Seabirds vs. Plastic
This project was created as part of the Global Ecologies Studio for the Burren College of Art in Ireland.
Motion Design
Video Editing
Choosing to attend the Global Ecology Studio at the Burren College of Art was almost a no brainer for me. I’ve been deeply rooted in Irish culture since I was 9 years old, when I started Irish dancing. I have always enjoyed using my creative skills to bring attention to important issues. A Global Ecology Studio was the perfect choice to be able to get those skills in motion. I am a Communication Designer by degree and an art-avist at heart, creating campaigns and pieces of design that will inform the audience and inspire change. One issue that came to my attention during this program was the rapid rate plastics are entering our oceans, something I witnessed firsthand at a group beach cleanup at Fanore Beach.
This body of work consists of three PSA commercials centered around different challenges seabirds face at the hands of ocean plastics such as ingestion, or entanglement. Each video focuses on a different seabird, all of which can be found on the Irish coasts. The style of the videos is a mix of stop-motion animation and traditional motion design. I depicted the birds with a sense of charm, contracted against a more realistic environment to really emphasize the urgent need for change. The birds I chose to focus on are puffins (local to Ireland and other North Atlantic regions), seagulls (local to most coastlines globally), and gannets (local to the North Atlantic regions). This focuses on birds found in Ireland, but also birds that can be found globally since this is a growing global issue. Overall, my message is simple: keep the plastics out of the ocean. This issue is no longer just affecting ocean life and habitats, it has extended beyond marine ecosystems, increasingly impacting global environmental health and wellbeing. This has become a widespread crisis that demands immediate and collective action.
My final display included my storyboard for each sequence, as well as a monitor playing the videos on a loop. The work was included in the Ag breathnú ar Éire show in August of 2025.
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