Statement of Intent + 10 Annotated Bibliography

Statement of Intent

As a designer, I am naturally drawn to environment related issues such as sustainability and green living. Design plays a very important role in many industries and I believe that it is important for everyone to move towards a better and a more responsible/conscious lifestyle for the sake of future generations and planet and those who share it. The act of choosing to take public transportation to reduce carbon emissions, to stop purchasing items with unnecessary amounts of packaging, there is much we can do as a single human being to help save our earth. A growing number of people doing many little things will have a great cumulative impact towards the environment.

Additionally, learning about different cultures and the concept of third culture children (TCK) is another interest of mine as I am one myself. A third culture kid is described as a person who has spent a significant amount of their life in a culture or surrounding outside of their parents’ surroundings. Oftentimes TCKs don’t feel at home when they are back at their native land or don’t feel a level of connection towards the traditions and language that their parents are used to. As a TCK, I value the easy opportunity of meeting people from countries across the world, and being able to create long lasting friendships.

Throughout my journey as a designer and person, I intend to explore these two topics and establishany possible correlations. I want to work on projects with people of different backgrounds and beliefs based upon strong supporting research such as documentaries, articles and so forth.

Bibliography

Culturen, D. C. (2013, March 27). Interview with graphic design student Jessica Wen on her Third Culture Kid Book Project. Retrieved May 2, 2020, from http://drieculturen.blogspot.com/2013/02/interview-with-graphic-design-student.html

Jessica Wen is a graphic designer who is also a TCK, the blog post is an interview where she talks about a project she worked on called Third Culture Kids - Self Identity Accordion Books. Her project is something I will be able to use as a reference on what I could be doing. I am also hoping to see if I could set up some type of interview with her myself to see if being a TCK has ever affected her career and works.

D’Avella, M.D.A, Millburn, J.F.M & Nicodemus, R.N (Producer) & D’Avella, M.D.A (Director). (2016). Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things [Motion picture]. USA: Netflix

Minimalism is a documentary on sacrificing the items you do not necessarily need and living small. It features friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus on their mission to spread the less is more message. Getting people to rethink the need of their possessions to lead a more meaningful life whilst saving money along the way. This documentary relates to my statement as living sustainably is a part of my interest.

GaleWyrick, S. (2018). Biomimicry for Sustainable Innovation: The Answers Are All Around Us. Design Management Review, 29(1), 30–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/drev.12106

Biomimicry is the design and production imitating what is present in nature. From buildings to transportation, can biomimicry help us towards sustainable innovation? This journal article discusses new sustainable design solutions to help human problems. Learning about different behaviours in nature would be interesting to see how I can implement that into my study of sustainability.

Hamlett, P. H. (2018, May 1). Sustainability and Graphic Design. Retrieved May 2, 2020, from https://www.commarts.com/columns/sustainability-and-graphic-design

This text piece talks about the relationship between sustainability and graphic design. Hamlett discusses how graphic designers relate to sustainability and what we can do to move forward.

Pollock, D. C., Van Reken, R. E., & Pollock, M. V. (2010). Third Culture Kids: The experience of growing up among worlds: The original, classic book on TCKs. Hachette UK.

In this book, authors Pollock and Van Reken share the emotional and psychological circumstances that affect TCKs. It also discusses both advantages and disadvantages when you are a part of the TCK community highlighting the hidden diversity in the community where the TCK experience is becoming more common. I think that this book will be really useful for me to read more about the emotional and psychological realities as it will help improve my understanding.

Sanfilippo-Schulz, J. S. S. (2018). Escaping National Tags and Embracing Diversity: Third Culture Kid Songwriters. Escaping National Tags and Embracing Diversity: Third Culture Kid Songwriters, 2(1), 12–22. https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2018-0003

This journal article studies the effect on international childhoods who have moved from place to place due to their parents’ career choice. It discusses the consequences on adult TCKs careers and whether it has an impact on their work through analysing novels and songs. It will help me to see whether or not being a TCK has an impact on the works of these creatives’ work.

Systems Innovation. (2019, August 20). Sustainability - Full Documentary [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjrPiIem30g

This documentary explores the growing concept of sustainability within the past decade. It explores what our economy requires in order to achieve sustainability globally. This documentary will be a good introduction towards sustainability.

TED. (2007, May 18). 12 sustainable design ideas from nature | Janine Benyus [Video file]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n77BfxnVlyc

This Ted Talk presented by Benyus is over ten years old though I believe that the 12 designs she shares will still be important and be able to be a source of reference. This talk is about the most recent developments in design at that time. This will be useful as I will be able to see the development from what they had during that time to this present day. This also goes hand in hand with the journal article done by GaleWyrick to improve my understanding.

TEDx Talks. (2015, May 26). Building Identity as a Third Culture Kid | Erik Vyhmeister | TEDxAndrewsUniversity [Video file]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RCmgMKJRy8

Erik Vyhmeister shares what it means to be a TCK in a growing world. After living in multiple continents, he shares his experience upon returning to his homeland. Being a TCK may lead to being more confident and better at communication but it may also lead to feeling disconnected.

Turner, N. J. . 1947-, V. (2005). “The” Earth’s Blanket Traditional Teachings for Sustainable Living. Univ. of Washington Press.

Nancy Turner, an ethnobotanist and ethnoecologist explores Native-Americans and their cultures, lifestyle, stories. With over twenty five years of working with Aboriginal groups, Turner shares what is fundamental to indigenous cultures and how they can teach us to live sustainably. Indigenous groups are known for the way they survive and their ancient traditions. I think it will be interesting to see whether I will be able to somewhat incorporate their teachings into my journey of living more sustainably.