broke bairns

Click here to read the magazine I made for my dissertation which was the initial inspiration for my family centre design.

The idea for doing my thesis project derived from when I was doing my dissertation earlier in the year. I was researching Dundee’s child poverty crisis and how creative partnerships may provide resolutions to this worrying trend. I put all my research together to make up a social issue magazine called HumaniTay. My investigation included interviews with front line workers in the third sector organisations who were doing their best to try and combat the problem, to focus groups in local community centres where I spoke with parents whom these issues affected directly. A few themes had begun to arise during my study; extortionate childcare rates locking parents out of employment, children growing up without life skills and access to outdoor play, and families living in isolation who did not have a support network. I decided for my next project I was going to design a centre that would help address some of these issues or at least provide a reprieve for those facing disadvantages.

You can read all about my family centre design I did for my thesis project on my website.

Humanitay is a social issue magazine for people living in Dundee and the surrounding area. The purpose of the magazine is to highlight a complex societal problem every edition and explain it in a simple, impartial way. In this case the social issue being child poverty. The publication is for a general readership, particularly those interested in social issues in Dundee. This could include people whom these issues affect directly, people who work in the third sector and people with a general interest in what is happening in their city. This publication is important as in this era of fake news too many people are often unaware of the plight of those in the local community and what help, if any, there is available to them.

The magazine employs the use of design thinking to help solve current societal challenges. It has been designed in a way that incorporates straightforward journalism with colourful aesthetics to clearly communicate the issue of child poverty. The topic is communicated using a variety of sources including direct accounts of those working with charities on the forefront. The publication proposes how design collaborations with the creative industries and third sector organisations may help provide solutions. It is hoped that the magazine will not only inform but inspire readers to act on one of the largest social challenges we face today.

What motivated me to research this topic was an article I read in the evening telegraph in May 2019. detailing the report about Dundee having the 2^nd highest child poverty rate in Scotland. I decided to research these statistics further and investigate the full scale of the problem. As an issue that has affected myself and many of my peers directly, I am aware of the difficulties and stigma surrounding child poverty. This is what inspired me to design a magazine that could communicate this issue effectively but also inspire people to do something about it.