Bachelors Project

Children deal with problems very differently than adults. Many people believe that children don’t understand much and are adaptable, but they are just as affected by separation, moving, or problems among friends, even if they show it in their own way. They often process problems through play and imagination rather than talking about them, if they are even able to do so.

In our project, we want to explore how children use this very play and imagination to deal with problems in everyday life and adolescence. The project is aimed at school-age children, parents, or guardians, or those who want to become parents or guardians. They should be encouraged to develop the empathy that children need after (traumatic) experiences. For the final realization, we envision a digital exhibition on the topic of children’s emotional world and coping strategies. In order to portray different life situations and protagonists, we have opted for
animated posters that introduce the characters and a short animated film with exemplary scenes.

In our project, we want to explore how children use play and imagination to cope with problems in everyday life and adolescence. The project is aimed at school-age children, parents, guardians, and those who want to become parents or guardians. The aim is to encourage them to develop the empathy that children need after traumatic experiences. For the final project, we are planning a digital exhibition on the theme of children’s emotional world and coping strategies. In order to portray different life situations and protagonists, we have decided to use animated characters. The exhibition will be presented at a conference on the topic of children’s emotional world and coping strategies. For the final realization, we envision a digital exhibition on the topic of children’s emotional world and coping strategies. In order to portray different life situations and protagonists, we have opted for animated posters that introduce the characters and a short animated film with exemplary scenes. The animated posters offer us the opportunity to confront the viewer with the virtual characters and their situations.
This breaks down the abstraction and enables a direct connection to what is being shown. In this way, individual elements could also be used in public spaces on billboards to encourage reflection and empathy.

The film symbolically tells the story of the protagonists fighting against the encroachment of colorlessness, which comes from reality, in a colorful fantasy world. In terms of the aesthetics and style of the posters and the film, we opted for a playful abstraction with contrasts of colorful, simple geometric shapes and dominant black-and-white scenes. The desaturated scenes shapes and dominant black-and-white scenes. The desaturated scenes represent situations that happen in the real world, while the colorful world stands for the fantasy world in which children process their experiences. For example, in his fantasy world, the child fights monsters, with the monster symbolizing the problems. This contrast in the scenes is intended to reflect the children’s feelings and serve as an eye-catcher to spark interest in the topic.