In the UK there are more than 50,000 firefighters: it’s their job to prevent fires from happening – and to try to put them out if they do break out. Some firefighters work full-time and others are what’s called ‘retained’
Fire marshals and fire inspectors work to prevent fires by conducting building inspections, making sure that rules about fire safety are followed and often visit schools to teach about fire safety.
Fullfact.com (happened to the service since 2010)
The number of firefighters in England has decreased by around 6,800 since 2010, and by 8,600 including those who only work as on-call firefighters when needed. The number of staff working for fire and rescue services has decreased by around 11,500 over the same period.
^^^^^ WHICH IS WHY I WNATED TO DO THIS FOR MY CAMPAIGN – EDUCATING KIDS MORE ABOUT WHAT THEY DO SO WE CAN GET MORE KIDS TO WANT TO BECOME A FIRE FIGHTER.
Looking at firefighters specifically there are two different groups to count, those working as firefighters as a main job (wholetime) and those working as on-call firefighters when needed. There were 6,800 fewer FTE wholetime firefighters in 2017 compared to 2010. The number of people working as on-call firefighters has also decreased over that time by around 1,800.
The latest figures from the Home Office show that there were 346 fire-relateddeaths in England in the 12 months to June 2017. That’s a 20% increase compared to the year before (when there were 289) and the highest it has been since 2009.
Decreasing numbers of fire-related deaths can be linked to things like decreasing use of chip pans, a fall in smoking and in drug and alcohol consumption, increasing use of smoke alarms and preventative work by fire and rescue services.
Even before Grenfell Tower, the job was never easy, plunging firefighters into life-and-death situations that can be hard to forget. And with unprecedented cuts to services, and ever-expanding responsibilities, morale is dangerously low.
For civilians, the experience of firefighters can be hard to imagine. But what does it mean to be one today after the Grenfell Tower fire, which Masoud’s Chelsea colleagues from Red Watch attended, and with the service adapting to cuts nationwide –73 stations closed across the UK between March 2010 and March 2016, and the number of firefighters has dropped by 19%. What do firefighters do? Are the greatest challenges the fire itself, the sooting that sticks to hands no matter how many times they’re washed, the radios that are not always reliable – or horrific memories that can’t be laid aside
LFB FACTS:
The LFB is the busiest of all the fire services in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest in size, after the national Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and has the largest number of full-time firefighters.
now when I started looking into the LFB I found so much I could talk about so decided to make an entree blog post dedicated about their website and the information they provide as that way it would make more sense to the readers and myself.
I wanted to make it very clear who my audience target was as this would be sol crucial to the design outcome, and from that I would be able to create personas within my design.
Audience:
The audience within my design will be secondary school children. The purpose is to create an advertising campaign for secondary school children. The fire fighters from LFB would go into the schools making awareness of fires etc, and then this is an extended part, making the worth of the fire service. The magazine gets handed out, for them to take to parents and along side that magazine is an envelope of information. Therefore the designs needs to reach to a secondary school level and get straight to the point.
Journey mapping of design ideas (which led me to my audience purpose)
Creating personas audience / and lfb
I wanted to create a persona of my uncle (as he is working for lfb) then a secondary school kid to show the difference in their understanding with the fire service.
Uncle (fire fighter)
School boy
Now I actually wanted to create a persona of a little girl. Fire fighters are known to be men, but when I visited my uncle there were a lot of women fire fighters and he said not many kids realise that. I wanted to create a persona of a little girl who was unsure about what a fire fighter does exactly and if she could be one because she is a girl.
I have found as the years have gone within graphic design, going to a research trip make my designs excellent a lot more than when I haven’t gone on a research trip. I obviously always gather research which is displayed with a blog after this to develop the research but the trip allows me to connect with the topics.
I have always been interested on what my uncle did, never the fact of job but the way in which he helps people and the issues he faces. What interests me is my uncle has really bad mental health but has able to get through some hard times considering the job he achieves and to me thats a role model. I have always looked up to him as a hero when I was a kid he was the hero, and from that I wanted to share it within my designs.
From an outsider, you just think that fire fighters put out fires, you see the horrific things they see on their daily missions but you never understand what it’s like to actually be a fire fighter and thats what inspired me through this trip. Before I went on the trip the focus point of the designs was a bit unclear to me and from the trip it then became more understandable. I wanted to ensure that I was designing for good and making a difference, therefore when speaking to my uncle and understanding the equipment and the day to day life of a fire fighter he mentioned how he goes to schools and sometimes kids do not take a lot away from their talks or sometimes seemed scared to become a fire fighter. Therefore thats when the idea clicked.
