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Lightcolourvision’s March 2020 Newsletter

March 2020 NEWSLETTER

Kia ora to all our friends, supporters and visitors

In case all this is new to you, lightcolourvision.org is a non-profit project exploring light, colour, vision and also asks the question, how can we see more? In a nutshell, it’s all about making sense and developing our views of ourselves and the world. It’s designed as a resource for students, teachers, educators and researchers of all ages.

We launched lightcolourvision.org nine months ago and it’s a rollercoaster. The site grows every day as we add new content and functionality. Find out what we have been up to since our previous newsletter in the updates below. To see the site for the first time, or to see how it’s developed since your last visit, just follow the link below.

Home page

TASKS COMPLETED DURING THE LAST 20 WEEKS

Let’s start off with an update on what we’ve been up to since our AUGUST 2019 NEWSLETTER. This is just a summary, there have been many incidental additions and improvements to the site as well.

  1. Donations and payment gateways have now been added to the site. This is key to our fundraising efforts. We selected DONORBOX to handle the donations and STRIPE to handle credit card and Paypal deposits. Both platforms are widely recognised, have multiple levels of security and make the donation process as smooth and straightforward as possible.
  2. The HOMEPAGE now has a new DONATIONS PANEL featuring the new gateways. The panel alerts supporters and visitors to our current fundraising campaign. Donations can be made right there, but there is also a link to the new 2020 CAMPAIGN PAGE for those who want to know more.
  3. Every image in the RESOURCE LIBRARY has now been updated to the latest version, ensuring they all share a consistent format and quality. The result is images that load more quickly and are optimised for viewing on-screen. At the same time, we have updated the file formats of images available for download and streamlined the download process for users who need a copy for their own use. You can see thumbnails of the whole set here.
  4. Every page of the RESOURCE LIBRARY has also been rebuilt. This means that the pages that introduce and explain each image have been optimised for quick loading, consistent appearance and standardised features. With this step behind us, there is still more work to do to improve the load time of the whole site – but we are working on IT!
  5. Many more written explanations and Q&A’s have been added to pages in the RESOURCE LIBRARY. Around 80 pages are now complete which means there are around 60 to go. This is another major priority!
  6. We have decided to automate the section that explains KEY TERMS on each page in the RESOURCE LIBRARY. It took 6 very full-on weeks to resolve how best to implement this, but the final outcome will produce a more relevant, tailor-made selectionS of terms (and explanations).
  7. A new ARTICLE entitled The Visual Pathway has been completed and uploaded. This means that two out of the five articles currently in the pipeline are now in the public domain.
  8. A floating menu has been added to the lower left of every screen where visitors can CONTACT US, provide FEEDBACK and find out about GETTING INVOLVED in the growth and development of this wonderful project.
  9. An up-coming task is to create a new video for the campaign page. The current version was created for the original crowdfunding campaign last year. We are currently looking for a group of volunteers to help us with this project.

FUNDING AND THE 2020 CAMPAIGN PAGE

You won’t be surprised to hear that raising funds to cover the overheads and development of the site is a challenge.

Our 2019 Crowdfunding Campaign successfully reached its target and the $2745.00 raised was used to cover the costs of getting the site online, paying subscriptions for our tools of the trade and to cover the cost of the launch event we held at Parnell Community Centre, Auckland.

Our first strategy for 2020 involves a call to friends, supporters and visitors to help us pay the basic tier of running costs, a total of NZ$1716.00. We hope to complete this phase by the end of March. If you would like to take part, click the Donate Now button. To find out more please visit our Campaign page 2020.

Donate Now
The price of a coffee will help 🙂

FREE GIFT

In the last newsletter, we announced we were preparing a gift for all our supporters. It’s one of a series of animated images developed for the site. Belatedly, it’s now ready for you to download. You can view and download the animated version here. Once downloaded, simply drag the file into a new browser window (except Internet Explorer) then visit the tab anytime you want to zone out as the pattern unfolds.


UNIQUE VISITORS LAST MONTH

It is worth noting that the number of site visitors continues to grow steadily with well over 12,000 unique visits per month. This seems quite extraordinary and a wonderful affirmation that we are on the right track. It seems that most visitors arrive via a search engine, landing on a page matching their search terms. A simple test of this is to type light colour vision into the search bar of any browser. The results of an image search will produce anywhere between 10 and 40 results from our site. As time goes on, it should be possible to improve the relevance of the returned results as we focus more effort on SEO (search engine optimization).


SITE DEVELOPMENT

Our overarching focus as we develop the site is how best to bind together our core values, short-term objectives and long term goals. Let’s review the three of them now.

Core values

Lightcolourvision.org challenges contemporary threats to open, diverse, inclusive and well-informed communities by advocating and demonstrating an appreciation of and care for each other and our world. To achieve this, we disseminate information and promote discussion of the very real processes that interconnect and sustain us on planet earth.

We are committed to responding to the call for people to make web-content that is rich and relevant to communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity and use the open web as a global public resource for people everywhere.

