the kindness wall process book

BRYAN PADOVANOMILWAUKEE INSTITUTE OF ART & DESIGN

4/28/12

TABLE of CONTENTSARTIST STATEMENTMy reason for this project . . . . . . 3INITIAL RESEARCH / IDEATIONWhy this project & for what . . . . 4IN DEPTH RESEARCHA look into similar ideas . . . . . . . 6PROCESSThe making of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8EXECUTIONThe final product . . . . . . . . . . . . 12EVALUATIONDid it work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

FROM RECTANGLES TO SQUARES A way to be more consistant

I want to live a life filled with passion; to do my very best;to have no regrets; to carve my own path; to have anabundance of compassion and gentleness; to laugh often;to be honest and true; to be helpful; to leave the world alittle better. For I am only here once; any good thing I can do, or any kindness I can show, let me do it now; let me not delay, for I will not be here again.

– Bryan Padovano

HUNT STATEMENT

I want to research the limitations of different kindness initiatives so that I can engage Milwaukeeans to be involved, and stay connected in a meaningful way, throughrandom acts of kindness.

THE GOAL

I wanted to create something that inspired kindness and encouraged people to pass it on. My goal was to create an environment that encouraged participation, increase dwell time, and inspire return visits to my space. It needed to be bright, dimensional, and engaging to the viewer to draw them in. I have been to several gallery nights now, and to me it seemed like everyone just walked around and stared at a wall for a minute or two and moved on. My goal was to break this habit, and get exhibit goers to interact with my space, and have some sort of takeaway that is positive and community building related.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Kindness Wall is a campaign inspiring users to participate in a community building movement based off the theory that spreading kindness builds a stronger community. Users begin with a prompt that directs them in committing an act of kindness, the act is documented on the web site where the community can see the growth of the movement and is provided with virtual rewards.

AUDIENCE

Milwaukeeans. This might seem a bit vague, but the point of this project was to reach everyone.

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RESEARCH

There are so many web based organizations that are trying to provide a platform for sharing kindness. They are trying to hit the entire world which seemed a little backwards to me. Random Acts of Kindness is a community building idea. It should start on the micro level, and not the macro level that these web sites are working on. They provide areas to share stories, and ideas for kindness, but never do anything specifically to spread kindness. In this way, these web sites have failed. While the idea is nice, the execution is all wrong. The is just web sharing, and not motivating people to go out an be kind by existing somewhere in a community.

THIS IS A LIST OF SOME OF THE LARGER AND WELL KNOWN SITES I CAME ACROSS IN MY RESEARCH PHASE .

HaveALovelyDay.org; RandomActsofKindness.org; Postcards From Far Away; MakesMeThink.com; HelpOthers.org; ActionForHappiness.org; KindAct.net; Yahoo - “How Good Grows”; Kind Campaign; Boom Boom Cards.

What was motivating, and helped drive this project in the right direction was finding many different companies that were spreading kindness. These brands are far successful in engaging their customers. They put themselves out in the community, and want their customers to see that they care for them, and that they are not just interested in selling their product, but are interested in the general happiness of the individual. They are successful because they are showing the human side of their brand.

HERE IS A LIST OF SEVERAL COMPANIES THAT ARE SPREADING KINDNESS EFFECTIVELY .

Biotherm Beauty; Interflora; KLM; Wheat Thins; Secret; Edge Shave Zone; SpainAir; Tareborg (Finish travel co.); MARS; Heineken; Liberty Mutual.

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INSPIRATION

These are a series of images that inspired this project. Some are very simple ways of spreading a public message, and some are color exploratios on how color attracts the eye in a white environment. They are engaging, and find a way to penetrate the viewer and create an experience that will resonate longer than a simple poster on a wall.

The exhibit is the main component of this project because I needed to create an experience that would make people want to approach.

Interaction is the key word. I did not want anyone simply walking by without at least thinking about interacting with my exhibit.

