USAID, Office of Land and Urban

Ocean Plastics Pollution Video and Handbook
Project Overview
The development of this handbook was a collaboration between The US Department of State, USAID, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The handbook's purpose was to identify the leading cause of ocean plastic pollution while offering best practices for prevention for municipalities in southeast Asia – specifically Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
My Contributions
I served as the lead graphic designer, and collaborated closley with TRG's communications team and USAID. I was responsible for developing the cover, infographics, the full layout of the handbook, and producing the main video below using the Adobe
Creative Suite.
Surging populations, poor infrastructure, and rising incomes contribute to more discarded plastic than local waste management systems can handle. This mismanaged waste gets into waterways and eventually the ocean. ​
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This was the main inspiration for approaching the cover design. I was interested in communicating the leading cause or the source of ocean plastic pollution, as that seemed to be the central theme throughout the handbook. From that point, I began to do some research and tried to find reference materials. Through brainstorming, I started to think about cities and maps and what they look like from above. I had been to Southeast Asia myself, and I began to think about the cities, buildings, streets, and infrastructure.
The Ocean Plastics Pollution Handbook
Graphic Design

Next, I developed a mini branding guide to keep the look and feel of the overall handbook professional and consistent.  I found reference materials of beaches, oceans, cities, and places in southeast Asia.  I then developed a color palette by sampling colors from my references.  I adjusted the colors a bit to ensure 508 compliance.  I also chose appropriate fonts that could translate well into a foreign language since this was geared towards municipalities in Southeast Asia.

I started pulling images from Google maps that were 2D. Then I started thinking about making a 2D map more exciting and showing that major cities are the leading cause of ocean plastic pollution.

At the time, I had been doing some practice in isometric illustration and design, and I immediately began to connect some ideas. As I searched through more reference material, I came across other isometric cities and buildings.

Eventually, I came up with the idea of illustrating a city on the front cover, transitioning it into a more rural area, and eventually into the ocean on the back cover.

Essentially, the idea was to show that the source of ocean plastic pollution begins in cities and that waste eventually trickles down to the ocean. I also wanted to honor the style guide I developed for the overall book and limit my colors to 2-3 to keep it simple yet interesting. The result is what you see below, which received approval from USAID.