Lightcolourvision.org is designed as a multi-disciplinary curriculum resource able to function effectively within a range of educational contexts. But it is also designed to play a part in ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated life-long learning. In both contexts, it aims to explore new and radical approaches to active citizenship, self-development and creative practices.

Short-term objectives

Our short-term objectives for 2020 are all about building on our 2019 successes. In summary, we have four main areas of focus:

  1. Functionality: Improve functionality regardless of the device used to view the site.
  2. Content: Add more content and improv how visitors navigate to the resources they need.
  3. Fundraising: The first target for the year is to cover our basic running costs. You can see our Budget: Basic running costs 2020 here. We need to raise NZ$1716.00. After that, it’s going to be about developing strategies to attract patrons, sponsors and regular donors.
  4. Online-community: We want to reach out to teachers and educators in Aotearoa New Zealand this year and develop our 2020 strategy through a more collaborative approach.

Long-term goals

We introduced some of the thinking about the connection between our short-term objectives and long-term goals in the last newsletter. Put simply, the website currently contains resources that investigate the connections between light, colour and vision and explores how they shape our understanding of ourselves and the world. But we want to go further and explore how we can change the way we see ourselves, each other and our world in ways that enable us to address the pressing challenges we are all facing in communities everywhere. We want to explore how to see more in both quantitative and qualitative terms and how to move beyond habitual and uncritical ways of viewing things, to see the world afresh, through new eyes.

Our 2020 strategy

With all of the above in mind,  we are putting a heavy focus on the site’s bi-line how to see more this year. At the same time, we are also making a major change to our approach to site development. The plan is to produce some material by running workshops. So we have begun work preparing for a workshop that explores the prerequisites of seeing more. In practice, this will mean that instead of starting with the physics of light and the biology of vision we will be looking at how to develop better ways of seeing.

Confused? Hang in with us! We are hard at work and will be uploading new material very soon!!

KEEP IN TOUCH
Thank you for reading our January 2020 Newsletter. We would love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts by clicking on the menu button on the left 🙂 Ric Mann. March 2020.

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Campaign page 2024

Kia ora and welcome

We would like to warmly welcome you to the Campaign Page for our non-profit website lightcolourvision.org

We created lightcolourvision.org to be an empowering and inspirational resource for students, educators and researchers of all ages who share our interest and concern for the lives and education of future generations.

As its name suggests the site explores light, colour, vision and how to see more. You can navigate to other pages on the site using the menu at the top-left of the page.

Donate Now
Even the price of a coffee will help us pay the bills 🙂

2019: Launch and proof of concept

We opened lightcolourvision.org for business with a launch party and crowdfunding campaign in May 2019.  50 supporters helped raise NZ$2745.00 which enabled us to go public and start to map out the road ahead. By the end of the year, the site contained over 550 pages and visitor numbers had grown to 12,000 per month. The table below provides a summary of the resources now available to visitors (all resources are free to download).

Lightcolourvision Aug 2024
 Published Description
 
Articles 4 We are in the process of publishing a series of fully illustrated articles exploring light, colour, vision and how to see more.
Diagrams
 209 This library of DIAGRAMS includes the suite of images we have created and supports them with full-page explanations and related information.
Dictionary
 513 The DICTIONARY includes definitions, explanations, summaries and ‘about ‘pages relating to the key terms used across the site. Each term has its own separate page.
Questions and answers 277 The site includes a library of general-knowledge Q&A’s about light. colour and vision..

2020-22: Building on our success

2020-22 is about building on our successes to date. We have big plans with three main areas of focus:

  1. Content: Adding more content to the site and improving how visitors navigate to the resources they need.
  2. Fundraising: The first target for each year is to cover our basic running costs. You can see our Budget: Annual running costs here.

2023-25: Building on our success

We continue to build the site, adding new material on a day-to-day basis.

  1. Navigation: Huge improvements have been made in the way visitors navigate the site and the way content appears. This work is ongoing.
  2. Content: New content is continually being generated. In the background, work is ongoing on our series of articles.
  3. Fundraising: Most users are happy to navigate the site to find the information they need. 39,000 visitors have called by in the last 12 months. All resources are free to download. Almost all donations we receive are from personal friends.
  4. See our blog  here for the latest updates

Donate Now
The price of a coffee will help 🙂

How you can help!

Explore the site and send us your feedback! What you see today is our proof of concept, a prototype demonstrating masses of functionality and a wide range of different types of content. We are keen to receive your thoughts and feedback on our efforts to date! So please use the feedback button on each page, and help us big-time with your comments.

Make a donation! Our first financial target is always to meet our basic running costs. So, we hope our efforts to date will inspire you to support what we are doing and help us build to the next level. You can make a donation using one of the panels on the right (Below on mobile).

Get involved! Become a lightcolourvision.org citizen. Find out more here.

