Solar

For this project I was tasked to design a poster for a university project that was using the Climate Council as a mock client. During this project the goal was to create a poster as part of a campaign that communicates a message centred around climate change.

Challenge

To design a poster around promoting climate change and communicating what people can do to help tackle the issue.

Outcome

A poster that communicates the benefits of solar power.

My Research and Findings

During this project we were asked to design for one of Global Warmings Six Americas, this is a breakdown of 6 groups that have differing views and motivations on global warming. My subgroup that I choose to design for was the Cautious who are the most in the middle group, they don’t pay much attention to global warming news/messaging and are uncertain if global warming is real. This group makes up 20% of the population that was identified in the study.

During my research I identified various strategies that could be used to design for this target group.

Using visual imagery, promoting positive social norms, moving the debate around the certainty of climate change to preventative measures, and highlighting the co-benefits of more sustainable options.

My research also highlighted avoiding using fear and dire messages to showcase the reality of climate change. Providing clear steps to what a person can do to help reduce climate change was an important insight that I used to springboard my ideas.

My Ideation and Inspiration

Initially I looked into various ideas around climate change and how to communicate strategies for preventative measures.

I took inspiration from the ‘dumb ways to die’ campaign that was focused on safety on their railway systems.

My Development

During my development I struggled with developing imagery for solar that communicated effectively.

As I developed my poster further it became clear that a gradient on top of an image of a solar field worked the best. I continued to add in the content and some of the final touches to the poster.

In the final poster I used metaphors and imagery of the sun and tailored the poster towards a warmer palette. One of these was the use of the gradient as a metaphor for the rising sun.

The messaging was designed to encourage people to use solar. I intentionally avoided debating the reality of climate change and focused my message on what the viewer can be doing to help solve the problem. Renewable energies are one way stop a reliance on coal and other fossil fuels. I focussed on cooperative and shared values.

In the poster I highlighted the co benefits of solar and structured the message around that solar save’s money, is good for the economy and that its one of the cleanest ways to generate electricity. I also motivated cooperative values by suggesting that many Australians have already turned to solar and you could too.

My Takeaways

Develop a strategy, by carefully planning the story for a specific audience and pushing the visuals to their fullest to be engaging for the audience is important in developing successful projects.