Project Evaluation

I am very pleased the way the my project finished, because I met all of the aims I set myself. 
I have designed and made a poster and some 'pillow fight weapons'. 
I think they will easily train children from young how to kill zombies, because the weapons, poster and also a teacher present they will be set along the right track, and will therefore know what to do in an emergency. They are also general objects you will find in many households and garden sheds / garages. 

Weapons in use!

I went into the scoop at Maple Road with my two models, Chantelle Roy and Alice Best, they showed my way it is meant to be used. They did both one plays zombie, the other plays the human. Then they also did it where both were humans, playing. 

It worked out so much better with them both playing humans because it became fun for everyone involved. 

Work Presented

This is my final finished work presented in University. I am extremely pleased with the way they all came out, because mainly, everything finished as I intended them to be. 
The weapons look playful, are soft, and serve their purpose well. 
I am also very pleased with the poster, as I intended, it looks crude and cheaply made, as it would be impossible to print it on fantastic quality paper with a large format printer. 

Final Poster

This is my final poster, I have stuck to the initial design I chose, and I think It is effective in the way I intended it to be. Warning, but not causing more unnecessary panic and fear. 

Poster final design

I feel like this is my most appropriate design. Because It will not be scary in it's appearance, although it will have a 'zombie' in it. 

I plan on making the poster look almost crude in it's design and appearance, I will use flat colour, with not a lot of effects in it. 

I will create the poster so it looks like it could have been created on paint, the free drawing software you get on a PC.

I intend this poster to be A2, but to make it look crude, very cheaply made I will print 2 sheets of A3 paper and stick them together so they will match. I am going to do this because after a zombie apocalypse one of the things you would not think of salvaging, would be a large format printer. Some people, however would think of salvaging an office printer that prints A4 and A3 for school purposes. 

I will also create the zombie to not look frightening, because in a zombie apocalypse you don't want to be stricken with fear any more than you already are. 

Poster Ideas

I Initially thought of these very simple poster ideas, that were catchy... but some seem to grown up and violent for the age range I am trying to reach. 

The 'Protect and Sever' poster comes from the protect and serve posters I have been researching. 

I thought of 'Head Dead' Because I wanted it to be clear, that if you get the head, it will be dead. A very simple message I was trying to get across to the audience. 

My favourite is the 'Aim Game' poster - because it emphasises the fact that I have designed this to be a game for school children. 

Final Make - complete

Third Make

I created a cardboard template for each of the weapons for the fabric. For the third make I created both the hammer and the cricket bat out of  a plain white fabric, I then used  acrylic paint to paint the object ontop of the outline. To stuff the weapons I just used soft toy stuffing, per weapon it took 3 bags. I decided to paint the object ontop of the pillow outlie as I think it made it much more legible as the weapon it is meant to be.I decided to use an almost crude way of painting it, using ordinary paint because after an apocalypse I don't know if there would be printing facilities in the town I designed for my scenario. 

Second make

 This is the second attempt at making, although I think it is a good size, perfect for the activity, because there is more fun in playing with large soft objects instead of small objects.


I used the same hand sewing technique as I used on the first make.


I feel like the technique I used where I used a cardboard inner, then wrapped it in wadding and then stuffed it down the sides with soft toy filling was unsuccessful, because I intended it to be totally safe to hit people with... not hurt at all, but if you turn the weapon on it's side it becomes hard and blunt from the cardboard and hurts. 


I tried inserting cardboard in the middle as I thought it would give the weapon more structure. 

Tutorial with Harry

I showed Harry my small 'pillow fight weapon' although he was pleased with my progress with the brief and research, he thought I should make larger weapons, and fewer of them. 

So with the feedback from Harry I went back and decided on 2 weapons, a hammer and a cricket bat, because they are the things that many households and garden sheds are not without. But they also come across as something approachable because you do not normally see these weapons as weapons, you normally see them in their everyday setting of sports and DIY. 

First make!

I decided to start making with what I thought would be the most difficult shape to make. Therefore I started with the hammer.

I created a smaller than average hammer - so it would be the right sort of size for a child. it was hand sewn together, and stuffed with soft toy filling. 
I don't think this works because I want it to come across as a large, pillow fight object, that is large, and almost huggable and fun. 

Film Research

During film research, I mainly watched films that showed the humour, and happy times within a zombie apocalypse. Therefore I watched Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, and 28 days later. 