The story so far

Over the last three years, we have developed the original concept for lightcolourvision.org into a fully-functioning website. Important choices have now been made between different kinds of functionality and features, and we have added a huge amount of content to this prototype. Visitors can now see the result of our efforts including pages and pages of content in both the DIAGRAMS library and the DICTIONARY.

During 2020 we hope to spread our wings further and start to build a bigger community around the site. With a little help, we plan to reach out first to organizations and individuals across Aotearoa New Zealand.

The vision

The website celebrates the common ground that binds human beings together in ways that we hope everyone can identify with.

Our approach to developing content is shaped by the fact that our thoughts are focused first on young minds and how to support them to make sense of themselves and their world.

Lightcolourvision.org challenges contemporary threats to open, diverse, inclusive and well-informed communities by advocating and demonstrating an appreciation of and care for each other and our world. To achieve this, we disseminate information and promote discussion of the very real processes that interconnect and sustain us on planet earth.

We are committed to responding to the call for people to make web-content that is rich and relevant to communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity and use the open web as a global public resource for people everywhere.

Lightcolourvision.org is designed as a multi-disciplinary curriculum resource able to function effectively within a range of educational contexts. But it is also designed to play a part in ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated life-long learning. In both contexts, it aims to enhance active citizenship, personal development and self-sustainability.

Thank you to everyone who helped us make 2019 such a success!!

YES!! To all of you, our supporters, THANK YOU AGAIN 🙂

Love and best wishes from Ric, Jules and Melissa

**

The core team

We are Ric Mann and Jules Turner, the founders and the initial contributing editors of lightcolourvision.org. You can read background information and our personal statements here.

And in case you were wondering, yes, everything you see on the site today has been produced on a voluntary basis because we are both committed to this project big time!!

GOALS FOR 2024-5

Goals for 2024-5

Three over-arching goals for 2024-5 are outlined below:

2024-5 GOAL ONE: Create more content
Lightcolourvision.org is not yet complete. New content is being developed and added all the time. Publishing new material as well as refining existing content is the life-blood of the site!!

 

2024-5 GOAL TWO: Add more hand-crafted articles
Creating articles is a labour of love. It can take up to a year to develop and publish a new article. We hope eventually to produce a package of sixteen hand-crafted, illustrated articles that link our central topics of inquiry – light, colour, vision and how to see more.

Each article introduces and explores the interlinking clusters of concepts and terms that are used across the site. They also help to expose the underlying research interests that motivate us as we develop the site.

We have just published an article about electromagnetism. It has been the most demanding enterprise yet. It has taken a whole year of research and development to get to the point where it is ready to publish but is finally ready to share.

 

2024-5 GOAL THREE: Build a community of citizens
In educational terms, an effective community enables its members to set goals, develop key competencies and realize their full personal and social potential.

We hope that everyone who uses our site recognizes that they are valued members of the lightcolourvision.org community.

We see the idea of citizenship not as a static concept but as part of the process of growing an online community through a step-by-step process.

But in reality it is a challenging aspiration. Around 40,000 people a year visit the site, find what they need and move on leaving no trace. Even feedback is very rare. However the aspiration remains a crucial focus.

OUR AUDIENCE

Who is it lightcolourvision.org for?

Students

Lightcolourvision.org aims to enable students involved in their own lines of inquiry – writing essays, developing presentations, preparing resources or creating artwork. Others may use the site to check facts or to improve their understanding of the topics we cover.

Educators

The site aims to resource teachers and educators who need to access resources that enable them to engage students with the topics we cover.

Our articles, for example, aim to provide consistently argued overviews of topics that, draw on families of concepts and terms and are supported by a knowledge-base of definitions, explanations and additional information.

Our diagrams aim to provide an engaging and informative visual counterpoint to discussion within each topic.

Researchers of all ages

Our own academic, professional and personal research underpins the website. Our interests span the visual arts, the philosophy of design, visual arts education and curriculum development. We see lightcolourvision.org as a beacon for discussion of contemporary issues in a shadowed world.

We recognise that the needs of these three interest groups differ. With this in mind, the site targets a general readership first. As a result, content is organised so that the most accessible information is presented first, followed by additional content and links to further resources. Terms and concepts follow the same pattern, meaning that new vocabulary is introduced step by step and point by point.

Research Classroom Student General
Images ???? ???? ???? ????
Explanations ???? ???? ???? ????
Downloads ???? ???? ???? ????
In-line links ???? ???? ????
Bibliography ???? ???? ????
Q&A’s ???? ???? ????
Articles ???? ????
Citizenship ????

The relevance of content to different types of users

CURRENT FEATURES

A list of current features and links to examples

Features Details Examples
Images Library of images in the form of diagrams and slides supported by full-page explanations Example
Articles Library of illustrated articles exploring light, colour, vision and how to see more Example
References Reference library of key terms used across the site including definition, explanation and bullet points Example
Q&A’s Pop-up general-knowledge Q&A’s with in-text links to the reference library Example
In-line links Functionality that highlights keywords and links to the reference library Example
Bibliography In-line citations and footnotes are used throughout the site and link to the bibliography.
Free downloads Functionality to download images and articles in formats suited to a range of different uses Example
Citizenship Functionality to enable and encourage user involvement

Table showing the existing features of lightcolourvision.org

FUNDRAISING AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Lightcolourvision.org operates under the auspices of MediaStudies Trust, an incorporated society registered as a Charitable Trust in New Zealand. The financial management of lightcolourvision.org, including all forms of fundraising and financial accountability, is the responsibility of the trust.