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INITIAL SKETCHES

1 - This idea was to create an insane number of buttons. Each one would be completely different, and each with a tracking number. When you stood back from the wall you would see an overall message about kindness, and people would be encouraged to take a button or two. Then another message would be revealed on the wall as the buttons would disappear. You would be encouraged to share the button. Each button could then be tracked online as you pass it along.

2 - This idea was create a platform for people to share their kindness stories in an exhibit space. They could enter their story into the computer which would then add the information to a continuous loop of stories that would be projected on the wall. The prompt would be My RAK is... RAK would be described clearly in the space, and encourage people to show how kind they can be, but share it unanimously.

3 - This idea was to build a wall that would have sliding informative panels that would reveal different information as they were slid side to side. There would also be different takeaways revealed as certain panels were moved.

4 - This is the idea that started me down the final path of The Kindness Wall. This idea was create a series of boxes that would be attached to large poles that would be spaced out seemingly at random, but actually would be very precise. If you stood at the right angle you would see that is says be kind. Inside of each box would be different items related to kindness. I eventually learned that this was not going to work do to restrictions in space in the gallery’s, but that developing a wall with a similar concept would be beneficial to interactively and would be visually stimulating.

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THE SOLUTION

I believed that a series of bright colorful boxes that would serve as container for several different kindness related items was the best solution. The boxes would turn in place to reveal different information about the item inside of it. They would also turn because the act of taking an item from inside of it, and sharing it with someone else, they have helped turn Milwaukee into a kinder place. I wanted this exhibit to be very approachable and encourage interaction, so the bright colors and stripes, which I repeated throughout the project, were meant to attract the eye of exhibit goers amongst the white gallery space that is typical of gallery night. I needed to do was draw them into the space, and get them to take a few items to share. I brainstormed and pumped out hundreds of different kindness ideas, and did a few surveys which revealed that finding a random gift left for you anonymously was a really positive and energizing experience, which is exactly what I want to do with this project. It was eventually narrowed down to 12, because that is how many boxes I wanted to make. 12 boxes seems approachable. It is not too many, and not too little. It was the perfect number for my exhibit space. But it id not have to be limited to just 12 items. Within some boxes could be similar items but different messages.

Above is the initial sketch of The

Kindness Wall. Below are the icons

for the 12 boxes and the description

of what would be inside of them.

Small cards with various messages meant to make someone laugh or smile .

Small cards meant to be used to help introduce yourself to someone new .

A dog treat to share with your 4 legged friends .

Coffee sleeves encouraging you to buy someone a coffee and use that sleeve .

Small packets of seeds to bring beauty to a place that needs it .

Buttons with various icons to wear or share .

A small card that is meant to tell your Server they did a good job . Too offer there is not a good opportunity to do this .

Small cards with various positive and reinforcing messages meant to be generally kind

A pen to take and lend to someone when the time comes .

Bumper stickers with various positive messages to spread kindness on the road .

Small bookmarks to leave inside of a book in a random spot .

A piece of gum to enjoy .

DESIGN EVOLUTION FROM RECTANGLE TO SQUARE

Initially, I went with business card size items for in the boxes. At the time, they seemed to make the most sense for mass quantity production. I would be making a lot of them with different messages. At the time I was happy with the direction they were taking, but there was a serious lack of consistency across the board. I feared that this would deter from the project. The striping and color was fitting properly, but there needed to be a solution to tie everything together. The eventual solution was to make everything square. They would all be placed on the same grid with the logo and headlines and mouse type all being in the same location on each card, with the color being the thing that changed throughout each piece.

To the Left is the initial ideas for the printed pieces that would be in each box. On the Right is a series of images showing the stages of production of the boxes.

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CONSTRUCTION

The construction of the boxes to go on the wall was a very time consuming process. These are a few of the many images I took throughout the stages of production from initial sketches to finished product. The next page shows how they work on the wall. The design was meant to both encourage interaction with the exhibit goer, and also be a conceptual tie to the project in which we are all turning Milwaukee into a kinder place. Each container started as large boards bought from Home Depot. There were 12 in all, and needed to each be painted and sanded four different times before they were finished. That is 48 coats of paint and 48 rounds of sanding. Each time moving forward with a finer grit sand paper. The final result was a smooth glossy surface that was attractive to the eye and encouraged interaction.

