come out fully and correctly and provided the image with a strong colour. However the paper wasn't as good quality as the cartridge stock.
The red is a lot stronger on the 80gsm its not patchy.
This is the final product. This is the insert/piece inside the envelope. I have photographed it in order of how it opens.
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| inside of insert |
