Digital Storytelling
Fine artists and graphic designer Marie McCann and I have been collaborating together on a storytelling project, The Capital Institute's Field Guide to Investing in a Regenerative Economy series, for the past three years. A new Field Guide microsite was launched in December 2013.
The Evolution of the Field Guide Stortytelling Project
The first Field Guide study, the story of the custom-grazing business Grasslands LLC, was designed as a newsletter, in print and as a downloadable pdf. The text was complemented by a series of panoramic photographs, evocative of the haunting beauty of the grasslands landscape and the rugged lifestyle of the ranchers of Grasslands. A followup digital story, "Meet the Ranchers of Grasslands," was a slideshow with voiceovers and musical accompaniment by one of the Grasslands rancher.
With our second Field Guide study, The Evergreen Cooperatives, we experimented with a variety of formats that allowed readers to engage with the story either at a very summary level or in greater depth. The formats included a slide show light on text, a more text-heavy slide show, and an 8-page printed newsletter intended for mailings and as a handout.
Another Field Guide project, The Next (Regenerative) Industrial Age, was designed by Marie in iBook Author with numerous digital enhancements including videos, photo galleries, and hyperlinking to external resources, it was adapted for Kindle, Nook, and Vook (a web-based platform). Austin Chang, filmed the videos on location in Chicago, and edited them into short, 1 to 2 minute segments interwoven throughout the textual narrative.
The Evolution of the Field Guide Stortytelling Project
The first Field Guide study, the story of the custom-grazing business Grasslands LLC, was designed as a newsletter, in print and as a downloadable pdf. The text was complemented by a series of panoramic photographs, evocative of the haunting beauty of the grasslands landscape and the rugged lifestyle of the ranchers of Grasslands. A followup digital story, "Meet the Ranchers of Grasslands," was a slideshow with voiceovers and musical accompaniment by one of the Grasslands rancher.
With our second Field Guide study, The Evergreen Cooperatives, we experimented with a variety of formats that allowed readers to engage with the story either at a very summary level or in greater depth. The formats included a slide show light on text, a more text-heavy slide show, and an 8-page printed newsletter intended for mailings and as a handout.
Another Field Guide project, The Next (Regenerative) Industrial Age, was designed by Marie in iBook Author with numerous digital enhancements including videos, photo galleries, and hyperlinking to external resources, it was adapted for Kindle, Nook, and Vook (a web-based platform). Austin Chang, filmed the videos on location in Chicago, and edited them into short, 1 to 2 minute segments interwoven throughout the textual narrative.