I use to visit the fire station when I was little and slide down the iconic fire pole, but never understood it to a specific detail because I was a kid. When I visited 17 years after, I learnt so much more. my uncle knew so much about being a fire fighter, I learnt about the equipment the issues they face the daily routine and it opened my eyes up to an entire goal I wanted to achieve through my designs.
The third set of photos I took were my best set of photos and ones that I felt really delivered a message through the photographs. These photos are under the subtitle of trucks and equipment used. Within the trucks there is various amount of equipment that links with the situation they will face – therefore the rescue truck will have rescue equipment for RTA’s and the fire truck will have equipment for fires. The images displayed were taken when I went to my uncles station, within the garage there was two trucks and we went round them both and he went through each equipment and different uses for the trucks and equipment. Therefore this is what these photos display. I got to hold equipment, use equipment and wear the uniform (there is a picture of me just do not want to showcase that haha)
The second set of photos I am displaying are ones within the station. I think that it’s important to showcase the aspects outside of the trucks the fire the rescue etc and the more work based office work that goes along side being a fire fighter. My uncle through this trip allowed me to go inside his station and get a feel of what It could potentially be like in the day of a fire fighter and the routine that he takes.
Collection of images taken:
There is not a large amount of imagery from this section but enough to get an understanding of what it’s like. Within the images taken, there are some of the uniform racks, which all have names above them where the fire suits sit. You have the night shift rooms, where all the workers sleep, they cannot wear eye masks or ear plugs for obvious reasons. The one thing that was interesting that I did not know before that fire fighters have to do at least 1 hour of gym a day and therefore this is displayed within the photographs as I thought it would be interesting to capture. There is also images of the lecture room located near the cafe.
These images will not display what it’s like to go out on rescue but showcase the daily life of being a fire fighter and the procedures and routine that comes along with it. I am unsure if I wold use this within the design as maybe its not as important in showing the worth of the service but undertaking research made it easier to understand the fire service.
This station allowed me to take so many photos equipment and area for my project. The station is Bexley health, this one was chosen purely because my uncle works here therefore was easy access for me to go take photographs.
When I arrived at the fire station, my uncle allowed us to go through the red doors where they kept the fire engines. They have two fire engines that are used for different things which were explained in the blog previous. One was for fires, and the other is for maintenance emergencies therefore they both have alternative equipment depending on the matter.
The first set of photos taken were photos that are from both these trucks, as they link to the videos I took. I took videos of my uncle explaining all the equipment as I then could remember but also I could display this to people and link the voice over notes with the image, which would benefit me when designing to magazines and portraying the right equipment.
Trucks / equipment photographs
Above are a bunch of photos I had taken however not all of them just because there is so much. I will create a blog on the final pictures I decide to use and my top ones for each category. As you can see each photo displays parts of the truck and the different sorts of equipment that lies within each truck. My uncle is in some of the photos as he explained to me what they were, the purpose of them etc and I wanTed to understand my self therefore took a video for notes relating to these photos, which will appear in a blog post.
I could analyse each and everyone of these photos but that would take forever and when you look at the blogs you will notice one dedicated to recordings which link to all these photos. These photos are related to trucks and the equipment used within them. I learnt so much from this as I did not know a lot of the information I then found out. To generalise these facts, I narrowed down they key elements.
There are two trucks located within the station and others are kept at the back with BA equipment on them. (breathing apparatus) You have a fire truck, and a rescue truck. Rescue truck is used for RTA (rescue truck accidents) where as the fire incidents focus on obviously fire issues.
One of the imagery displayed is a service that helps the fire fighters when they are on calls. This red truck goes around providing coffee and supplies for the fire service.
A MOCK UP I CREATED TO SHOWCASE WHAT THEY WOULD LOOK LIKE:
My group decided to not actually print them in the way I was hoping for – therefore I decided to create a mock up to showcase what it would look like as a printed card.
My uncle is a fire fighter, and on Sunday 2 nd February I visited his station in Bexley health fire station. This was a trip for photos and understanding the equipment and daily functions within a fire station and the tasks they achieve day to day.
When I went, I recorded him through out so I could understand about all the equipment and the process through the station and through this blog before discussing the photos taken I wanted to write down all the key information gathered from that day.
I spent ages listening to these videos and typing notes then losing the notes so I tried to incorporate the videos into this blog post for people to understand exactly what I was listening to and for an expert to explain it rather than me who does not know anything.
