uCreate:an eco-friendly guide to creativity

Leila Ling | ITGM 705 | Fall 2010

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is just 18%. Paper is the most common material that is found in solid waste around the world. These are only a few statistics regarding recycling. My goal is to promote eco-friendliness through creative means.

++ Design StatementMy how-to book will be made of mostly recyclable material. I wanted my project to inform and teach individuals on the importance of eco-friendliness, and also to promote creativity with recyclables through origami. One might think “Oh, that looks cool! I want to make it.” While it is not exactly the same as recycling, the individual will at least be doing something productive and creative, showing them that something considered old and useless can be made into something worthwhile to the environment by not throwing it into the trash.

OvErvIEW

++ Audience and ContentMy age range is aimed toward young to old adults. I hope that my audience will feel more aware of what they do to their old papers, tests, grocery bags, etc. Showing a book made of just those things, I believe, can help stimulate some inspiration. It will include folding instructions for many origami forms, followed by suggestions of how to utilize them. Additionally, recycling facts will be included.

++ MotivationI have always had a fascination with origami. I also always try to recycle or try to make things into something new and reusable instead of throwing it away. In the end, I want to teach and show people how they can make scraps into something useful and decorative.

OvErvIEW

SKETCHES

++ Initial Design

I predict my book will be made out of cardboard or paper bags. The binding will be done with either wax thread or twist ties from grocery stores. If there were any decorations on the cover, it would be made out os newspaper. The pages will be made of paper bags, newspapers, or magazines. A lot of the materials this project will be using will depend on what I have around.

The inside pages will vary in terms of design, but this is one layout I will use for the folding instructions. A photo will be placed on the left-hand side. I’m thinking of using different types of paper to show different variations of the design.

Materials will collected from around the house, ranging from paper bags to magazine paper, and water bottles to cans. The book will be made with the intent of only using accessible objects.

SKETCHES

COMPS

*Folding instructions from origami-fun.com

COMPS

PrOTOTyPE

PrOTOTyPE

The original version of the book was intended to be made of various recycled goods, particularly paper bags, newspapers, and magazines. In the end I found that this would make the book too messy and difficult to read.

TESTING & CHANGES

++ SurveyA survey was sent to a number of people along with a digital version of uCreate. There was a total of 13 (8 males, 5 females) who responded to the following:

How strong or weak did you find the visual layout of uCreate? 7.7% Neutral 46.2% Strong 46.2% Very Strong

How did you find the level of instruction in uCreate? 15.4% very Easy 53.8% Easy 30.8% Neutral

Do you find uCreate successful in promoting eco-friendliness? 76.9% Yes 23.1% No

TESTING & CHANGES

++ ChangesUltimately the design changed in several ways. First, instead of having the book be made of materials around the house, 100% recycled paper was used to emphasize a cleaner look. The book utilized birch and green tea colored papers of different weight. It was bound using Japanese stab binding and wax thread. Initially the dimensions of the book were to be small and rectangular. This was changed into a square book to reflect origami paper. Additionally, the dimensions were made into 8 inches by 8 inches to allot for readability of the instructions and images.

The covers of each instruction set switched from the right side to the left to make it more intuitive to the reader. rather than using pre-made instructions, each step was meticulously photographed to make it easier for the user to read and understand.

FINAL

FINAL

FINAL

FINAL