Empire Impacts
Brief
For this project, I was given complete control over the outcome that I wanted to produce, because of this I wanted to create something that was not only impactful but reflected my own interests of environmental design therefore I chose to design an exhibition that would show the impacts of the British Empire upon a variety of countries, both when they first became a part of the empire, through their independence and the lasting effects that we still see today.
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The inspirations behind this project were primarily the information I had discovered through my research for my writing within my course - I discovered that many impacts from colonialism as a whole are still visible today whether positive or negative, and I wanted to be able to share the specifics for several countries to show not only how different cultures were impacted but also how colonialism continues to effect these cultures to this day.
Concept
The design of the exhibition focuses on perspex maps showing the progression of the British Empire in the key decades of its existence from the 1660s where it began to the 1970s where the last of the British power was diminished. Throughout the exhibition there will be text displays indicating the key events and impacts on the various countries involved in the Empire to share the main purpose of the exhibition itself.
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Due to the challenges of this year, I was unable to complete every element that would be necessary for an exhibition or be able to create a physical mockup of how the perspex map would work to illustrate the separate countries joining the empire and eventually gaining independence, however I was able to create a digital mockup of these as well as a 360 panorama of how the displays would look within a room.
Press Pack
To encourage this use of the exhibition, I chose to design a press pack that would be sent out to schools and youth groups within the surrounding areas - these would include letters to personally invite the children to the exhibition using historical figures as the authors, such as Queen Victoria, I researched personal writing styles from different individuals to be able to show how the packs would be constructed. Through using specific people from history it opens the opportunity for educators to use the letters as a further task within their classes; through writing responses or learning about the author themselves in more detail.
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I was able to produce several letters during the project to be able to show how the letters would be presented to the schools and youth groups - they would be able to personalise the letters to the classes and groups specifically to help further engage the children in the entire event.