Part 3 of 3: workshop

1. Part 3 of 3
Visual Storytelling:
Communicating
Sustainability
Arlene Birt | www.backgroundstories.com
visual storyteller & information designer

2. Aim:
Inspire ownership among
consumers on the impact
of their everyday decisions.

3. HOW?
CONNECT the ‘every-day’ to the ‘big-picture’

4. This project began as a Fulbright grant to the Netherlands, to research ‘Making Product Life-Cycles Visible.’

6. Pre-head can go here:
Title Text

9. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the
Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation
by the Minnesota State Legislature and a grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts.

10. Collaboration with architect Adam Jonas.

13. Part of a Art(ist)s on the
Verge Fellowship through:

14. Part of a Art(ist)s on the
Verge Fellowship through:

15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GadWxWH8YYg
Part of a Art(ist)s on the
Verge Fellowship through:

16. Part of a Art(ist)s on the
Verge Fellowship through:

21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCzvWbXS_IY

22. Västra Hamnen
Behind-the-Scenes of Sustainability
MEDEA Artist Residency, Malmö, Sweden, 2010

24. http://youtu.be/1HtT_rBrlSw

26. Tips for Telling Visual Stories:
• Layer information
• Present positively
• Make it personal (bring it close to home)
• Let consumers make their own decisions
• Enable interaction
• Provide access to supporting data (online)

27. Balance: how much to show
“Sometimes the detail makes it interesting:
sometimes detail clouds the essence”
-Amanda Cox
graphics editor, New York Times

28. Process:
1. Identify audience and set purpose
2. Research information and data options
3. Ideate: Sketch out the storyline
4. Input data, statistics, people’s stories etc.
5. Develop, test and refine and test and
refine...

29. Identify Audience
& Set Purpose

30. Research &
Interviews

31. Ideation

32. Input data, statistics,
people’s stories, etc.

33. Test & Refine...
Eventually Implement

34. Exercise: A Product’s Life Story
Your own product:
• Focus on one audience for your product
• Write (or draw) a narrative through the life of this
product
• What other sustainability-related data/statistics/
information exists for this product?
• How can this fit into the storyline?
• Are their other ways to visualize that would
better communicate this information?

35. Other Examples:
When Social & Environmental
Back-Stories are Made Visible...

36. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can SEE their own impacts.
Smart Meters

37. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can EXPERIENCE their own impacts.
www.thetoasterproject.org

38. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can CONNECT to their own impacts.
image: The New York Times

39. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can UNDERSTAND their own impacts.
New Leaf Paper Eco Audit

40. Other Examples of Back-Stories:
Consumers can ACT UPON their own impacts.
Prius Hybrid Display Panel

41. When Social & Environmental
Back-Stories are Made Visible...
Consumers can:
SEE • EXPERIENCE • CONNECT • UNDERSTAND • ACT UPON
their own impacts.

42. Additional Resources:
RESOURCES:
Visual Storytelling for Sustainability
INFO DESIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
‘Guru’ of information design: Edward Tufte (author of multiple books)
Learning to draw stories: The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition):
Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam
Guidelines for best-practice info-design: The Wall Street Journal Guide
to Information Graphics: The Dos and Don’ts of Presenting Data, Facts,
and Figures by Dona M. Wong
Inspiration for Data Vis: www.infosthetics.com
SUSTAINABILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Product supply Chains & Carbon Footprints: www.Sourcemap.com
Basic LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) Tool: www.sustainableminds.com
Guide for behavior-changing sustainability campaigns: Fostering
Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social
Marketing by Doug McKenzie-Mohr
Systems-Thinking: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make
Things by Michael Braungart

43. http://www.storyofstuff.org/

44. Thanks!
arlene@arlenebirt.com
www.backgroundstories.com