For this project, I created a series of six Instagram posts to raise awareness for wildlife conservation. Recognizing Instagram's mobile-centric design, I optimized each post for readability, ensuring that the font size was perfect for viewing on a phone. Additionally, I designed each post to be accessible to those with deuteranopia and protanopia color blindness.
Alt text: What is wildlife conservation? Wildlife conservation is the preservation and protection of animals, places, and their habitats. By preserving habitats, animals can thrive in their natural environments. This ensures that these species can continue to play their important roles in the ecosystem. By protecting species, we also protect the essential goods and services that make living possible—breathable air, food, clean water, fibers, medicine, fertile soils, climate regulation, and more.
Plants and animals have life events that occur around the same time every year, such as birds migrating and flowers blooming. The study of how these natural events occur is called phenology. Species use the predictable yearly changes in the climate, such as sunlight and weather patterns, to determine when they start natural events such as breeding or flowering.
Due to climate change, the average annual temperature is beginning to increase. This disrupts their phenology and the timing of their natural phenological events. This can impact the survival of not only their species, but the symbiosis of multiple species in a habitat. This is why it is important to be mindful of the way we treat the earth and our consumption!
Alt text: How can I help? Sometimes, it is intimidating to know where to start when you want to help with conserving wildlife! But, not every action has to be as extravagant as bringing tigers back from the brink of extinction, or working to breed rare flowers. There are plenty of ways to help—starting in your own backyard!
Plant native species of trees, bushes, and plants, especially those that flower and provide food sources for wild animals. This gives wild animals food, shelter, and a place to raise families. Volunteer with organizations in your area to restore native ecosystems by planting native species and manually removing invasive plant species.
Feeling artsy? Make a butterfly puddler, create your own birdbath, build a birdhouse or bat house to display in your yard, or utilize your knitting and crocheting skills to create nests for injured and orphaned birds in wildlife rehabilitation centers.
There are small things we can all do to reduce our environmental impact every day: Reduce, reuse, recycle!; purchase recycled or upcycled products when possible; use reusable bags and water bottles; be mindful of water use; turn off electronics when not in use.
Alt text: Wildlife conservation success stories. Wildlife conservation efforts have helped restore the population of many species—even bringing them back from the brink of extinction!
DID YOU KNOW? Wild tiger numbers have risen for the first time in conservation history! Just over a century ago, there were thought to be around 100,000 wild tigers. In the past century, we lost nearly 95% of them, and by 2010, there were as few as 3,200 left in the wild. Thanks to global efforts, wild tiger numbers have now risen to an estimate of around 3,900!
DID YOU KNOW? It’s thought that more than 2 million grey wolves once roamed North America before hunting caused their numbers to dwindle. In 1960, only 300 grey wolves remained. In 1974, they were afforded protection under the Endangered Species Act, giving them a chance to recuperate. Today, more than four decades later, more than 5,443 grey wolves are thought to be thriving across 48 states in the US!
DID YOU KNOW? The Licking River in Kentucky once supported 63 species of freshwater mussels. However, due to stream degradation from dams and agricultural runoff, eight of these mussel species had disappeared entirely from the river. Recent conservation efforts have returned six extirpated species to the river, restoring it to 96% of its historic mussel diversity.
Alt text: Endangered amphibians, reptiles, and insects.
Shenandoah salamander: critically endangered.
Burmese python: vulnerable.
Mojave Desert tortoise: critically endangered.
Rusty patched bumblebee: critically endangered.
Yellow-banded bumblebee: critically endangered.
Monarch butterfly: vulnerable.
Pacific Hawaiian damselfly: endangered.
Peacock Tarantula: critically endangered.
Alt text: Endangered mammals.
Ring-tailed lemur: endangered.
Black-footed ferret: endangered.
Red wolf: critically endangered.
Sea otter: endangered.
Alt text: Endangered birds.
Spoon-billed sandpiper: critically endangered.
Java sparrow: endangered.
Snowy owl: vulnerable.
California condor: critically endangered.
What I learned in this project was how to strike a balance between aestheticism and accessibility. The palettes that artists choose can be illegible or displeasing to the eye to those with color blindness. It is important to understand the significance of considering viewers' disabilities, and integrating that awareness into one's design, especially those that are intended to inform an audience.
In previous modules, I learned how to make a work both engaging and easy to digest. Establishing a clear hierarchy is fundamental to a design, especially one such as this. The viewer needs to be able to see what is important at a glance, whether that be a headline or an image. Additionally, learning about legibility and readability has also come in handy for many of these projects. When it comes to a work meant to spread awareness—such as these Instagram slides—it is very important that the audience can easily read the information that is being shared.
