Visual Storytelling
In Times of Crisis
for The Climate Resilience Network
in South-East Asia
The Story
Here?s something personal and somewhat off-topic to start this story. I have been designing for 15 years now – and illustrated ever since I was a child. But my very first paid project exclusively on illustration I commissioned while in Indonesia, through a recommendation (in Spain).
So, in 2019, while I was traveling in Indonesia, I had the joy of connecting with a Climate Policy Specialist for the United Nations Environment Program.
We exchanged Instagram accounts, and 1 pandemic and 1 year later, when posting my illustrations on sustainability issues, to raise awareness through visuals, I got a message.
I was about to be contracted as an illustrator for a storybook. The title was to be: ?A Story About Agriculture, In Times of Climate Crisis and COVID-19?.
It was meant to be sent by the ASEAN Climate Resilience Network to all the agricultural policy makers in the region, in order for the message to get through.
The Reason
Normally, the target audience would have received just a 100+ pages report about the impact of the climate crisis and COVID-19 on agriculture.
But when the client has seen my work, she got inspired and she applied for funds to create a bold, visual, extra material – with the purpose of pushing the urgent message through to the audience: Action is needed, now. We need to align all post pandemic policies with the climate crisis needs. We need to build back better. We need a solid green recovery in the segment of agriculture.
The whole visual storytelling concept was meant to make the important message more potent.
The program, entitled: ?Climate Smart Land Use in ASEAN (CSLU)? was funded by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Developement (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ GmbH) in cooperation with ASEAN Climate Resilience Network.
The Process
We actually started out our collaboration with the creation of a digital token for an online conference on the same topic as the booklet. It was a good exercise to get to know each other and how we work together.
In the very initial steps, research was needed – cultural, of the domain, contextual. Afterwards, I delivered a description of what I would illustrate. And then delivered the first drafts.
The funny thing is – I first entered this project with my designer shoes. And not with my artivist shoes. I was shy to do so – and so, these few illustrations drafted later, we were in a call. ??My client, Dada, was telling me that she wants me to be braver, more conceptual – and less descriptive. That is when I have realized that I had almost complete creative freedom.
And that I just need to do what I do even on my own: use visuals as a weapon for the good and for speaking out what matters.
The Results
For this collaboration, I have closely worked with a Creative Director, André, that pushed my creative abilities further. It was a splendid collaboration – we have been able to intertwine text and image, so that the reader can grasp the impact of the text.
The cultural specificities of the ASEAN region that I needed to tackle were also a very relevant experience for me as a design thinker.
You can read all the brochure online, here, along with noticing closely all the illustrations created. I also added a few pages in here.
I am very grateful to have one copy of the beautiful hardcover book in my home, straight from Indonesia.
The Results
For this collaboration, I have closely worked with a Creative Director, André, that pushed my creative abilities further. It was a splendid collaboration – we have been able to intertwine text and image, so that the reader can grasp the impact of the text.
The cultural specificities of the ASEAN region that I needed to tackle were also a very relevant experience for me as a design thinker.
You can read all the brochure online, here, along with noticing closely all the illustrations created. I also added a few pages in here.
I am very grateful to have one copy of the beautiful hardcover book in my home, straight from Indonesia.
The Next Steps
Anyone can consult the storybook on issuu.com, by searching: A Story about Agriculture in Times of Climate Crisis and COVID-19.
The storybook can be downloaded on the asean-crn.org website. The full report that is at the foundation of this story book can also be found there, for further reading.
This project was a real inspiration for me – and my intention is to pursue visual storytelling through illustration on the climate crisis topic.
Ever since, I have created analogue illustrations on handmade recycled paper on the topic of climate crisis – related to plastic use – that have been exhibited to the French Cultural Institute of my hometown, in collaboration with a local sustainable arts NGO.
A set of these illustrations have also been selected and exhibited in London at the Romanian Embassy – with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute.
I will go on with digital illustration on the topic as well, as a form of visual activism.
Case Study Summary
Client Location:
SE Asia
Business Type:
institutes network
Collaboration Type:
remote, freelancing (specialist)
Brand Values
? sustainability
? social responsibility
? ecological balance
? economic capability
? education
? action
Audience
policy makers & specialists
What does the brand do?
platform for regional exchange, particularly for sharing information, experiences, and expertise on climate smart agriculture
Services Provided
? creative concept
? art direction
? illustrations?
All the visual assets presented in this case study are the intellectual property of
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH ? All Rights Reserved.
Thank you for allowing the use of the imagery to showcase my work.
Credits to mock-up creators and unsplash.com photographers for putting their work out there.
Many thanks – my portfolio looks pretty also because of you.
roxana.oroian at gmail.com
Thanks for reading – I hope it was relevant.
On the website you can discover
a few more case studies.
I consider all the results of my work
a co-creation alongside my clients.
The selection of studies is just a glimpse
of what my creative process can be.
Stay imaginative and open.
We can go places together.
