David's+Wiki

Table of Contents
Abstract Statement of Interest Mindmap Inspiration Competition User Personas Competitive Matrix SNFF User Walkthrough Links Book Cover Draft wireframes Mood Board Site Map



Abstract
For my thesis project I am proposing an interactive learning website/documentary focused on the current state and overall health of the world’s ocean. Because the oceans are all connected, this site will incorporate issues that face the oceans throughout the world, but will focus more specifically on California and the Pacific Ocean, its plant/animal life, and the people these issues affect. This project is intended to entertain and inspire people to be more conscious about the importance of the ocean. This project will use video, photography, audio with some narration, and an infographic element that will aid in telling this story. My intention is to use strong visuals and strong audio as a tool to excite the user. This site will work well on a home computer, but would also work well as a museum/aquarium installation.





Statement of Interest
The idea for this project came as a result of two long-standing interests of mine: oceans (obviously) and non-fiction writing/film. Ever since childhood I’ve had a strong fascination with the ocean. It’s been something that has excited me, sparked my curiosity, scared me, and has occupied much of my time. Over the course of my life I have soaked up every last bit of information I’ve discovered from the ocean here in California and around the world. I feel like I have uncovered enough over the course of my life to create this project and pass on some of what I have learned. Addressing my interest in non-fiction writing/film, I have always loved watching documentary films, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel and reading non-fiction books. This medium has always inspired me at a young age to go out and discover life for myself. This interest led me to begin editing video on the computer, taking photographs, and eventually to new media.





Mindmap




Inspiration
wechoosethemoon.org
 * 1. We Choose The Moon:** This is a highly interactive learning website detailing the Apollo 11 shuttle launch to the moon. This website utilizes excellent audio/visuals and graphics to grab the attention of the viewer. I chose this site for inspiration because of its ability to portray a story, as well as its design. This could also be considered competition.

Riding Giants
 * 2. Documentary Film: I chose this link to the documentary riding giants because it is a great piece of storytelling and it really does an excellent job of showing (indirectly) how much our relationship to the ocean has changed in the past fifty years. Check out this clip of the movie to see what I mean. Look about 3 minutes, 48 seconds in when they show the fish caught. I attended a screening of this movie in SF and the director said when they showed it in Hawaii the crowd was surprised and cheered because it's rare to find that size and type of fish in Hawaii these days.



3. Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures Website: These guys are on the right track with this one, but the games are a little boring and the site is not very well designed. Some good information here though. This is listed under inspiration because it has a firm grasp on the issues affecting the ocean and its inhabitants, despite being a little misguided when it comes to design and "attention grabbing". @http://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/index.html**



Competition:
coral reef habitats over time
 * 1. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration):** I chose this site as a competitor because it has some interesting animations and data visualizations. Like this for example on coral reef bleaching.


 * 2. Google Earth:** This application, though does not do a good job telling an interesting story, is amazing when it comes to discovering the ocean. You have to download it, but here is a screenshot after I typed Pacific Ocean and zoomed in a bit.


 * 3. Surfrider Foundation:** This group has local chapters all over the world, has great name recognition and a pretty decent website where their users could search for some good information.surfrider


 * 4.** surfline


 * 5.** save the waves
 * 6. National Geographic: [|ocean.nationalgeographic.com]**



User Personas:
media type="custom" key="4528350" Large and legible size on my flickr page.



SNFF




User Walkthrough




Links
[|Google Earth API]



Book Cover Draft




Wireframes (basic)
media type="custom" key="4683027"



Mood Board