The Story of Stuff website is enjoyable with the convergence of media – video, graphics, text, music, and animation which create an overall interactive site that invites the browser to stay and learn. The Story of Stuff presents the serious subject of over-consumtion with simple visual support, sometimes too simple. Simplicity can be a useful tool. By breaking a huge problem into smaller components, the tasks to correct the situation can seem less daunting, more do-able – creating a willingness to consider change.
But, how much can a designer simplify the images and the message and still tell a thorough story? While watching the Water Bottle video on the Story of Stuff website, I wondered if their point would be more compelling if it included images of the destructive and non-beautiful affects of water bottle usage. The drawing of the mountain of bottles in India was actually sort of pretty. That is definitely the wrong message.
In the latest movie, the “Story of Change – Season Two,” Annie Leonard targets the source of the problem, corporate decisions based on profits rather than people and the environment. She quoted Ghandi by saying “Be the change.” Don’t compromise on a great idea, change the focus from “I” to “We” and incorporate effective communication to organize the masses. The graphic elements are consistent throughout the campaign. I find myself searching for more material, more examples, more solutions and more ideas. The website if full of resources. I look forward to exploring more links. I also look forward to reading through the blog entries, looking at more movies, trying to dissect the technical aspects of the media compilations. Did they use after effects? How did they create these cool illustrations? How is Leonard on a white background? What font did they use? Was it created by hand? I hope to be able create similarly interactive sites soon. I am technically inspired.