Common Ground: Building Resilience Through Climate Optimism
My thesis, Common Ground, seeks to advocate for climate optimism. The aim of my work is for generations now entering young adulthood to find hope in our future while acknowledging the challenges that lie ahead. I am exploring how to motivate people to feel hopeful using mostly tangible or interactive design. My goal is that through making contact with these pieces, viewers leave with a new perspective to consider. The content of work that I am choosing to make focuses on how to build resiliency in Maine-based communities. In a location that will feel the effects of climate change on both land and sea, it is important to me to show people the positive efforts that are being made to support our communities through these transitions. By taking inspiration from local grassroots organizations, I am hoping to incentivize viewers into participating in groups such as these or taking their own form of personal action. Although we cannot stop all climate change from happening, my thesis defends that there is still a planet, and an abundance of life, worth fighting for.
Bio
Ella Irving is a graphic designer living in Portland, Maine. She comes from New Hampshire, and enjoys nature and animals – subjects that often surface in her design work. She is a senior at Maine College of Art & Design and pursuing a minor in Sustainable Ecosystems in Art and Design. Her work seeks to answer how graphic design thinking can solve problems using innovative and strategic solutions. She enjoys designing brand identities, visual systems, packaging, and typography at the intersection of digital and analog processes.
