Welcome back to my blog in this one were going to be talking about Maker more specifically a podcast project we recently did. For our podcast we could make it about anything we wanted as long as there was a good message behind it. For my podcast I made mine about WWII with the goal of educating others about it, in hopes that they go learn more. The driving questions (yes there were two) for this project were: How might I use design and content to influence others for good? And how do I use the design cycle to achieve my goals? There are two questions as technically they were different projects. One was setting up for the podcast, and one was actually making it. 

The Setup

 

For setting up the podcast we had to make several things, including a description of our podcast, podcast cover art, a podcast name, a vision board of our podcast, and a podcast trailer. Lets start at the beginning, with my podcast vision board. 

I would rate my vision board a solid 6/10 because its not amazing but it fits the theme of my podcast, and you know what its about by looking at it. If I were to do it all again I would definitely mix in a little more colour. My podcast’s name is “Echos of History” that is the name I chose, I quite like the name, the inspirations comes from Chat GPT as I used it to help me brainstorm some ideas for a name, as I was stuck for ideas. 

For my podcast cover art I pieced together some significant photos from World War II however that was not my first idea. My first idea consisted of using Canva art pieces with a solider, tank, planes, and explosion. 

I opted not to do this as it didn’t look good and instead went with this: 

 

My second version is similar to my vision board as it uses historical photos, with words overlayed on top, full disclosure I did not put those words there Spotify for Podcasters did. But I think it looks quite nice. Again though I think my art could have used more colour, although that would have been hard to do as I was using historical photos, and coloured photography was not widely used until the 1960s. This and the worry of if I made my art etc to colourful I would seem disrespectful towards those who died during WWII. 

So, what has this all been building towards? Well that would be a podcast trailer, that would eventually lead into the podcasts itself. For my trailer I described what my podcast was about, saying the tagline of my podcast which was “ From the Beaches of Normandy, to the skies over Pearl Harbour. Join me as we explore the History of WWII” In my actual trailer I made up a little at the end to better get the message of my podcast across.

 

 

So that was the first part of this project which means its time to answer the first of two driving questions. The first was: How might I use design and content to influence others for good? Well I designed my podcast with the goal of educating others on WWII. The content of the podcast is simple and is just a summary of different battles and moments of the Second World War. Therefore by designing my podcast around education of a subject I can influence others to go further into the learning of my topic. 

 

The Podcast

 

For the podcast we had to have 60ish minutes of content. My podcast has 45 minutes I’ve spread that 45 over 4 episodes with one bonus. Using the design process Utilizing the reflective design process(which is apart of driving question two) I was able to make an episode a week posting every Sunday around 5-6pm. For my first episode I made mine about the Japanese Attack of Pearl Harbour. The hardest part of these podcasts was the recording, I had to record and re-record things dozens and dozens of times. Below you can view the script for my first episode. 

Script 

Despite it being my first episode it was probably my best one, as I was able to incorporate news and speeches about Pear Harbour. This was relatively easy to do as Peal Harbour was a massive event. I will say the recording got easier and easier with each episode, which I guess is supposed to expected, as you usually get better with time. By the 3rd episode I was able to record each section within 3 or 4 attempts. Because my podcast is super simple, with it no sound effects, is was easy to edit as well. I didn’t add sound effects as I feel it would have been inappropriate for such a heavy topic for the very same reason I didn’t interview any of my friends.

You can listen to my podcast right here: 

 

 

Now for answering part two of the driving question which in case you forgot was: How do I use the design cycle to achieve my goals? Using the design cycle I can make a podcast which gets better over time. By reflecting on my past episodes I can use those experiences for better editing, talking, and overall make a better experience for my listeners. 

Thanks for reading my final Maker post ever (we don’t have maker in grade 11) 

Carter=Błog