All funding campaign for lightcolourvision.org are intended to encourage support, involvement and collaboration in the project and help fund project development.

On-line fundraising powered by

Fully secured payment gateway

DONATE NZ$20 (£10.50)

RECEIVE: Citizenship
Because you know you made a real difference!

INCLUDES:
Honorary citizenship (with no obligations).
Regular newsletter containing project updates.
Appreciation and thanks measured in tons.
**
Donate NZ$20.00 now

DONATE NZ$50 (£25.80)

RECEIVE: Citizenship (Honours)
Because you know you made a major difference!

INCLUDES:
Honorary citizenship (with no obligations).
Regular newsletter containing project updates.
Appreciation and thanks measured in tons.
**
Donate NZ$50.00 now

DONATE NZ$100 (£46.89)

RECEIVE: Citizenship (1st Class Hons)
Because you know you made a huge difference!

INCLUDES:
Honorary citizenship (with no obligations).
Regular newsletter containing project updates.
Appreciation and thanks measured in tons.
**
Donate NZ$100.00 now

Newsletter sign-up

Lightcolourvision.org is a non-profit project operating under the auspices of MediaStudies Trust, an incorporated society registered as a charitable trust in New Zealand

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Campaign page 2019

Kia ora and welcome

We would like to warmly invite you, as a member of our closest circle of friends, family and colleagues, to the launch of lightcolourvision.org, our brand-new non-profit website.

We have created lightcolourvision.org as an empowering and inspirational resource for students, educators and researchers of all ages who share our interest and concern for the lives and education of future generations.

The video above provides an introduction to the project and you can explore the rest of the website using the menu at the top of the page.

Come to the launch party

Your invitation to our launch party is in the panel below, so please RSVP and join us for a celebratory glass of bubbles as we thank everyone who has supported us on the journey so far and as we map out the road ahead.

Join our funding campaign

As part of our launch, we are running a crowdfunding campaign. You can help us by pledging right now using the panel on the right (below on mobiles). At this point, a pledge will make a massive difference as we set new milestones and pursue ongoing funding.

We aim to raise a minimum of NZ$2500. If things go well and we raise more, all additional amounts will go towards our current aspirations of raising NZ$12,000 during 2019. You can see an outline of our budget for 2019 here.

You can read an extract of the small print for our crowdfunding campaign here.

Visit the site and send your feedback

What you see today is our proof of concept, a prototype demonstrating both functionality and a range of different types of content. We are keen to receive your thoughts and feedback!

Read the paragraphs below to clarify what lightcolourvision.org is all about and then use the feedback button on each page, and help us big-time with your comments.

**

CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN

PLEDGES RECEIVED

Name Amount (NZ$)
Anon 20.00
Miriam Kauders 100.00
Kim Theeman 100.00
Gwynn Rees 20.00
Trisha Murdie 30.00
Elisabeth Vaneveld 50.00
Oli Allen 20.00
Oliver Copsey 50.00
Anon 50.00
Bron and Kent Shelley 50.00
Simon Smith 20.00
Zoe Copsey 20.00
Michele Johnson 20.00
Jo Goffe-Robertson 50.00
Stuart Mackay 10.00
Katie Skinner 25.00
Rachel Mann 200.00
Anita Heffernan 30.00
Rya Allen 120.00
James Baysting 50.00
Anon 20.00
Tan Copsey 200.00
Annette Ashton 50.00
Sharon Allen 20.00
Jennifer Del Bel 200.00
Kaaren Hiyama 50.00
Naomi Forrester 10.00
Nabahet Hamdi 50.00
Sarah Crane 50.00
Eric Moskowitz 100.00
Guy Farrar 40.00
Peter and Joyce Mann 200.00
Yvonne Shorten 50.00
Michael Ellis 50.00
Max The Dog 10.00
Monica Mann 50.00
Catherine Boyd 20.00
Janette Vercoe 30.00
Michael Demchy 100.00
Lucy-Mae Sparkle 20.00
Anon 20.00
Sam Simmons 20.00
Melissa Durbin 100.00
Anon 200.00
Jennifer Salmon 20.00
Julie Swasbrook 30.00
Vonney Ball 50.00
Debbie and Paul Lawrence and Barber 50.00
Phill Rooke 40.00

NZ$ 2745.00 TARGET ACHIEVED!!

CAMPAIGN ENDED

12.00pm GMT 21st May 2019

**

Thank you

Thank you to everyone for your pledges. If you are having any problems making a pledge please Contact us.

Viewing this on your mobile? To see the full story swap over to your laptop.

