Palm Oil Project
FINAL MAJOR PROJECT // 2017 // UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH WALES // BA(HONS) ILLUSTRATION
For my Final Major Project of BA(Hons) Illustration I decided to use my enthusiasm for 'Palm Awareness", and the destruction of the wildlife, as the inspiration behind my designs.
As an illustrator I love all things decorative but I also love working with Narratives and Editorial design. I thought about the messages that Anti Palm Oil + and Palm aware Campaigns try to get across and I thought a lot about the Gibbons and loss of Habitat and I decided to create repeat patterns and homeware inspired by this Topic. My range comes in 3 different topics: 1. A Celebration of Wildlife 2. Destruction of Wildlife 3. The Products that use Palm Oil. The picture on the left is the design board I created to be part of our Graduate Exhibition "Newfangled" which was shown as a part of Grad Fest's 'CODA' here in Cardiff, and was also Exhibited at London's Free Range Festival as part of their Design Week at The Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane. |
Are you 'Palm Aware?'Did you know that Palm oil is in most everyday products that you use? Palm Oil is in fact found in most foods and beauty products and even some cleaning products and Fuel.
The WWF website gives a list of these items to watch out for:
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Illustration by : Maria Bee, Illustrated Palm Aware Campaign May 2017
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My inspiration!This is Steve!
Steve is a Gibbon That Lives in Manor Wildlife Park in Tenby, South Wales. Steve is Featured in 'Anna's Wild Life', the documentary staring Anna Rider Richardson who bought the park in a dreadful state and has turned it around to become one of the best wildlife parks in the UK. Manor Wildlife Park is all about the reservation of the wildlife and makes sure that all their animals are in a livable and happy home. Visiting Steve's enclosure at the park taught me a lot about the Palm Oil industry and the destruction it is causing, including how many Gibbons loose their homes and since they are territorial creatures, they eventually die from being so lost. This information left me heartbroken and inspired me to do all I can to become 'Palm Aware'. |
How can you become 'palm aware?'There are a lot of existing campaigns out there, and alot of campaigns want you to quit palm oil all together.
As much as this concept seems the best way, its so difficult to find products that don't contain palm oil! Being 'Palm Aware' allows you to find products that are using Sustainable Palm Oil farming, this means that your purchases won't be contributing to the Deforestation and destruction of ecosystems across the world. I have Found the best campaign for information about how to be 'Palm Aware' Is by Chester Zoo's Act For Wildlife Team. Its a really good website to take a look at and shows you how easy it is to join the challenge. |
Image By : Chester Zoo's Sustainable Palm Oil Challenge
'Certified Sustainable Palm Oil'The RSPO have made it so much easier to be Palm Aware by adding this sticker to products that they have investigated and certified as having sustainable Palm Oil resources.
You can Find out more about the RSPO's sustainable Palm Oil from their website: http://www.rspo.org/certification |