Major Project 002: Development Log

Research and Context

Post Industrial Wilderness

During this project, my main inspiration is in the exploration of  “Post Industrial Wilderness”. A term used to describe old and abandoned industrial scenes, and the relationship between the ruined and the reclaimed. It is one that details the re-growth of nature, mixed with evidence of urban life. This led me to learn about Jesse Oak Taylor PhD, an English Professor who inspired me to focus on The Anthropocene and its byproducts in nature.

 

J.Oak states:  “My research focuses on industrialization and empire in the nineteenth century and their relevance for tracing the emergence of the Anthropocene, a proposed designation within the Geologic Time Scale (GTS) acknowledging human disruption of the Earth System.”

 

I want to make a short film that uses poetry, and impactful animated typography to explore the themes of human disruption, post industrial wilderness, and the environmental impact of people.

Post Industrial Style Scenery In Holme On Spalding Moore Photographed By Me.

Michael Garrigan, author and poet, has a deeply moving article on Post Industrial Wilderness. He details his journey of a walk, in which he talks on the concept of our disregard for the environment.  He writes: 

 

“It is easy to fetishize untouched wilderness—distant places where we might connect with something sublime, something larger than ourselves. 

 

But while we turn our gaze away, we ignore what we stand on until, inevitably, attention is drawn to what we already have. M. Garrigan (2021)



I found this description to be beautiful and poetic, and I wanted to bring awareness to this issue with impactful typography in my video, while showing the prettiness of nature and things being left alone. 

Entrance To All Saints Church Showing Weathering On Wood. Photographed By Me.

Poetry Videos

 

I was also inspired by a short film called “Does That Make Me A Woman?”, written by poet Bec Evans. 

 

“Evans captures the harshness of feminine expectations, and the lasting imprint of outdated gender roles and stereotypes. Working with a crew made up of predominantly women, the piece was developed as part of a 360 degree campaign, partnering with charity organization Women & Health.”  Nowness (2024)

It can be seen that my project register and format has a place in addressing social issues, and even in advertising campaigns for charities, and therefore the demographic will be targeted towards environmentalists and poetry lovers. 

Conceptual Development

One of my inspirations for the visuals of this project includes Naughty Dog’s game, The Last Of Us. I was also interested in the sets of the live action series also.

3D Renders Created By Naughty Dog Team Member Alex Harrington And Team

All Saints Church Yard Photographed By Me.

Ivy Growing Around Metal Bars Photographed By Me.

Ivy Growing Around Old Tree Photographed By Me.

T.Hogg (2025) DNEG Reconstructs a Nature-Reclaimed Seattle for ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2

Johnathan Wateridge

Another inspiration in the conceptual development of my project includes my favourite artist, Jonathan Warteridge. The paintings that captivate me the most are of his “crash series”, detailed by Alice de Roquemaurel of Christie’s:

 

“Jungle Scene with Plane Wreck presents us with a dramatic image of an apocalyptic world. Painted in 2007, the mesmerising work is the last of his seven critically acclaimed theatrical and large-scale ‘crash series’ which depict crashed planes and ships rusting away in fictional landscapes.” A.Roquemaurel (2012)

 

 

Painter Jonathan Wateridge’s. “Crash series” includes him  using materials to make tiny dioramas that he paints. He describes his work as: 

 

“Fiction, fabrication, role-play, identity, genre and the idea of ‘construction’ within an image, on both a symbolic and material level,”  (J. Wateridge quoted in P. Ellis (ed.), Newspeak: British Art Now, exh. cat., Saatchi Gallery, London 2009-2010) 

 

I kept revisiting the notion of wanting to use construction via my hand written typography, to scan it in,  rearrange it, animate it,  to communicate an important message using visuals.

Experimenting and Prototyping

I experimented with graphite pencil and felt tip on card to have as much texture as possible in the type to give it a rough, rugged, apocalyptic type feel.

 

The entire process was very time consuming as I wrote the poem in a block  by hand.

 I then took photos, opened them in illustrator, traced the images and expanded them, before deleting artifacts and all the shapes inside letters with holes. I had to start figuring out the best way to group the text, and then moved it around to how I wanted it for the video. 

Effects

During practicing animation, I tried a lot of different effects in after effects, many of which I couldn’t get to function how I wanted during the beginning stages of my project. 

I had to learn about using adjustment layers to apply effects to, and then linking that animation, effect, or transition to the background shot, and adjusting the keyframes on these to make them work.

