Research
We sometimes work with clients who are wanting to gather research or insights into a certain subject. We work together with them to devise events or projects in which stories can be shared and creatively recorded. We’re only interested in being involved in these projects if they are ethically sound and factor in fair exchanges.
For prices and conversations please get in touch.
Let’s ‘Ear It!
for School of Public Health Research & London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 2020
Let's 'Ear It was a creative research project that involved travelling around London with a giant ear strapped to our back. The aim was to listen to many people and invite them to share stories about how Covid-19 has affected their lives and their neighbourhoods. It was amazing to see how much people wanted to talk about these subjects and the giant ear acted as a good ice breaker. In some sessions we spoke to strangers in the park and other times we coordinated with community groups to run conversational workshops. All the stories were illustrated live during the conversations we were having and then added (with permission) to an online exhibition and offline poster series.
We did this project in Walworth (SE London) and Merton (SW London). You can see the online exhibitions we created here. The poster series for the Merton project is below.
The exhibitions and posters were designed to act as a type of formative research for a wider study coordinated by the London Schools of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The aim of the ongoing study is to deepen understanding about how London's neighbourhood environments can affect health and wellbeing. We hope that the project and related study will influence positive environmental change for Londoners across the city.
Our Climate, Our Health
in collaboration with UAE Southbank and Pilgrims Way Primary School
for Southwark Council, 2020
In 2020 we worked with students from two local schools to make a film that responded to the content of Southwark Council’s annual public health report. The 2020 report focussed on the climate emergency and the council wanted to hear young people’s opinions on the topic and their views on what could happen locally in response.
Our first step was to make the report more accessible for young people. We broke it down into 6 sections; flooding, air pollution, food shortages, heat, conflict & migration and sustainable Southwark (urban planning). Then we illustrated the key content and created picture-based workbooks for each section.
These workbooks then became the key material for a series of workshops that we ran in the schools. The workshops helped the young people to understand, digest and respond to the information in the report. The workbooks also contained inspiring examples of what other young people around the world have done to confront the climate emergency. The workshops were rich in both discussion and practical making – by the end of the sessions each student had produced a protest sign that communicated an idea for local climate action. These posters were all made using materials gathered from the wonderful Work & Play Scrapstore in Tooting.
After the project finished, the workbooks and supporting documents for teachers were made available for download on the councils website, allowing others to run similar workshops in their schools.
Community Open Week
at Kew Gardens, 2021
Working with the illustrator Laurie Avon, we created a publication that documented conversations from the Kew Gardens Community Open Week. Illustrations were made live, beneath the tent, in reaction to the conversations that the Kew Community were having. Then later, they were digitised and presented in a simple PDF.
