Joseph Standing

Aqua No More, MA Industrial Design, Runner Up, 2020

Joseph Standing offers a speculative view of how England would look if freshwater supplies no longer existed. Aqua No More is a critical public engagement project made up of a series of voicemails overlaid with graphics.

These three scenarios are conveyed through graphics and speech from the angle of inhabitants of London and the governing body the Ministry of Water. It aims to inform and enact discourse of the dangers of water pollution and the fragility of water ecosystems, and how their degradation could impact our lives further down the line.

The project was initially inspired by agricultural industries in the UK and the excessive amounts of water used in contrast to farmers’ personal intake. Research on water consumption, both industrially and personally, led to findings of water pollution by both these parties – not only here in the UK, but also in the Americas, wider Europe and Asia. The issue of freshwater pollution is worldwide. The process to take these findings and turn them into a final outcome was a big challenge for me as this was the first speculative project I had undertaken.

My process was simple though, due to the unfortunate pandemic we, as a planet, have had to endure. I deconstructed public guidance graphics and websites created by the government and worldwide leaders to help mould my designs and produce graphics which could be used in a world where water is as scarce as diamonds. My designs were all completed on Illustrator and Photoshop. This was a graphics-heavy project which is still evolving.

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