Video Presentation
Project Outline
Produce media to raise awareness about water pollution in Hornsea Mere and how to help reduce it.
Intended Production
This is mainly a web-based project focusing on raising awareness about water pollution in Hornsea’s Mere. Earlier this year, Groundwork Yorkshire were able to secure a Water Restoration Fund grant to help to protect Hornsea Mere.1 There is currently a broad mix of pollutants that are having an effect on the mere that include invasive species such as the plant “Himalayan Balsam” and “Dikerogammarus Villosus” which is also known as “Killer Shrimp”, nutrients from nearby agricultural land, and urban runoff such as soaps from washing cars.2
Print Posters/Advertisements
With there being direct buses to larger towns and cities such as Beverley and Hull, you often find people coming to and from the seaside town along with settling down and living there.3 This causes relatively high foot traffic at all times during the week around the town centre. There are often a variety of posters around the town to bring awareness of local events along with the Hornsea and North Holderness Gazette. Both these forms of print media are a popular feature for residents in the area as they help to build communities and allow people to understand what is going on in the area weekly.
Website
As there is currently no official website for this project, this would be the central hub for everything you need to know about the project and how to get involved. The advantage of having a website is that it is a dedicated place where you can find all the facts about the project from anywhere at any time. This will be beneficial for blog post updates, integrated social media posts, and easy access contact details.
2D Animation
The aim of a 2D animation will be to create a visually informative but also more engaging experience for the user. Having a moving production piece to engage users more will hopefully encourage them to look more into the project as they will be able to interpret a brief overview of the overall theme. This can be displayed on both the website and social media pages to increase user accessibility.
Reasoning
This project works well for me to do for this assignment as it aligns with my career goals of working within a nature related company but also as it is a real client brief meaning I can get a first-hand insight into what working in a similar company would be like. With it also being a real client, this encourages communication between the company and I so I can receive valuable feedback on any improvements that the client needs.
Doing this will also help to have an environmental impact on the local area, along with helping to build a community that can help to reduce the water pollution in the mere.
Researching Chosen Specialism
The Profession
Junior Designer – Full time, Permanent
Key Skills Required
- 1-2 years of experience in Adobe software – specifically InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, with beneficially After Effects and Premier Pro too.
- Recognised Graphic Design qualification – degree level.
- Experience of photography and videography.
- Producing assets for digital media like social media.
- Natural design talent and flair for typography.
Developing Skills
Bernardo’s is also a charity organisation like Groundwork, so although I could not find a Groundwork application this should be relatively similar and seems like what I was expecting. Seeing as this role has a big focus on Adobe Creative Suite applications, this fits well into my experience from both university and home projects. With them also finding an experience in photography beneficial, this works well with me having an A-Level in photography too and a decent quality camera already.
The main thing that I would need to improve on in my opinion is the production of Digital Media like social media posts. Making posts that are both informative and engaging in such a small area have always seemed quite challenging to me, which is why I often prefer working with larger spaces in print media and websites for example. Another issue I find is thinking of a way to make a seemingly “bland” topic stand out to a viewer, for example, selling decking. Producing both print and 2D media will help to practise designing engaging content within a similar brand identity so that consumers can instantly recognise the brand and the messaging being put across.
Supporting Research and Media
Research and Sources
Accessed 30/09/25
Groundwork’s main colour scheme consists mainly of different shades of green for backgrounds and details with white fonts to create an easy-to-read contrast. The logo is always prominently positioned on screen for a clear brand identity as well so viewers can easily recognise what the company is. The consistent green colour scheme relates to their aims to create “vibrant and green” spaces, which is also their aim to restoring the mere to a cleaner state too.4 More blues would be brought into the overall scheme of the brand colours as it is a water-based project.
Most posters/online posts are more stripped back and intend to aim users towards their main website. A similar idea would be used in the designs I intend on creating as the website will be able to show the viewer much more detail and help them get involved with helping to restore the mere.
Websites that cover similar topics are often heavily image based, with at times about 50/50 information to imagery. Using imagery is a powerful way of showing the effect that the issue is having on the area, and this would be an important concept to include when designing a website for the project. It also helps to retain the viewer’s attention as they can have a break from reading lots of information, so they are not overwhelmed by too much text.
Design Concepts and Ideas
The main feature I’d like to focus on first would be the 2D animation as this would incorporate skills using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Animate. The animation needs to convey the issues that the mere is facing by telling a story about how it is being polluted. The overall design needs to be clear and concise so that it is easy to follow and understand for the viewers so they can become part of helping to clean the waters in any way they can by at least being aware of what is affecting it.
Through the website and advertisements, I’d like a lot of the background graphics to have sweeping, rounded edges to create a flowing feel to the branding. This paired with the blues and greens will give a nature connoting feel to the branding and connote the themes of water too. Having more sweeping than sharp edges will make the branding feel easier on the eyes as the breaks will not be as sharp, creating a more interesting and unique looking brand too.
M. Pells (2025) Funding for Plan to Revitalise Hornsea Mere Available Online: https://www.thisisthecoast.co.uk/news/local-news/funding-for-plan-to-revitalise-hornsea-mere [Accessed 29/09/25]
BBC (2025) Hornsea Mere: Volunteers to repel invaders at freshwater lake Available Online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2j3nk9dmyo?xtor=AL-71-%5Bpartner%5D-%5BBBC [Accessed 29/09/25]
BBC (2025) Retirees waking up to the fact that the Wolds is their oyster… Available Online: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/retirees-waking-up-to-the-fact-that-the-wolds-is-their-oyster-1803543 [Accessed 29/09/25]
Groundwork Yorkshire (2025) Groundwork Yorkshire Available Online: https://www.groundwork.org.uk/yorkshire/about/ [Accessed 29/09/25]