Evaluative Post

In assignment 2, the project titled "Elephant" aims to raise awareness about the endangerment of African elephants through an interactive website featuring a written novel. Each chapter of the novel can be read numerically or at random and will incorporate information about African elephants and links to support organizations. Readers can scroll through the website, encountering occasional photography and illustrations as they progress through the story.

Personally, I believe that the approach of using a novel on a website to bring attention towards animal endangerment is an interesting idea, and it certainly reaches out to a broader audience. Perhaps, I was not thorough enough with my research nevertheless I have not found any website with the same exact concept. Websites raising awareness by showcasing animals or just storytelling websites in general certainly exist, but one containing a novel leading up to information on the subject has not come up while I was searching.

However, I have found some websites which incorporates storytelling to inform or introduce people about different subjects such as coding, biology or even tips and tricks. These websites are extremely interactive, allowing users to click and hover sometimes even drag to fully explore it in its entirety but I realised that being too interactive could be an issue with my project as it requires focus to read and having things flying around or shoving instructions in people’s face can be distracting, drawing attention away from the novel itself.

My story on the other hand, would be considered a major cliche, one that could even be said to be overused. A runaway experiment who is wary of the world meets a friendly/grumpy person, they become unlikely friends, fighting against enemies before finally running away together on a new major goal which in this case is finding the protagonist's family. Regardless, as mentioned in my previous submission my story was inspired by stories such as 'The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant' and 'The Elephant’s Journey' which is technically about the protagonist's traveling adventures and friendships formed along the way, resembling a coming-of-age narrative. Thus, I can say that I have fulfilled that aspect of my project.

I made this story with the idea to connect it to the purpose of the website, raising awareness for animal endangerment among African elephants. I believe that the concept works, and that it brings something relatively new to the public in terms of digital culture, however I find my story writing lacking. As someone who reads stories, I don't think that my story is spectacular or that it's anything special, maybe even mediocre at best. And though my target audience is part of the younger generation, hence the website, I fear that there may be too many words and not enough visual stimulation to keep their attention for long.

The images shown on the website is a combination of photography and illustration which I find provides a nice collision of 2D and 3D, bringing together the story of animal endangerment along with the reality of it. The character design and overall web visual provides a nice palatable way to process the idea of this animal essentially dying off.

Moreover, I had previously mentioned that the character designs would be akin to 'Dumbo' and 'Babar the Elephant,' which are simplistic yet endearing, reflecting the project's overall theme of simplicity and playfulness. Once more, I'd like to point out that this was also successfully executed with the pastel colours and minimalist designs. I was even able to achieve the pink elephant, symbolizing both rarity and the metaphorical "elephant in the room," highlighting the urgency of addressing issues like animal endangerment. Taking this opportunity to point out that my story also starts off with "the elephant in the room". However, I fear that these ideas or contexts might have been too subtle for anyone to realise it without me pointing it out.

Finally, the website's concept, was meant to be inspired by 'The Boat' and incorporating elements from websites like Atlassian and Species in Pieces, aiming to engage readers through interactive media and infographics, fostering a deeper understanding of African elephants and their conservation. Although I find that my website may not achieve the level of interaction available on other storytelling websites featuring VR, I certainly believe that I have achieved the latter half of this, which is providing information in a fun way to allow people to gain a better understanding of African elephants.

To conclude, you win some, you lose some. In this case, the themes and concepts of my project would be a success. I have produced something that introduces a new way of informing others about important topics. Have I achieved it to the degree of other storytelling websites introducing animal conservation and the like, perhaps not but I am pretty proud with the overall product or artefact I have produced in this project.

 

References

Anenko, S. and Glazunova, L. (no date) Сhizzy’s tips, Сhizzy’s Tips. Available at: https://chizzy.singula.team/ (Accessed: 24 April 2024).

 

Atlassian (no date) You waste a lot of time at work infographic, Atlassian. Available at: https://www.atlassian.com/time-wasting-at-work-infographic (Accessed: 03 January 2024).

 

James, B. (no date) In pieces - 30 endangered species, 30 Endangered Species, 30 Pieces. Available at: http://www.species-in-pieces.com/# (Accessed: 03 January 2024)

 

Nam Le, M.H. (2015) The boat, SBS. Available at: https://www.sbs.com.au/theboat/ (Accessed: 24 April 2024).

 

Saramago, J. and Costa, M.J. (2017) Elephants journey. Vintage Publishing.

 

Thornton, E. and Brunhoff, J. de (1994) Babar the Elephant. Milan: Milano.