Calabria to Map (Report)
Calabria to Map is my final project for the Pg Dip in Visual Communications for Design. The main outcome is this animation I made in After Effects. It previews the launch of a cultural digital service for Calabria, my region of provenience in the South of Italy. Together with the animation I have print and bound a publication that tells my research process.
I begun this research because there is a severe lack in the communication of cultural information in Calabria. Beautiful cultural landmarks are all over the territory but few are the people who visit them or are aware of where they are. This is real especially among the youths, hence I targeted generation Y&Z. I researched ways to make culture accessible and appealing to young people. As first step I defined what the problem is. Mind maps and reports with primary research (i.e. a questionnaire and communication with the audience) aided me to formulate a contextual statement. Meanwhile, I hypothesised eventual responses, reason why I begun researching on cartography, way finding and information design. Further, I documented and analysed what already existed among websites and apps. I made a collection of existing websites on Calabria’s cultural patrimony and critiqued their way of organising and presenting information. I evidenced very “old-fashioned-forum-styles” of showing information and shortfalls in the websites accessibility which resulted in information overload. Additionally, I critiqued how the existing websites categorised the variety of a such broad patrimony, in order not to repeat their mistakes and confuse my future users.