To all of you, our supporters, THANK YOU AGAIN 🙂

Love and best wishes from Ric and Jules

The story so far

Over the last three years, we have developed the original concept into a fully-functioning website. It involved researching and making choices between different kinds of functionality and features, then designing and building this prototype. Visitors to the site can now see the result of our efforts including examples of a wide range of different types of content.

We now think the time has arrived to share the process we have worked through so far and celebrate the milestones that are behind us.

It’s also time to spread our wings a little and start to build on the community around the site. With your help, we hope to use our social networks as part of a strategy to reach out first to organisations and individuals across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Inevitably, we have had to cover the development costs so far. So, we are hoping that at this crucial point we can inspire all those who know and support what we are doing, to join our first fundraising effort.

We are confident that, with enough support, we can build on the proof of concept, the launch and the funding campaign to develop the initiative to the next level.

The vision

The website celebrates the common ground that binds human beings together in ways that we hope everyone can identify with.

Our approach to developing content is shaped by the fact that our thoughts are focused first on young minds and how to support them to make sense of themselves and their world.

Lightcolourvision.org challenges contemporary threats to open, diverse, inclusive and well-informed communities by advocating and demonstrating an appreciation of and care for each other and our world. To achieve this, we disseminate information and promote discussion of the very real processes that interconnect and sustain us on planet earth.

We are committed to responding to the call for people to make web-content that is rich and relevant to communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity and use the open web as a global public resource for people everywhere.

Lightcolourvision.org is designed as a multi-disciplinary curriculum resource able to function effectively within a range of educational contexts. But it is also designed to play a part in ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated life-long learning. In both contexts, it aims to enhance active citizenship, personal development and self-sustainability.

The team

We are Ric Mann and Jules Turner, the founders and the initial contributing editors of lightcolourvision.org. You can read background information and our personal statements here.

GOALS FOR 2019

Goals for 2019

Three over-arching goals for 2019 are outlined below:

2019 GOAL ONE: Commission the redesign of the site
The current design of lightcolourvision.org reflects the process we have worked through towards the proof of concept.

An important goal for 2019 is to give the site a contemporary interface with architecture that enables us to move from a free-standing resource to a platform that enables citizens (registered users) to get involved as contributing editors etc.

This means commissioning a web-designer who understands our values-based objectives and can provide the site with a corresponding look and feel. They will also help us to develop functionality that enables citizens to engage with one another in discussion and moderation of existing content and also enable them to create new resources.

 

2019 GOAL TWO: Complete all sixteen hand-crafted articles
Complete the package of sixteen hand-crafted and illustrated articles that link our central topics of inquiry – light, colour, vision and how to see more.

These articles introduce and explore the interlinking clusters of concepts and terms that are used across the site. They also help to expose the underlying research interests that motivate us as we develop lightcolourvision.org.

The intention is that these articles clearly demonstrate the quality of content we aspire to.

 

2019 GOAL THREE: Build a community of citizens
In educational terms, an effective community enables its members to set goals, develop key competencies and realise their full personal and social potential.

We hope that everyone who signs-in, subscribes to our newsletter or provides feedback recognises that they are valued members of such a community.

The idea of citizenship has already been introduced but growing an online community as clearly a step-by-step process.

An important step for 2019 is to develop functionality so that visitors who sign in as contributing editors can communicate directly with one another and so enable a decentralised community of citizens with shared interests and a sense of shared ownership of its content.

AUDIENCE

Who is it lightcolourvision.org for?

Students

The website aims to enable students involved in their own lines of inquiry – writing essays, developing presentations, preparing resources or creating artwork. Others may use the site to check facts or to improve their understanding of the topics we cover.

Educators

The website aims to resource teachers and educators who need to access resources that enable them to engage students with the topics we cover.

Our articles, for example, aim to provide consistently argued overviews of topics that draw on families of concepts/terms supported by a knowledge-base of definitions, explanations and additional information.

Our diagrams aim to provide an engaging and informative visual counterpoint to discussion within each topic.

Researchers of all ages

Our own academic, professional and personal research underpins the website. Our interests span the visual arts, the philosophy of design, visual arts education and curriculum development. We see lightcolourvision.org as a beacon for discussion of contemporary issues in a shadowed world.

We recognise that the needs of these three interest groups differ. With this in mind, the site targets a general readership first. As a result, content is organised so that the most accessible information is presented first, followed by additional content and links to further resources. Terms and concepts follow the same pattern meaning that new vocabulary is introduced paragraph by paragraph.

Research Classroom Student General
Images ???? ???? ???? ????
Explanations ???? ???? ???? ????
Downloads ???? ???? ???? ????
In-line links ???? ???? ????
Bibliography ???? ???? ????
Q&A’s ???? ????
Articles ????
Citizenship ????