 In all of these films I realised that they all have a place of hope. 

Such as in Shaun of the Dead theie place of hope is the Winchester - their local pub. 

In 28 days later they have an army camp outside Manchester.

In Zombieland they have Pacific Playland.

I used this as a clear influence when designing my 'town' for my scenario. I wanted it to be a safe place that people will want to find. 


I also used the film 'Shaun of the Dead' as a clear influence on my ideas for weapons, because in one of the first few chapters they break into the garden shed to get a cricket bat and a shovel, and they prove to be very effective weapons. 


I enjoyed the film 'Zombieland' because although It is clear it is not safe, they also show that life can still be fun... and rather naughty. E.g. they break into the actor 'Bill Murray's house and live there for a couple of days. Also in this film the main character makes 'rules' and rule #32 is enjoy the little things. I think this is very important because if you enjoy the little things you can still live happily. 

Potential weapons

I drew these weapons on Adobe illustrator, This is a broad range of weapons that I found very effective in Max Brooks book, I will narrow the range down with influences with questions such as 'Can you easily find these weapons in a house?' and 'Can you easily find these weapons in a garage / garden shed?'

Weapon Influences

I read several chapters of Max Brooks book 'The Zombie Survival Guide' where I found a chapter dedicated to weapons, and how effective certain weapons are. whether they are either blunt objects, bladed objects, edged weapons or guns. 

Poster Research

I have done some research into posters, from WWI and WWII because they are simple, but very effective. 
They are also not frightening, they get the message across without causing fear and panic. They are more about moral booting. 

Roles Of Children

In England today It is an extreme rarity that children do not get to behave like children.

They get to play everyday, do what they want (within reason), and be who they want, And have done for a long time. 

•In Central Africa between 2001 – 2003 children served in armed rebel groups.

•In the Democratic Republic of The Congo, At the end of the Second Congo war 1998 – 2003 The UN estimated that more than 30,000 children were fighting with various parties. 

•In Rwanda Child soldiers were used by the government in 2002

•In Somalia from 1991 – 2004 it is estimated that 200,000 children either carried arms or had been recruited by militants.

•In the Philippines Children are recruited by rebel forces, including the New People's Army, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. An estimated 13 per cent of the 10,000 soldiers in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are children.

•Uganda – The war in Northern Uganda 1986 – 2006 an estimated 35,000 children were dragged from their homes, tied up, and marched to rebel hideouts. There, they were initiated into the Army's cult-like culture through a combination of religious indoctrination, traumatizing abuse, and forced to participate in extremely brutal violence.

Leonardo Di Vinci - Apocalyptic scenes with notes.

I visited Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum where I viewed the 'lost in lace' exhibition and also viewed the 'Ten Drawings by Leonardo Di Vinci' exhibition. Where I found this drawing 'Apocalyptic scenes with notes'. 

The four separate sketches here appear to show scenes from the end of the world. In the upper half of the sheet, fire rains down from a thundercloud onto tiny figures as a mountain and fortress crumbles into an abyss. At lower right, more cowering figures are incinerated by an aerial fire; at lower centre, a great ball of smoke and fire burns over precipitous cliffs surrounding a huge pit in which the sea boils; and to the left, skeletons climb from their graves.

Dunne and Raby - hideaway

This ‘Hideaway’ Furniture is part of the Fragile Personalities in Anxious Times series. There are three versions. They are designed to meet irrational but real needs.

I decided to do some research into this project, because the 'town' i designed for my scenario is very much a safe place, and a hideaway. 

Utah Shelter Systems Inspiration

‘All Hazard Shelters’ will withstand violent earth movement from severe earthquakes also high velocity winds from tornados and hurricanes, invasion from mobs, heavy overpressures from a nuclear blast, all types of radiation, wild fires and air contamination from fallout and chemical / biological war gasses.

‘Pre-disaster’ plans are required for ‘Post-disaster’ survival.  A great deal of time and money is put into preparations for natural and man-made disaster.  These preparations will be lost if the plan is not worked and the shelter not maintained. 

Batteries must be kept charged, water and food rotated, and all must be kept in a state of readiness. Store items that could be used for farming and the re-construction process.

I used Utah Shelter Systems as a strong influence on my scenario 'town' for things that you need to live off, but would not necessarily think of because it is often taken for granted. 

Project Proposal