Abdul Aziz Bin Safudin S9435873F Victoria School

Visual Arts Task

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Contents Page
1.Introduction 1.1 Approach 1.2 Objectives 1.3 Definitions 1.4 Ways to reduce Carbon Footprint 2. Research 2.1 Mode of Transportation 2.2 Locations 2.3 Case Study:PlantWithPurpose.org 3. Development of Ideas 3.1 Theme/Campaign 3.1.1 Other Influences 3.2 Series of Images 3.2.1 Initial Drafts (Posters) 3.2.2 Typography 3.2.3 Final Drafts 3.3 Logos 3.3.1 Initial Drafts (Logos) 3.3.2 Further Development 3.4 Final posters with logos 4. Evaluation 4.1 Comments by others 4.2 Concluding words 5. Bibliography

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1. Introduction
1.1 Approach
Question 1:
In the role of a designer, research advertising for making a greener environment. Using this experience, formulate a design proposal for a series of images and logos which can be applied to transportation systems to carry a message on how to reduce the carbon footprint. For example, cycling, car travel, public transport, air or sea.

1.2 Objectives

In this proposal, I will design a series of images and logos to maximize the impact of the need to reduce carbon footprint for a greener environment to my target audience.

1.3 Definitions

What is Carbon Footprint?

A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, mainly Carbon Dioxide, caused by an organization, event, person or product. It is the measure of the impact of our activities on the environment, in particular, climate change. (Source: wikipedia.org)

Why should we reduce our carbon footprint?

Our carbon footprint can cause environmental problems that can be detrimental to our future. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that causes the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is where ultraviolet rays from the sun are trapped within the Earths atmosphere, increasing the overall temperature. This can cause climate change and also extreme weather conditions. (Source: carbonfootprint.com)

1.4 Ways to reduce carbon footprint

Unplug it.
Unplug appliances that you dont use frequently. Most electronic devices have a standby mode that uses electricity even when not in use.

Ditch plastic bottled water.

Plastic bottled water has a huge carbon footprint it is bottled at one location in small bottles and shipped all over. Buy reusable bottles or canteens for your water. You help reduce your carbon footprint AND save money by not buying new plastic bottles all the time.

Take a direct flight. Switch off standby.

If you need to travel by airplane, try taking a direct flight when at all possible. Your carbon footprint is reduced when you take one flight, as opposed to transiting at different locations, taking two or more flights.

Leaving your appliances in standby mode wastes electricity, thus increasing carbon emissions. (Source: Sustainability.publicradio.org)

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2. Research
2.1 Modes of Transportation
I have chosen to advertise my campaign and series of images in public transports as they experience the highest amount of traffic. The main modes of public transportation in Singapore are buses and trains.

Figure 1. Average monthly ridership for buses and trains. Source: Wikipedia.org

As shown in the above table, it is very clear that trains receive have a higher monthly ridership than buses. As such, I have chosen to adapt my series of images to be more suitable to the train systems.

2.2 Target Audience

My chosen target audiences are mainly teenagers and young adults between the ages of 14 to 24. They are young and have an impact on the future generations, that is why I wish to reach out to them.

Figure 2.1 Percentage of age groups for buses. Source: Forbes Research Pte Ltd

Figure 2.2 Percentage of age groups for trains. Source: Nielsen Media Research

As shown in the charts, young adults make up 22.6% of the daily train passengers. Although buses reach out to a higher percentage of the 15-24 age group, referring to Figure 1, trains reach out to a higher volume of the 15-24 age group.

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2.3 Case Study

I have decided to use PlantWithPurpose.org as part of my case study in researching for green advertising. Their advertising campaign mainly consists of online campaigning. The PlantWithPurpose.org campaign uses various illustrations in their advertising as well as photographic images.

Source: PlantWithPurpose.org
Their advertisements consists of two colours, green and yellow. Their images are solid and simple. Their concept of integrating images with text is interesting to me. In addition, photographic and illustrated images can captivate the audience and convey a stronger message in a better way.

This campaign had much influence on my designs. I was inspired by their simplicity yet powerful images that were able to attract my attention. After researching on many campaigns, this was the only one that managed to keep me on their website for more than a minute, which tells me that it is effective.

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3. Development of Ideas
3.1 Theme/Campaign
The main message, based on my research, I would like to convey to my audience is that they can make a big difference by changing little habits. I would like to invite my audience to take their First Steps in reducing their carbon footprint. First Steps also has a double meaning, with reference to carbon footprints.

3.1.1 Other Influences

One of my influences for my design is Manulife Financials advertisements. Their advertisements are very simple with a clean design. Their ads consist of mainly two colours: white and green.Their design has very few text, making it easier to convey their message. It has a direct and straightforward way of advertising which very much appeals to most of their target audience.

Another key influence in my designs is SilkPro. Their series of images contains a similar trait throughout. Their images consists of a single image with different colours for each image to showcase their different products.By doing this, the audience can clearly recognise that each of those images belongs to a series.

Source: Photos on this page are taken by candidate.

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3.1.2 Locations

Two main areas that I will place my series of images are at the doors of the train stations (Figure 3.1) and also along the travelators between stations (Figure 3.2). These areas are high traffic areas that will reach out to the majority of train passengers.