The relevance of content to different types of users

TARGETS FOR 2019

Targets for 2019

We have a set of targets for 2019 to do with adding content. You can get a sense of the range of tasks from the table below:

Targets for 2019
 Details
Edit and proof Everything uploaded to date needs a final edit and proof
Images Upload fully researched but unfinished content
Articles Final edit and upload three more completed articles about colour
Bibliography Add in-line citations, footnotes and bibliography
Photography Establish the photography section

Working on the design and functionality of the site is a distraction from developing new content that we hope to overcome during 2019. The chart below shows progress so far towards our targets for the year.

 

Site content: Progress towards 2019 targets

CURRENT FEATURES

A list of current features and links to examples

Features Details Examples
Images Library of images in the form of diagrams and slides supported by full-page explanations Example
Articles Library of illustrated articles exploring light, colour, vision and how to see more Example
References Reference library of key terms used across the site including definition, explanation and bullet points Example
Q&A’s Pop-up general-knowledge Q&A’s with in-text links to the reference library Example
In-line links Functionality that highlights keywords and links to the reference library Example
Bibliography In-line citations and footnotes are used throughout the site and link to the bibliography.
Free downloads Functionality to download images and articles in formats suited to a range of different uses Example
Citizenship Functionality to enable and encourage user involvement

Table showing the existing features of lightcolourvision.org

CROWDFUNDING: DETAILS

How our crowdfunding campaign works

Lightcolourvision.org is a project which operates under the auspices of MediaStudies Trust, an incorporated society registered as a charitable trust in New Zealand. The financial management of lightcolourvision.org including all forms of fundraising is the responsibility of the trust.

Our crowd-funding campaign for lightcolourvision.org is intended to encourage collaboration in the project and help fund development through 2019.

The campaign begins on 1st May 2019 and finishes at 12.00pm GMT on the 21st May 2019

A pledge is an amount that a supporter offers to contribute if the crowdfunding campaign is successful.

The campaign will be successful if it reaches or exceeds the funding goal of $2500 by the close date.

If the campaign doesn’t reach its funding goal, then supporters will not be asked to settle their pledges.

If the crowd-funding campaign is a success, then supporters will receive an email offering various ways to transfer the pledged amount.

Two further attempts will be made to collect pledged amounts.

If these efforts are unsuccessful the pledge will be recorded as unpaid, but the amount pledged will be counted towards the success of the campaign.

Any donations made to lightcolourvision.org during the crowdfunding campaign will be counted alongside pledges.

Supporters can only make one pledge to the campaign. If a second pledge is received it will be considered as an amendment of the first.

Please contact Ric and Jules directly or through the website with any questions.

Footnote

Lightcolourvision.org is intended to be a 10-year project. It’s a kind of life work at the point where Ric and Jules’ research interests overlap. Health and everyday circumstances permitting, it will continue to develop. It is assumed that when supporters make pledges and donations to lightcolourvision.org they accept the unforeseeable risks and challenges faced by the project.

PLEDGE NZ$20 OR MORE (£10.50)

RECEIVE: Citizenship
Because you made a real difference!

INCLUDES:
Honorary citizenship (with no obligations).
Regular newsletter containing project updates.
Appreciation and thanks measured in tons.
**

PLEDGE NZ$50 OR MORE (£25.80)

RECEIVE: Citizenship (Honours)
Because you made a big difference!

INCLUDES:
Honorary citizenship (with no obligations).
Regular newsletter containing project updates.
Appreciation and thanks measured in tons.
**

PLEDGE NZ$200 OR MORE (£103.30)

RECEIVE: Citizenship (1st Class Hons)
Because you made a huge difference!

INCLUDES:
Honorary citizenship (with no obligations).
Regular newsletter containing project updates.
Appreciation and thanks measured in tons.
**

Newsletter sign-up

Lightcolourvision.org operates under the auspices of MediaStudies Trust, an incorporated society registered as a charitable trust in New Zealand

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Copyright statement

LIGHTCOLOURVISION’S COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

Light, Colour, Vision & How To See More (https://lightcolourvision.org) : Copyright © 2015-2025 : MediaStudies Trust.
Unless stated otherwise the author of all images at lightcolourvision.org is Ric Mann.
Contact Ric: kiaora.lightcolourvision.org

All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied, displayed, extracted, reproduced, utilised, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise including but not limited to photocopying, recording, or scanning without the prior written permission of MediaStudies Trust.

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Why explore light, colour and vision

WHY EXPLORE LIGHT, COLOUR, VISION AND HOW TO SEE MORE

LIGHT! Without light we see nothing! Without light, our eyes can not function at all! It is the fact that our eyes respond to light that allows us to gather the information needed to not only see colour but also to make sense of the world. Light has existed since the beginning of time and will still fill the universe long after planet Earth and its inhabitants are forgotten.

COLOUR! If human beings and related species were all to disappear overnight, the world would still be full of light but there would be no colour. Colour is an artefact of human vision, something that only exists for living things like ourselves. Colour is what we see in the presence of light.

VISION! Visual perception is the human ability to see and interpret our surroundings. It results from the sensitivity of our eyes to wavelengths of light corresponding to all the colours we see between red and violet. Visual perception is associated with eyesight but also usually refers to our mind’s ability to make sense of what our eyes see.