For feedback I asked my mum and my friend to look at the video. My mum said that some of the scenes were going too fast and she couldn’t read the type, so I had to slow a lot of them down, and enlarge the text before really getting into making the video properly. 

 

My friend gave me lots of helpful feedback, including suggesting adding a drop shadow to some of the type to help with the lack of contrast against black type and green backgrounds. 

Informed Design Decisions and Direction

“In the realm of UI/UX design, prioritizing accessibility is crucial. Among the many aspects of accessibility, text, and font significantly contribute to inclusive design.”  Silu (2024) Font and Accessibility. Medium

It was important to make the typography a decent size so that it can be read more easily after the final render. I also planned to do a voice over to help make the design more accessible.

In addition to this, I wanted to limit any sort of extreme flashing lights or strobing style effects that could trigger seizures in the video.

Medium states:  “Designs should still make sense in grayscale. If removing color destroys clarity, your hierarchy isn’t strong enough.” O.Oyinkansola (2026) Medium.  I wanted to use one text colour for most of it, and create a good hierarchy using shape and movement, but without overwhelming people with moving colours or flashing objects.

Harvard References

Alice de Roquemaurel (2012) Jonathan Wateridge (B. 1972) Jungle Scene With Plane Wreck. Christie’s. https://www.christies.com.cn/en/lot/lot-5608674  [Accessed 09/05/2026]

 

Deleted Account (2023) Is it just me, or was this Joel’s abandoned house from the beginning of the game? Reddit r/TheLastOfUs. https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/comments/z7rc83/is_it_just_me_or_was_this_joels_abandoned_house/ [Accessed 26/04/2026]

 

D.James (2023)How to create the crumbling beauty of ‘The Last of Us’? Build it and then trash it. The New York Times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2023-08-15/the-last-of-us-production-design-john-paino [Accessed 26/04/2026]



DNEG (2024) DNEG Reconstructs a Nature-Reclaimed Seattle for ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 [Photographs]https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/dneg-reconstructs-nature-reclaimed-seattle-last-us-season-2 [Accessed 26/04/2026]

 

D.Sapio (2020) 10 Principles for Typography in UI Design. Medium https://uxdesign.cc/10-principles-for-typography-usage-in-ui-design-a8f038f43ffd [Accessed 17/05/2026]

 

EIL (N.D) Jonathan Wateridge. Escape Into Life. https://www.escapeintolife.com/painting/jonathan-wateridge/ [Accessed 09/052026]

 

E.Lee (2025) Before Climate Change, there was “After London,” 1885. Medium. https://medium.com/ink-and-time/before-climate-change-there-was-after-london-1885-82c1bd319399 [Accessed 08/05/2026]



J.Oak Taylor PhD (N.D) Department of English, University of Washington. https://english.washington.edu/people/jesse-oak-taylor [Accessed 04/05/2026]

 

  1. Garrigan (2021) Postindustrial Wilderness. Orion Nature and Culture. https://orionmagazine.org/article/postindustrial-wilderness/ [Accessed 04/05/2026]

 

Nowness (N.D) About NOWNESS. https://www.nowness.com/about [Accessed 17/05/2026]

 

Nowness (2024 ) Does that make me a woman https://www.nowness.com/topic/poetry/does-that-make-me-a-woman-mia-mckenna-bruce [Accessed 09/05/2026]



O.Oyinkansola (2026) Why Your UI Feels Messy (And How Typography Hierarchy Can Fix It) Medium. https://medium.com/@temoyinloye/why-your-ui-feels-messy-and-how-typography-hierarchy-can-fix-it-ececafb0516c [Accessed 18/05/2026]

 

Silu (2024) Medium Text, Font, and Accessibility. Medium. https://medium.com/@silu.m/text-font-and-accessibility-a78b29f1d5f2 [Accessed 17/05/2026]

 

S.McLaughlin (2023) Heritage Buildings from Calgary’s Inventory featured in HBO’s The Last of Us. Heritage Calgary. https://www.heritagecalgary.ca/heritage-calgary-blog/thelastofus [Accessed 26/04/2026]

 

 T.Hogg (2025) DNEG Reconstructs a Nature-Reclaimed Seattle for ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2. AWN. https://www.awn.com/vfxworld/dneg-reconstructs-nature-reclaimed-seattle-last-us-season-2 [Accessed 08/05/2026]