Figure 3.1 Station doors. Source: Photos taken by candidate

Figure 3.2 Travelators.

3.2 Series of Images

This segment will go through the various stages and decisions made when designing the series of images.

3.2.1 Initial Drafts (Posters)

The two images below are my first attempt at implementing the various aspects from my influences. I have decided to use a single illustrated image to represent the message I was intending to convey for each image.

The above drafts have a distinct identity. I intend to ensure that there is a similar trait in my other posters as it is a series of images.

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3.2.2 Typography

A great deal of thought and effort went into choosing the fonts to be used in my posters. I wanted to select a font that was both light-hearted but suitable for my target audience. The fonts also had to integrate into my posters well. The subtle differences in each font, can make a big difference in the impact of each image.

Minimal SF

Minimal SF & Bool Moran

One of my first few choices for a font is the Minimal SF and Bool Moran. Its fluid and seems like a suitable font to represent the poster. However, it does not integrate well into the poster nor does it provide emphasis for my image.

Bool Moran

Gill Sans MT
Gill Sans MT with the word Plastic in regular.

The Gill Sans MT seemed to be the most suitable font to represent the image. It conveyed a serious message to the audience and it can provide emphasis to certain parts of my message with the bold version of this font.

Gill Sans MT with the word Plastic in bold.

Gill Sans MT is also suitable for my other posters.

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3.2.2 Stylized Images

I have decided to stylize my images used in the poster. The following are the different styles and filters Ive applied to my images.

Crosshatching

Spatter

Glass Effect

Poster Edge

Cutout

Crosshatching

Spatter

Glass Effect

Poster Edge

Cutout

I chose to apply the cutout style because it was the most suitable style. Other styles like spatter may work with the bottle, but doesnt fit with the plug image. The cutout style is suitable because it retains the shape and colour of the pictures and yet provides an unreal effect to the image.

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3.2.3 Improved Drafts

These are the inproved designs of my posters. I decided to add the CO2 as part of my poster as I realised that my poster lacked the Carbon Footprint them and message it was meant to convey.

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3.3 Logos

My goal when designing the logo is for it to both symbolise the objectives campaign and also represent Singapore in some way. Singaporeans may be able to relate well to the campaign if local elements are visible.

3.3.1 Initial Drafts (Logos)

Vanda Miss Joaquim
One of my initial influence for the logo is Vanda Miss Joaquim. It is the national flower of Singapore. Singaporeans can easily relate to it because the Vanda Miss Joaquim is an orchid which are common in this country. It represents both nature and our country.

The dark area of the orchid symbolises how the world is disintegrating due to our carbon emissions.

Singapores Skyline

Another idea for my logo was to integrate our skyline into my logo. Below are some sketches of my initial ideas for my skyline logos.

Figure 4. Singapores skyline. Source: theonlinecitizen.com

Here I literally fused the silhouette of the skyline into a leaf, symbolising the nature beneath the carbon producing city.

This sketch was intended to be a line of smoke being emitted, signifying that our nation is in peril, producing carbon dioxide.

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3.3.2 Further Development

I decided to pursue the smoke outline design to develop into a fully-fledge logo. Below are some experimental samples of logos I made. They are basically the same, consisting of the skyline outline and a circular boundary. I experimented with various colours and text positions. The goal when I was designing this logo was to both appeal to my target audience and also integrate well in the series of posters. In order to achieve these goals, I decided to design my logo systematically.

The most basic and raw form of my logo. It lacks the ability to convey the theme of Green Environment.

I filled the logo with solid colours as I realised the logo was empty and was unrecognisable when seen from far.

Changed the colour of the text, to represent the 3 main colours of my 3 posters. Similar to the primary colours.

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3.4 Final posters with logos

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4. Evaluation
4.1 Comments by others

The posters are simple and professional. It delivers the message clearly and is easily understood by the audience. However, it doesnt tell the audience of the effect and the consequence. The poster is not full informative as it lacks providing the audience the effect and consequences.

I realise that my poster lacked information due to its simplicity. It was a sacrifice I took in order to maintain its effectiveness in delivering my message. I did not want to bore my audience with long strings of information especially if they are chasing the train. One of my goals in designing this poster was to deliver a message on how to reduce carbon footprint, and displaying the effects and consequences was not part of my goal. However I may consider implementing it in another series of images if I had the time to do so. The logo looks very minimalistic, mirroring the concept of the poster, which was good. However, the logo may lack in representing carbon footprints.

4.2 Concluding Words

Self Evaluation I felt that this project was a success and failure in different aspects. I was able to execute my design plans according to my objectives and I did it in a systematic way to prevent myself from deviating from my goals.

Word Count: 1,613

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5. Bibliography
1.3 -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint -http://www.carbonfootprint.com/carbonfootprint.html 1.4 -http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumed/tips.html Figure 2.1 and 2.2 -http://www.smrt.com.sg/advertising_leasing/smrtmedia/media_train.asp 2.3 -http://www.plantwithpurpose.org Figure 4 -http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/02/whats-wrong-with-the-current-singapore-growth-model/ Plastic Bottle Image http://www.hoax-slayer.com/plastic-bottles-cancer.html Any image not credited belongs to the candidate.