Design Blog Post #2
Building on your work last week, we are going to create storytelling style guides. This style guide should work as a framework or set of values that you could apply to many different storytelling settings. This style guide should include 1) definitions of your best storytelling and design practices 2) explanation of why you prefer these practices 3) examples to illustrate your main points. These examples can be in any media or could be links to other projects.
Storytelling is a form of communication that allows different individuals to share their prominent experiences and thoughts. With the ability relay stories through multiple mediums, we as people can encourage growth and empathy among each other. Through the use of imagery or videos, a story's meaning can be heightened through the reader's ability to submerge themselves into what is being told. Forms of visualization can supplement the readers with the feelings that the writer felt in that moment of time; they can serve as a record of the past and provide insight into the future. If placed correctly within the text, the use of imagery and videos can only enhance the reader's understanding of the story with a natural flow of content. Because we are presenting written stories, our texts will be more permeable to the reader's experience by supplementing real, tangible media.
I enjoy stories that encourage growth, whether that is through expanding an individuals knowledge through unknown information and feelings, or through self-reflection. When telling someone a story that may be unimaginable to them, the writer has the ability to direct their visualization of the story through certain images. A story with images and videos allow me to get a better understanding of the context and location of the story in order to see the story through the same lens as the writers.
For example, I experienced the Hong Kong protests this past summer, and it would be an interesting story from an Asian-American's perspective. The protest itself was actually difficult to see in Hong Kong, as it only occurs on the weekends and the police are quick to mediate them (or attempt to). The police had blocked off all roads and subways within a mile radius of the protests, making it only reachable through walking. When I had finally walked a mile through the empty streets of Causeway Bay (a popular district in Hong Kong), I came to see a plethora of Police vans. The landscape of Hong Kong is similar to that of New York, and the protests had been taking place in the districts equivalent to that of Times Square in Manhattan. It was surreal to see the supposedly busy streets barren of taxis and only filled with police vans.The protest had ended by the time I was there, but a foreigner wouldn't have been able to tell. There were numerous reporters in neon green vests waiting for a scoop.
However, the lack of protesters did not equate an easy time for the police stationed in the area. Because they had closed off all roads and subways in a busy district, the locals who had finished work were infuriated. These consisted of older citizens of Hong Kong, unlike the young advocates joining the protests. Although they aren't actively protesting the government, you can still sense the hostility in their voices, surely annoyed with the condition of their country. To visualize the tension between the police and the workers of Causeway Bay, I provided a video that I recorded while I was there. This video helps readers visualize just how much a situation of bystanders telling the police to leave their area can escalate.
Overall, the usage of imagery with written text can provide a larger scope of the story and how it happened. This story in particular can provide insight into how the conditions of a protest occurring in a foreign country are. Aside from my personal recordings, the media mainly uses videos to exemplify the nature of the protests in Hong Kong, mainly showing the brutality of both protesters and police on each other. For those that are unfamiliar with the Hong Kong protests, the visualization of the situation allows readers to be open minded in understanding how other areas of the world are currently going through a vastly different daily experience.
While I was in Hong Kong, I was able to meet my niece for the very first time. This is a unique story, since my older brother (shown on the left), had only come into my life when I was already 12 years old. He lives in Hong Kong and I have only seen him a handful of times, so being able to meet my niece who was born last year is a story that I tell often. With any story revolving around family and especially babies, imagery can help evoke feelings of adoration and familiarity. I've told this story vocally numerous times, but the reaction of the listeners are always amplified when a picture of a cute baby is provided.
If I were to tell a story about an ice cream vendor toying with its consumers through trickery, how would you visualize it? For some stories, writing out the scenario would be almost ineffective if the reader has no predisposed idea of what occurs. In the video on the left, it shows my friend buying an ice cream from a vendor in Macau. After watching the video, the story telling becomes much easier as the reader is capable of understanding just how preposterous the situation was. They'll feel some sort of emotion, whether it be confusion, annoyance, joy, or amazement, and it allows the story to be more engaging. It'll encourage the readers to think beyond the video as well, such as 'how did the ice creamer vendor do that?' or 'how did he become a playful ice cream vendor in Macau'.
Ultimately, stories are meant to evoke something out of the readers. What ever the purpose of someones story is, providing visualization and building the written story off of it will allow the readers to feel more engaged. This engagement will assist writers in making their story more understood, paving way for growth and retention in the readers.
Storytelling is a form of communication that allows different individuals to share their prominent experiences and thoughts. With the ability relay stories through multiple mediums, we as people can encourage growth and empathy among each other. Through the use of imagery or videos, a story's meaning can be heightened through the reader's ability to submerge themselves into what is being told. Forms of visualization can supplement the readers with the feelings that the writer felt in that moment of time; they can serve as a record of the past and provide insight into the future. If placed correctly within the text, the use of imagery and videos can only enhance the reader's understanding of the story with a natural flow of content. Because we are presenting written stories, our texts will be more permeable to the reader's experience by supplementing real, tangible media.
I enjoy stories that encourage growth, whether that is through expanding an individuals knowledge through unknown information and feelings, or through self-reflection. When telling someone a story that may be unimaginable to them, the writer has the ability to direct their visualization of the story through certain images. A story with images and videos allow me to get a better understanding of the context and location of the story in order to see the story through the same lens as the writers.
For example, I experienced the Hong Kong protests this past summer, and it would be an interesting story from an Asian-American's perspective. The protest itself was actually difficult to see in Hong Kong, as it only occurs on the weekends and the police are quick to mediate them (or attempt to). The police had blocked off all roads and subways within a mile radius of the protests, making it only reachable through walking. When I had finally walked a mile through the empty streets of Causeway Bay (a popular district in Hong Kong), I came to see a plethora of Police vans. The landscape of Hong Kong is similar to that of New York, and the protests had been taking place in the districts equivalent to that of Times Square in Manhattan. It was surreal to see the supposedly busy streets barren of taxis and only filled with police vans.The protest had ended by the time I was there, but a foreigner wouldn't have been able to tell. There were numerous reporters in neon green vests waiting for a scoop. However, the lack of protesters did not equate an easy time for the police stationed in the area. Because they had closed off all roads and subways in a busy district, the locals who had finished work were infuriated. These consisted of older citizens of Hong Kong, unlike the young advocates joining the protests. Although they aren't actively protesting the government, you can still sense the hostility in their voices, surely annoyed with the condition of their country. To visualize the tension between the police and the workers of Causeway Bay, I provided a video that I recorded while I was there. This video helps readers visualize just how much a situation of bystanders telling the police to leave their area can escalate.
Overall, the usage of imagery with written text can provide a larger scope of the story and how it happened. This story in particular can provide insight into how the conditions of a protest occurring in a foreign country are. Aside from my personal recordings, the media mainly uses videos to exemplify the nature of the protests in Hong Kong, mainly showing the brutality of both protesters and police on each other. For those that are unfamiliar with the Hong Kong protests, the visualization of the situation allows readers to be open minded in understanding how other areas of the world are currently going through a vastly different daily experience.
Ultimately, stories are meant to evoke something out of the readers. What ever the purpose of someones story is, providing visualization and building the written story off of it will allow the readers to feel more engaged. This engagement will assist writers in making their story more understood, paving way for growth and retention in the readers.
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