HOW TO SEE MORE! When we look more closely at things, we see them afresh and make new discoveries. A careful look at the most familiar everyday situation can reveal unnoticed qualities or a new perspective. Seeing more may involve more than looking closely, sometimes we need to stand back to get a new perspective on things. To see more involves looking beyond jaded perspectives and outmoded suppositions and imaginatively challenging our existing knowledge, experience and assumptions about ourselves and the world.

LIGHT, COLOUR, VISION AND HOW TO SEE MORE are the four core concepts that we have been exploring since late 2015 and which continue to be central to the development of this website. Over time we hope the resources we are developing will become an important source of information and discussion on how these topics shape our lives and our understanding of our lives on planet Earth.

At lightcolourvision.org we are developing resources that delve into the extraordinary connections between these concepts. We are exploring many different dimensions of our everyday experience. We are searching for straightforward explanations and insights into why the world appears as it does.

Follow this link to explore our LIBRARY OF ARTICLES.

Follow this link to explore our LIBRARY OF DIAGRAMS.

Follow this link to explore our DICTIONARY OF LIGHT, COLOUR & VISION.

Anytime you find a blue link embedded in the text, follow it to find out more.

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Lightcolourvision’s aims

OUR AIMS

If you are interested in getting your head around what the lightcolourvision.org website is about then read on. Here is a summary of our primary aims.

We are a non-profit group dedicated to resourcing future generations and a vision of sustainable growth of all forms of life on Earth. It is an image of caring for each other and our world.

We are committed to responding to the call for people to make rich and relevant web content; to build communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity, and to fight for an open web that is a global public resource for people everywhere.

We are creating a resource at lightcolourvision.org that celebrates the common ground that binds human beings together in ways that we hope everyone can identify with.

We have created lightcolourvision.org as an empowering resource for students, educators and researchers of all ages who share our interest and concern for the lives and education of future generations.

Our core aim is to explore the human experience of light, colour, vision, what it means, and how we might learn to see more.

We are creating an educational resource for students, educators and researchers of all kinds that explores the concepts of light, colour, vision and how to see more.

We are creating a comprehensive library of articles that provides easily accessible information on a wide range of topics related to the concepts of light, colour and vision.

We are creating an accompanying library of images that share consistent design and graphic detailing and provide easily accessible information on a wide range of topics related to the concepts of light, colour and vision.

We aim to organise the content of our website in a way that assists users in efficiently designing and implementing their visions, projects and assignments.

We aim to make all images on the site available for download in file formats suited to a wide range of applications.

We rely on the support of our partners, patrons, sponsors, supporters and users to realise these aim

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Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ’s

Is the website still under development?

Yes! We launched the site in mid-2019 with a party and crowdfunding campaign. Since then, new material is being added all the time.

Can I use the written material I find on the website in my own educational assignments and presentations?

Yes! You are free to use the written resources you find on this website for personal and educational purposes.

All material on the site is copyrighted so there are simple rules to follow.

If you want to cut and paste anything into your own project or assignments then the main thing is to avoid plagiarism by crediting the authors of the material you use.

Read these two articles for more information: Copyright: Credit where credit’s due and Citation and bibliographies.

Can I use the diagrams and images I find on the website in my own educational assignments and presentations?

Yes! You can download all the images you find on this website free of charge for personal and educational purposes.

All material on the site is copyrighted so there are simple rules to follow.

If you want to download images and use them in your own project or assignments then the main thing is to avoid plagiarism by crediting the authors of the material you use.

Read these two articles for more information: Copyright: Credit where credit’s due and Citation and bibliographies.

How do I find images?

Do any of the following:

Navigate directly to the LIBRARY OF DIAGRAMS and look for the images you need.

Search the whole site using the “Search Site” at the foot of each page using obvious keywords.

Another approach is to look through the articles in the LIBRARY OF ARTICLES and follow the links whenever you see an image you want.

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Welcome

KIA ORA FROM AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND

Thank you for dropping by. We hope you will take this opportunity to look around and see how the site is developing. It’s a work in progress!

We launched lightcolourvision.org at the end of May 2019 with a public event and fundraiser. Our current focus is on developing the layout, adding features and uploading resources. So, please note that we have a lot more information and images to add and more work to do on the design.

The aim of this project is to provide clear and concise information about light, colour and vision and . . . how to see more! The site has been designed as an educational resource with students, educators and researchers of all ages in mind.

Users may be writing essays, developing presentations or preparing their own resources. Others may use the site to check facts or simply to improve their understanding of the topics we cover.

Our LIBRARY OF DIAGRAMS is the place to start if you are looking for an image that explains some aspect of light, colour or vision. Every diagram appears on its own page and is accompanied by a full explanation.

Our LIBRARY OF ARTICLES contains a series of essays designed to provide introductions to light, colour, vision and the idea of learning how to see more. Each article introduces the terms and concepts needed to make sense of each topic and then builds a concise overview that avoids confusing detail. Visitors will find that each article is laid out as a series of illustrated pages.

