Description:

Unearthed is an interactive book that fosters a sense of wonder and connection between native invertebrates and 18-25 year olds in Aotearoa.

My inspiration for Unearthed is rooted in my childhood love for insects, conservation, and wildlife. As I grew older, I realised there are almost no resources for young adults to engage intimately and deeply with insects. The world’s insect numbers have declined by 45% since the 1800s. They are an essential part of our ecosystem and without them, we can’t survive. Feeling connected to invertebrates is a stepping stone in their conservation.

The design of Unearthed is based on Wonder Theory which proposes that feelings of wonder target curiosity and build value.

Nature is intimately tangible, and Unearthed reflects this in its physicality. Drawing on wonder theory, I employed elements such as pop-ups, fold-outs and French folded pages to entice curious readers. For example, each of the French folds can be opened and explored to find hidden creatures, secrets and concealed information. In a section to describe how giraffe weevils drill into trees to lay their eggs, a laser cut spiral can be unwound to reveal an egg nestled under the page. These interactive elements target feelings of nostalgia, discovery and reward to mirror childhood exploratory experiences like lifting rocks and digging in the garden to see what creatures can be found. The physical contact in the interactive sections allows for an intimate and physical connection that a digital resource would not have enabled. Textured and transparent paper is also used throughout the publication for an enhanced tactile experience.

The illustration style is designed to promote feelings of awe and wonder as well. The invertebrates are all illustrated using a spectrum of iconic abstraction to beauty and realism. The illustrations fall toward the beauty and realism end of the spectrum in order to captivate the reader. To create these illustrations, I used strong highlights and embellishments with details of stippling, spots and squiggly lines.

I have used handwritten text to convey an organic relationship in the sections about the ecosystem and te ao Māori, as these are sections that connect heavily to people and how they are interwoven and interdependent with the natural world. This Aotearoa specific resource targets a strong affinity to place and strengthens personal connection to our environment and the creatures that live in it. The primary typeface used was Helvetica Neue, for its legibility and simplicity; as a whole, Unearthed is so detailed and embellished I did not want to overwhelm this with a distracting typeface.

Invertebrates and the Ecosystem is an additional brochure that explains three ecosystem processes referenced in Unearthed — pollination, decomposition and food web contributor. It dives deeper into these processes, how they work and why they’re important. It folds in on itself to reflect the complex and symbiotic nature of an ecosystem. Together, the brochure and Unearthed contribute to enhanced empathy and understanding to support kaitiakitanga and the protection and guardianship of native invertebrates in Aotearoa.