These videos are quite all over the place but that’s purely because I didn’t want to be rude and film properly. Each video explains different parts of the vehicles, the jobs and more. I recorded my uncle and he gave me permission to use these videos – these videos I didn’t write notes on but I felt like I could refer to them each and every time I was creating the design.
I am creating a campaign awareness for the LFB, and the daily lives the fire fighters intel, Making the awareness of the worth of the fire service. I want to educate people all about what the fire fighters do and the way their day goes about and creating an awareness of the importance and worth of fire fighters main focus being LFB. My uncle is a fire fighter and the aim is go and visit him and undertake information and photographs and use him through this campaign.
Audience
The audience for this campaign is for secondary school kids. I want to create a school pack for the fire fighters to give out during assembly’s so the kids can actually learn something rather thanking frightened by the work of fire fighters and the situations they face.
Purpose:
the purpose of this entire design relates to the message slightly as its all about understanding of making awareness of the importance of fire fighters and making it more of a job choice, due to the cut backs its important to showcase how important these fire fighters are and the worth of them.
When visiting the fire station my uncle told me that due to the cuts and kids not knowing much (other than fire fighters deal with fire) people are not as interested in becoming a fire fighter. When they visit schools, he sometimes feels as if they are not interested or take much in. The purpose of this campaign is to make awareness of what a fire fighter does on a daily basis, and what it’s like to be part of LFB. The audience is secondary school children, when the fire fighters go to the assemblies to educate about fire safety this is an added part on what it’s like to be a fire fighter and everything you need to know. With a magazine for the children to take away for their parents, and an envelope packaged to educate the children.
In what ways does the visual communication/message of the piece meet the needs of the brief?
The aim for this project was focusing on the NHS – the entire purpose was to create a design to displayed in public. The aim of the design is to act as a prototype for something which engages the community about the NHS. I think this design does engage the audience due to colours but I don’t think my group thought about the audience that much. It does portray a link to the NHS but I personally felt like it needed a bit more indication to the NHS as if I walked pass it I wouldn’t even know it’s part of the NHS. I understand the purpose and it is displayed in the corner but personally speaking I defiantly think more boldness and titles needed to happen. I do also think it meets the needs of the brief due to the fact that it’s aimed for the NHS and we created prototype of a game – that could potentially work.
What are the strengths of the visual communication?
The logo is really well designed and links to the message of the prototype. I think the bold colours within the hospital layout make it stand out and interesting towards the audience. At first the colours were so boring but after making it bolder and more interesting allowed it come to life. – if your trying to attract the public which in this case was west Kent younger people associate with colours and think ok what is that- also a lot of board games are very colourful. Also the tokens i created were unique and shaped interesting.
What are the weaknesses of the visual communication ? Why?
There was a lot wrong with this design and a lot of things I wouldn’t of done. I think that there needed to be more of an indication of NHS – when this was placed in the canteen there was no big sign and people were not interested. For me when your creating something for someone’s attention you need to have a call to action and I felt like our design lacked that – therefore a downsides to visual communication. I don’t think the design is very powerful and I would just walk pass it.
In what practical ways could the piece be developed or improved?
I personally think there needed to be more informative I did make the information cards and they worked because if we did not have they would not of been an aim. I think there could of been a lot of ways this could of been developed. We could of made a banner – a big title – a focal point and USP I think a lot could of been developed and some younger years felt like it would just be a pretty design and there’s a lot more to that.
In what ways did you consider design for backwards or application of systems thinking in your project?
I think in project x you have to consider all the good design elements due to the factors that are considered with the brief and the project. I think during this project I could of added backwards applications a little bit more. However this project was always about the end result and creating things for presentation so thinking of he end result allowed us to know how to design and the best way – and in that sense that’s how we used design for backwards.
In what other ways have you considered the sustainability of your project process and outcome?
Whenever we do project X I always considering sustainability. I feel like as the years have gone on and this is my final ever project X I have developed in the sense of understanding sustainability. When I first did project x I never thought about the sustainability outcome , but as the years have gone on and I have been taught more it’s the first thing I think of as well as design for good and ethics etc. I think the design needed to be considered through printing and this would be because there was a group of us we couldn’t print one piece per person so this had to be considered throughout.
In what other ways have you considered the ethical implications of your project process and outcome?
I think as I am developing within graphics my view and outcome on life has really developed. Whenever I design now I think of the ethics I and I remember saying that my group this was involving other people’s perspectives and this also allowed us to come up with a final. – you have to think about a lot of ethics when designing for good and this is what this project aimed towards.