The articles are intended for anyone who is finding it difficult to make sense of light, colour, vision and the connections between them. The problem that many of our visitors are faced with is that light, colour and vision are subjects of enquiry that are explored by specialised communities who often do not write about their work with a general readership in mind or explain how their particular interests relate to general experience. So, the approach we take is to connect everything back to everyday language and common sense.

Our DICTIONARY OF LIGHT, COLOUR & VISION already contains over 100 slides and diagrams. Each image is presented on its own page and is accompanied by a full explanation. Every page also contains links to our extensive glossary which is designed for visitors who come across unfamiliar terms or need more information. Diagrams are free to download but donations are always much appreciated. Downloads are available in commonly used file formats.

Before completing the download process visitors are asked to agree to our terms and conditions which stipulate that all articles and images on lightcolourvision.org are covered by copyright and made available solely and exclusively for personal, educational and non-profit purposes.

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All about our libraries

ALL ABOUT OUR THREE LIBRARIES

We hope you find useful resources here at lightcolourvision.org to help you develop your own projects and assignments.

Everything on the site is organised into a LIBRARY OR ARTICLES, a LIBRARY OF DIAGRAMS and a DICTIONARY OF LIGHT, COLOUR & VISION.

ARTICLES

We will soon have a suite of articles covering light, colour and vision in this library. Explore our ARTICLES now to see which titles are available to date.

Each article is in the form of an illustrated essay and aims to provide a gentle introduction to an aspect of one of our core topics.

Visitors will find that all the articles are organised under a series of sub-heading which break them down into digestible chunks.

The articles and illustrations are all available for download in commonly used file types.

ABOUT READING ARTICLES

Now here is some advice for visitors who are reading the articles for the first time and feeling a feel a little overwhelmed!

Download the article you plan to study. It’s easier to work with than flicking around web pages.

Be kind to yourself. Allow plenty of time to get to know new terms and concepts.

Look up unfamiliar words as you go along.

Cut and paste important points into your own notes.

Work backwards and forwards between the images and the text. They say an image is worth a thousand words!

Look for the key ideas first. You can add more detail later.

Never give up on new ideas. Just keep going. Eventually the unfamiliar becomes familiar and things that initially seem complicated become more straightforward.

Sleep on it! It’s amazing how we digest new ideas during a good night’s sleep.

LIBRARY OF DIAGRAMS

Our LIBRARY OF DIAGRAMS is for students, educators and researchers of all ages looking for information about light, colour, vision and how to see more. Visit our LIBRARY OF DIAGRAMS now to see the topics covered to date.

Visitors will find that each page of the library deals with a different subject such as Features of Electromagnetic Waves. The pages are laid out as follows:

  1. A diagram providing key information. All diagrams use the same graphic conventions to make them as memorable as possible.
  2. A dialogue box for selecting download options for the diagrams.
  3. A question and answer section where visitors can check out their general knowledge.
  4. An introduction to the diagram with point-by-point explanations.
  5. A summary of all the key terms used on the page.
  6. Additional information on how to use the resources on the page.

Diagrams can be downloaded in JPEG and AI format.

The AI format (Adobe Illustrator) allows users to edit the images for their own purposes.

The JPEG format makes it easy to place or paste diagrams into essays and assignments. All diagrams are exactly the same width which means they will maintain a consistent size when used in essays. They appear at their best when allowed to run right across the page from margin to margin.

Any text on the website can be cut and pasted into your own notes. Read our posts about Copyright and our Guide to Citations for more information. (A citation is a reference to a book, article, web page, or other published item that you add to your work so people know where information comes from).

DICTIONARY OF LIGHT, COLOUR & VISION

The easiest way to use the DICTIONARY OF LIGHT, COLOUR & VISION is to follow the links embedded in the text on DIAGRAMS PAGES.

When you click on a link it opens a new tab in your browser and displays a definition and explanation of the term you selected.

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About us

ABOUT US

    • Lightcolourvision.org is a non-profit project.
    • It is administered by MediaStudies Trust,  which is registered as a charity in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
    • There are three of us at the heart of the project: Jules Turner, Melissa Durbin and Ric Mann.
    • Together we share the responsibility of being Trustees whilst Ric produces most of the content for the site.
    • Each of us is dedicated to resourcing future generations and to a vision of sustainable growth of all forms of life on planet earth. It is an image of connectedness and of responsibility for each other and our world.
    • All three of us are artists, educators and community-cultural activists.
    • But the project wouldn’t exist without our citizen’s support.
    • Supporters have provided the financial resources to launch and begin the development of the website.

We are deeply endebted to everyone who is helping to grow and develop this project.

GET INVOLVED – JOIN US

Become a lightcolourvision.org citizen

Why not join us in one of the following citizenship roles:

Or just make a one-off donation to help develop the project 🙂

Donate

Like to know more? Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions or would like to get involved in any aspect of this project.