![[IMAGE] View from inside of the patrol boat with two officers stationed on the stern of the boat. I was assigned to the Law Enforcement sector of the Coast Guard, and I went on location to the Gloucester Station with my partner Jeremiah to inter](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56250c3ae4b06680fc7b9f5c/1658156108340-SJ8UYNDCDJ6MMK4ER3F4/Screen+Shot+2022-07-18+at+10.06.46+AM.png)
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PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS : Completed October 2011 , revised March 2012. Four 30-60 second animations Five Week assignment duration
A series of short, friendly public service announcements that highlighted essentials of boating and awareness of how to be safe. I chose to execute these PSAs in a stop-motion style so that they were vivid enough to be appealing to a young viewer, but not so cutesy that they were a cartoon that an adult would find patronizing. This approach also added a bit of levity and distance from some of the serious consequences depicted in the animations if safety procedures were not followed
On the first day of my senior year, in Graphic Design I at MassArt, we were told that we were randomly assigned groups across two classes, and would have to set up a field trip to do some field research. After the initial shock subsided, we were left with a very unique assignment. We had to create an open-ended deliverable for the United States Coast Guard which delivered the information of our choosing based on the groups we had been divided into.
[IMAGE] View from inside of the patrol boat with two officers stationed on the stern of the boat.
I was assigned to the Law Enforcement sector of the Coast Guard, and I went on location to the Gloucester Station with my partner Jeremiah to interview and shadow two officers and learn about what they did. We spent the day with them getting tours, seeing the radio control room, going on a patrol on the water, and getting some insider insight into the job of a Coast Guard officer. The field research was a little overwhelming, but between the two of us, we had some great phot
The next step was to somehow sort through this overload of information, and pick a specific topic, and create some sort of product out of it. The station I visited was a fairly placid one, even though I was a member of the Law Enforcement team, and it seemed as though the only enforcing that went on there was either in violations found on commercial fishing vessels, or among private boat owners. Interestingly enough, I learned that you do not need any sort of certification or license to own or drive a boat, and there- fore, many recreational boaters are reckless because they don’t know any better.
That tidbit from my interviews at Gloucester stuck with me, and after a few weeks of further research into all aspects of Law Enforcement in the Coast Guard, I decided that I wanted to come up with a non-abrasive, simple, and, most importantly, desirable way to obtain information about recreational boating safety. Although there is a lot of textual information about recreational boating, I don’t think anyone is interested in finding it and taking the time to read it, especially since they don’t have any obligation to do so.
Choosing to execute this project via animation was a huge step out of my comfort zone because I had never felt as though I had been successful working in a set-time based medium and because the final animations would be delivered to an actual client (and the United States Coast Guard, of all clients!), but I am glad that I made it. The communication is clear and accessible, and the visual result paired with the music selection is very appealing.
Jeremiah and I arrived at Station Gloucester in the morning to meet with our contact Boatswain (BOSN) mate Rick Bowen. Upon arrival, we were received by various officers of different ranks, where we met BOSN Tom Moen, who decided to join our tour of the station. We started with lunch in the galley with Tom and Rick, who gave us a simple introduction to what the Coast Guard as a whole does, and then their jobs, specifically.
A few points I found interesting from this preliminary interview were mentioned by Tom Moen. He said that although people will have the necessary safety equipment on board, they often times won’t even have it open or accessible in case of emergency. One example he gave was the safety flares package being left in its hard, plastic wrapping, which we all know is impossible to open quickly.
From this example, I could focus on the amount of time it takes to unwrap or access safety equipment in contrast to how long it takes for a boat to take on water. This can also apply to the difference in life expectancy in different degree water with and without a life jacket. Concept: making the importance of boat safety apparent to the less interested recreational boater through slightly terrifying facts.
Field Notes: Snapshot of the radio control room where officers notify patrol units of locations & weather.
Our tour continued through the radio control room, the locker room, the weapon arsenal, and then we were taken out on the patrol boat to get a sense of how a typical harbor patrol works. Rick drove the boat, and his complete awareness of everything happening on the boat, in the water, and on the nearby shore was truly astounding. I took a video while on the patrol, where Tom gave us some more personal insight into his job while I recorded Rick’s mannerisms while driving. This documentation later became the inspiration for Jeremiah’s deliverable.
All of the layers worn in uniform depending on water temperature, laid out.
Once we returned back to the station and docked, our hosts walked us through the different suits and uniforms the Coast Guard needs to wear in different temperature waters.. These suits became the basis for the life jacket animation, because they paralleled the life expectancy of someone submerged in water with or without a life jacket.