In the last month of this school year, we studied impact makers, specifically the crazy ones, unveiling the secret of greatness. We have each created a portrait and shared it with others through the spring exhibition. Moreover, we had the honour to have some of our local impact makers with us during the exhibition night. But how do we define an impact maker in the first place? What makes someone an impact maker? In this blog post, we will talk about our last project: Cray Cray Yay Yay
Before we talk about what makes someone an impact maker, I would like to highlight the slight difference between an impact maker and a crazy one. A crazy one, originally from Apple’s ad, means someone who challenges the status quo to push the human race forward. In other words, Einstein may be a crazy one as he challenged Newton’s theory which was the foundation of science. But for this project, we focused on individuals that influence us daily. A crazy one doesn’t have to be as influential as Einstein, but the one who is determined to make impacts and changes. What is special about the impact makers and the crazy ones is that they take action on their desire to make the world better despite the situation.
For the impact maker, I studied Don McPherson, the founder of the Grouse grind. Today, the Grouse grind is one of the most popular places in North Vancouver; however, it wasn’t anything like that in the 1980s. It was difficult to climb, and beginners could never experience its nature and environment. Interestingly enough, no one wanted him to build it, not the expert who didn’t require assistance or the land owner himself. But yet he decided to do so, spending all his free time on the trail. It was for himself and the community, and the legacy of his effort will continue to benefit us.
But the hardest part for me can be showing our understanding by making a portrait. I was unsure how my product would stand out during the presentation. As I am familiar with picture editing, I thought it’s better for me to photoshop. However, my friend Jakub inspired me to do something different, lenticular photos. It brings the effect that you see unique things from different locations. (Here’s the online version)
But even though that was a much more interesting idea, it was also chaotic. Sadly, DIY videos may turn out very differently from actual products. The idea was to cut the two images into pieces of the same size and rotate placing them. As my hands weren’t good at cutting, I took another approach. I realized that it’s best to cut it digitally because it’s more accurate and precise. After I have the picture ready, I built support in the back so that it can stand on its own.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the spring exhibition. Surely, I could’ve done a lot better in the art aspect. I didn’t focus on face and symbols which can be improved next time. Despite that, I should’ve included more elements in the picture. But without any doubt, this is one of my favourite projects of the year. Not only was it fun to experiment with different designs, but it was also meaningful and delightful to study the ones who change our life