Meraki
This project was a response to my own Greek culture and how New Zealand views it. The population of Greeks within New Zealand is only about 50,000 leading to direct interaction to the culture being small. I have always been passionate about my Greek side. My Greek side is something that I have always gravitated towards and is a source of pride. After all, culture is one of the driving forces of who people and communities are. I wanted to show my Greek culture to non-Greeks within New Zealand. Where they feel a connection and makes them think further into what Greek culture is.
As a motion designer, I have a passion for crafting narratives, creating characters that feel alive and engaging the viewer in the worlds I create.
I have always found my strengths in character-focused projects that use characters as a way to make everything feel complete. This project took what I am good at on its head with focusing on the world rather than character design. This project morphed into something new not only out of the problem itself but also with the desire to push past my limits and improve my skills in motion design. As a problem-solver, I wanted to use my skills to work on something in the realm of what I do and do well while also reaching further out into something beyond what I can accomplish.
All of this combined made the project what it is today. Meraki is a motion graphic series exploring and expressing certain aspects of Greek culture that are overlooked or unseen by the non-Greek population of New Zealand. Displaying the project within the 3D isometric medium helps place the viewer within the scene(s) while making them feel like someones' home that they have stepped in. After viewing this series that points out elements of Greek culture, non-Greek New Zealanders aged 24-34 will learn more about the culture while sparking intrigue. For the Greek population, the project will give them a sense of nostalgia and reminder from watching.
The research for this project has been a combination of personal insights and outsourced information. Ideation and creation of this project have been a combination of human-centered design and practice lead research. I was often relying on Greek family members, secondary research and experimentation to create the project. My process looked deep into historical importance, academic readings, My own lived experience and The New Zealand Greek community. A huge inspiration for this project has been Oat the Goat, Mythologica and Nice Guys Love You. The way Oat The Goat uses Narrative, Mythologia's spin on culture and Nice Guy Love your approach to animation.
I started from my personal experiences and my family to act like something I can build on with further research into Greek cultural and historical elements. It clicked when research pivoted from overall to particular objects of my childhood that are a part of Greek culture.
The project was about inviting people into a lived experience where the guest would be a part of the remembrance I feel for Greek culture. They could learn about the Greek culture that I experienced while wanting to learn more. Culture always has more elements that aren't at first glance, I hope that my project can showcase such hidden elements.