ISTD BRIEF:
BIOPHILIA
"An innate affinity of life or living systems
between humans and nature"
BRIEF
Biophilia is a love of nature. For individuals who cannot have direct access to nature, indirect experiences of visuals, touch and sound are also shown to provide a biophilic experience.
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Create a typographic piece that provides and indirect experience and celebrates human connection with nature.
BIOPHILIA RESEARCH
The key concept behind Biophilia is the innate and genetically determined love for the natural world felt by humans. There are numerous studies to identify the benefits of incorporating natural visuals, textures and elements into the built environment on productivity, mental wellbeing and emotional stability.
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TASK
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Define a context, identify a target audience and build a strategy that underpins the development of the outcome.
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Research and sketch a variety of initial potential directions to guide the final concept.
OUTCOME
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Reconnect the viewer to natural elements and have a positive impact on our health and well-being.
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Creative elements should be determined by the concept and target audience.
Concept Goals
Type as tactile forms inspiration
THE CONCEPT
I chose to explore the concept of creating an interactive leaflet that would form part of a large wall installation. The installation would be launched at wellness and creative conferences as well as homeware stores to encourage consumers to include natural elements in their homes.
Initially, an origami fold seemed fitting for the concept but would limit the amount of interaction from the user. The shape needed to be simple enough to be unfolded and re-folded by the user. I explored the use of handwritten typefaces to reflect the organic and irregular growth of nature. The continuity of the lines that flow from the text was intended to show how nature is consistently connected.
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BRINGING THE OUTSIDE IN
Using a simple square fold allowed for a grid to form that helped align the informative text on the outside. In contrast to the handwritten type, it is a visual representation of organic elements in a structure, built environment.
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The unfolding of the leaflet encourages touching the textured paper in contrast to the conventional smooth digital surfaces. The leaflet also contains a seed inside that can pushed out and planted by the reader. This encourages the user's own biophilia to influence them to be part of the natural process and plant a seed.
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The outside of the leaflet contains factual information about the effects of nature on the human mind and body while the inside is a poem about the feelings evoked by nature. The poem is laid out in the form of a spiral with key words muted in the background to represent the view of a forest view from the ground up.
THE "LIVING" WALL
Once folded, the leaflets become thick and have a corner with flared edges. To use this as a visual element, the leaflet is wedged into the "hills" of the living wall installation to form leaves.
THE TYPOGRAPHY
