Final year project
Stay Connected [Read more]
Stay Connected
'Stay Connected' is an animation and speculative social media campaign aligned with the Alzheimer's Society. There are over 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK. 1 in 3 people will be affected by the disease in their lifetime. From personal experience, I came to the realisation that a) young people don't know enough about dementia and b) don't necessarily keep in contact with their older relatives as much as they could.
My animation aims to explore some early signposts of dementia, raise awareness of the disease and encourage young people to stay in regular contact with their loved ones.
Starting with the question 'What does the word 'dementia' mean to you?', the content of the narrative is based on real-life responses.
Full animation can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/cOn7ICUJv58
Animation Stills
'For someone with dementia, it may feel as if they have lost all form of communication with the outside world... a bit like how you might feel if your mobile phone broke.'
Aimed at 18-30-year-olds, the animation uses the visual metaphor of a malfunctioning phone in the hope that young people will empathise with the thoughts and experiences of someone living with dementia, whilst also encouraging them to keep in contact with their loved ones.
Full Storyboard
The narrative is based on extensive research, personal experience and others' stories. It walks the viewer through the basic definition of dementia, some of its early symptoms and finally encourages people to 'Stay Connected' before it is too late.
Full animation can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/cOn7ICUJv58
Talking Turkeys
Entry for the Penguin Student Design Awards 2021, Children's Book Cover award. Talking Turkeys by Benjamin Zephaniah.
Book Cover Artwork
To evoke the sense of community that runs through Zephaniah’s poems, over 60 children aged 5-12 from across the UK were involved in the production of this cover. I asked them to design their own ‘Talking Turkeys’. Using a combination of collage and screen-printed textures inspired by Zephaniah's Rastafarian heritage, I curated four of the children's entries into the characters used on the final cover design. I chose this unconventional way of working to echo the quirky, playful element of Zephaniah’s poems.
Illustration credits: Isobel Davies, Megan Davies, Erin Hannah and Jasper Weir
Audible: There's a Noise in the Shed
Artwork the D&AD New Blood Awards 2021 Audible Brief: 'Design a visual identity for a fictional Audible Originals title.'
Chosen title: 'There's a Noise in the Shed', an audiobook aimed at young families looking to be entertained.
Audible: Out of Home Touchpoints
Out of home touchpoints for There’s a Noise in the Shed target busy families on their commute; after a day at work or on the journey home from school. The adverts promote the enjoyment of listening together and how the audiobook can be incorporated into people’s current daily schedule, hassle-free.
Graduation Keepsakes
Over the first lockdown, 2020, I began to sell personalised prints of university buildings, including Loughborough, as keepsakes for students who were unable to celebrate physical graduation due to the pandemic. These are still available and can be found on sale on my Etsy or you are welcome to contact me through Instagram for commission requests.
Frankie Stevens
With illustration at its core, my work has a strong emphasis on storytelling, from children's stories to social campaigns and visual identities.
Throughout my degree, I have explored a variety of image-making methods from traditional screen-printing to digital drawing. I pride myself in not having a particular illustration 'style', meaning I can adapt my work to fit a variety of briefs of different target audiences. The project I am most proud of is my 'Stay Connected' animation, not only because of my family connection to dementia but because I love designing to inform, educate and help people. This is something I will always continue to strive for throughout my creative career.
Final year project
Stay Connected
Awards
April 2021
Certificate of Continuing Professional Development
The British Association of Art Therapists
June 2020
LSU Media: 'Label Volunteer of the Year' for outstanding design contributions to the Label magazine.
Work Experience
June - September 2020
MCC Design, Branding and Illustration Intern (remote)
At MCC, an agency that specialises in schools marketing and branding, I worked on a variety of live projects including illustrations and infographics for schools' prospectuses and leaflets. I was also commissioned by MCC to illustrate a new advertisement for the Royal Masonic School for Girls' virtual hub, as they were unable to take photographs of real students due to the pandemic.
July - September 2020
West Carolina, Digital Design and Illustration Intern (remote)
At West Carolina, a start-up fashion label based in London, I worked on several projects including illustrations for social media and website blog posts as well as product promotion through photography and conceptual collages of new product ranges. Doing this remotely gave me a great insight into the 'new normal' way of working. I was able to network with people I never would have met before, my boss was based in Brazil at the time!
August 2019 - November 2020
'Label' Online Student Magazine, Head of Design (volunteer)
As lead designer at Label, I was responsible for recruiting and managing a team of design volunteers as well as designing headers to complement student-written articles which were released daily. This was a great experience, allowing me to expand my design skills whilst networking with peers across the university and wider community.