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EXECUTION THE KINDNESS WALL

Top Left: Paper place holders for where the box’s will go on the first day I was assigned my space. Bottom Left: After Painting stripes on the wall. Middle Left: After hanging several box’s but was brought to a halt and unable to finish that night die to the MIAD fire. Middle Right: The final Product just before opening night. Top Far Right: Gallery night. Right: Gallery Night.

PRODUC-TION STOPPED DUE TO 3D LAB FIRE

LEAVE A BOOK SOME-WHERE


Random Acts of Kindnesscan build a stronger Milwaukee.Get the app and learn more atthekindnesswall.com



LEAVE A BOOK IN A RANDOM SPOT





YOU ARE DOING GREAT


HELLO MY NAME IS...

HELLO MY NAME IS...


LET THEM MERGE

YOU ARE DOING GREAT


YOU ARE VERY ATTR- ACTIVE



I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW

EVERY-THING WILL GET BETTER


I WILL HANG WITH YOU ANYTIME



BE MORE PATIENT

YOU DRIVE GREAT

ROAD RAGE REGARD

EXECUTION PRINTED PIECES

These are all examples of some of the printed pieces for The Kindness Wall. Each of these cards was coordinated with a particular box, and is intended to spread kindness through the community. Here you see the transformation from the original idea to a consistant brand across the board.

HELLO MY NAME IS...


15 YOU ARE DOING GREAT





I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW

EVERY-THING WILL GET BETTER





YOU DID A GREAT JOB

YOU DID A GREAT JOB


THAN

K YO

U

WHAT DIDTHE BUFFALO

SAY TO HIS SON WHEN HE WENT TO COLLEGE? BISON

WHAT DIDTHE BUFFALO

SAY TO HIS SON WHEN HE WENT TO COLLEGE? BISON












STOP EVERY-THING & DANCE

STOP EVERY-THING & DANCE


JUST LAUGH, IT’S CON-TAGIOUS

JUST LAUGH, IT’S CON-TAGIOUS



I WENT TOA SEAFOOD

DISCO THE OTHER DAY & PULLED A MUSSEL

I WENT TOA SEAFOOD

DISCO THE OTHER DAY & PULLED A MUSSEL

YOU DID A GREAT JOB

YOU DID A GREAT JOB


THAN

K YO

U

YOU DID A GREAT JOB

YOU DID A GREAT JOB


THAN

K YO

U

YOU DID A GREAT JOB

YOU DID A GREAT JOB


THAN

K YO

U

DESIGN EVOLUTION PHONE APP . & WEBSITE

The phone app and website developed as a way of tracking and sharring kindness in the community. It was a way to documenting your kindness with a photo, adding comments, and using your phone’s location funtion to share where kindness is happening. This information would all be sent to the website where people can share it further on the web through social media.

PURPOSE OF THE DIGITAL SPACE?

Phone App - collecting information Website - Displaying information

The digital space for The Kindness was just prototyped. It does not exist in the real world, but I was encouraged by many people to make this real. To make it function correctly and exist in the real world. That might be something I take time and money to do over the summer. Either way it was a way of pushing this project further outide of just the gallery space where it would be interected with. It shows that kindness can be tracked and shared and documented throughout the community.

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EVALUATION DID IT WORK?

Yes it did! It was truly an amaing feeling watching it work as I had intended. People approached the wall voluntarily and took several items from the box’s. It was great to see smiles on the faces of everyone interacting with the exhibit. So many things dissapeard on previw night that I had to reprint several things for gallery night on friday, but even then I could not keep up wih the demand. The seeds and he bumper stickers were the first things to go. The gum and buttons also went very fast. In all I was so pleased with the outcome. I didnt need to explain anything. It was all clear as day and inviting to everyone who participated.

I would do nothing differently. It all turend out so well that changin something is not necessary. I got so many great responses from professionals on preview night. I got two different emails saying I was best in show in the CD department. I don’t really believe that to be the case, but I am happy that someone thinks my work is good enough to say that in an email.