What targets can you make at this point for your work in the future as a socially conscious designer?
I think as the years have gone on since project X 217 I felt developed and understood the purpose within being a conscious designer and I personally think without project X I wouldn’t of achieved that even if the outcomes weren’t great I learnt a lot. I think it’s important to always design for good and understand why your designing. I will make sure to always continue this skills as a future graphic designer as I want to be a conscious designer and I feel like I’ve achieve that and to continue it u will always try and design for good and make a difference not add the the problems already!
REFLECTION OF OWN WORKING PRACTICE !
How was my time Keeping?
I feel like it could of been so much better I had a lot going on in my life so I was struggling to keep up with it all. I wish I set our goals for myself so I could of finished and be proud of our final but I don’t think that’s the case. I did always try to make it as best timing I could but sometimes life got in the way but I wish I kept up with blogs a bit more.
How was my analysis of the brief?
I believe my analysis of the brief was really good considering it was my third year I didn’t really need to refer to it as much as I knew the outcomes and the sorts of aspects to consider within project x group work.
How was my research?
I wish I did more – I think when working in a group you all try and do something and show of your skills and our group lacked trying to bin point allocated research task and I felt like we needed to communicate more therefore I could of researched more. However I did research on my own a lot and that has proven though me being a design for good designer.
How did I draw conclusions from my research?
Like any design project without any research the design wouldn’t work. I think we could of researched a little more like I would on my own project. I think that research allowed us to have. USP and also understand what we was going to create.
How did I use evaluations to help with my ideas generation and development ?
I always analyse my own work and use evaluations to make the work better. I think when we had to group first feedback tutors allowed us to conclude evaluations and come up with next step for us and without that our work would not of developed at all.
How did I use experimentation during the project? How can I make this more effective
I think when your working in a group a lot of people have opinions and the idea of experimenting sort of goes away as you start to think of outcome which isn’t always great. We experimented when we did the game and that sort of started as a key point for us and then we developed from there. I think we should of experimented a lot more as this would of made us realise people’s strengths were and I think we could of made a better outcome. Therefore taught me to always experiment never go for the first idea.
What parts of the project did I enjoy the most?
I enjoy learning about design for good and helping people out. I think that even learning about the NHS was interesting. Project x taught me a lot and I wish I could tell first years to pay attention more to it and give it more credit as it’s taught me to much on my 3 years and if I could tell first year katie to speak up more and do it and participate I would.
What parts of the project did I enjoy the least? Why was that the case?
I find working with younger years quite hard this year they just wanted to make it pretty and not really think of the design for good or the USP or anything and I then kind of stood back because my voice wasn’t get heard even thought my points were valid. I think being a girl in graphics sometimes is quite hard and project x has shown that because I always try and speak up and finally I felt like people actually a thought ok she know what she is taking about but they didn’t really listen. I do wish more people were also in the canteen and we did it slightly different to attract people’s attention more.
What areas Inspired me ? Why was this the case ? How can I follow these up?
What areas inspired me? Why was this the case? How could I follow these up?
I personally always get inspired my project X and I wish I could tell HND1 Katie to listen and pay more attention to it. Without project X I do not believe I would have to knowledge of design for good, it’s a great way practically to undertake design for good cases and allow designers to understand why they are designing and benefitting towards the world. I will follow this up and always aim to design for good and use my knowledge from Project X in upcoming careers and jobs.
What areas were challenging or difficult? Why was this the case?
I am ok working in a team; but some people in our group felt like they had a bigger opinion to others when in actual fact their design skills didn’t make sense. I do think some people find it hard to take criticism and understand working in a graphic design team and sometimes with project X this shows through people therefore I found this quite challenging dealing with the younger years this year. `
How can I go about developing and improving the parts I found difficult?
I think always discussing with the group enabled me to conclude parts we all found difficult and without group discussions I don’t feel as if we would of even completed a final.
Do I need to develop certain skills? Do I need these now? Or later?
I personally think I need to speak up more, I did a lot but I got to the point of not trying as I had other work to do and sometimes felt like my opinion wasn’t listened too. I have learnt over project X that being a girl can be difficult when in a group of boys who have loud voices and I have learnt to speak my mind a lot through the years.
Any other points?I encourage every younger year to pay attention to project X without it I would not be the conscious designer I believe I have become and walking away with.
ktwilliamsdesigns4BA 