Typography Based PSA Concept
Goal:
Create a typography based PSA announcement through the lens of an applicable client, while also paying keen attention to the target audience and their response.
General Target Audience Profile:
Large business who are primarily responsible for plastic waste in the oceans, and furthermore, any individual who cares about the environment and the Earth.
My Approach & Solution:
Create a PSA surrounding the problem of plastic in the oceans. I chose to have the Monterey Bay Aquarium as my client, since they are a large proponent of cleaning up ocean plastics in California and beyond. I aim to target big business by pointing the finger directly at their plastic usage and manufacturing.
Background & Client Alignment
The background of this project stems from my own love for our planet. We are killing our oceans through petroleum based plastics and I want to be a voice that advocates for the reduction of plastic use.
My (conceptual, but real) client, The Monterey Bay Aquarium is committed to the environment in many ways and aligns very well with the intent behind this typography campaign.
Leading Message Mockups
Poster to reinforce the message through a symbol of rebellion.
Boat wraps that are used in the harbor of Monterey Bay. Users are incentivized by by being given free admission to the aquarium for every day they display the wrap.
Main billboard. The intent is to point the finger at big business's unsustainable business practices.
Typography & Color Palette
I used a combination of two typefaces to create my designs.
Helvetica Bold & Blow Up
I chose Helvetica due to it’s use in Swiss design systems and legibility. It brings a feeling of sensibility to the messaging, which reinforces the intended response of the PSA. I chose Blow Up to reinforce the idea of plastic. It brings a sense of plastic artificiality to the piece.
I chose a high contrast color palette of bright red to symbolize plastic and caution, and a toxic-ocean green color to symbolize the pollution and plastic in the oceans.
I created each design with a roughness that matches the slow erosion of the ocean’s currents on plastic over time. Additionally, I overlayed the designs with a grainy texture to add sand, age and grit to each image.
Intended Response
My goal is to point fingers at the large businesses who are largely responsible for rampant plastic litter and pollution of our planet. I want to make them uncomfortable and shift the blame from the consumer to the producer.
To achieve this, my vision was to implement a gritty, bold, toxic and textured aesthetic with a high contrast color palette that evokes a feeling of (well designed) ugly.
TikTok & Advocacy Images
TikTok video concept mockup advocating for the PSA message.
Supporting style image placing the blame on the target.
A statistic from Live Kindly.
A mural next to recycling bins encourage the public to recycle.
A message to all people who interact with the PSA. This represents our need for a better system overall. It showcases the inherent irony of tossing plastic into plastic to reduce the use of plastic.
Plastic. It's a vicious cycle...
Why stop there? Let’s put these corporations on blast and advertise the campaign online. Social media is a powerful tool for spreading awareness and TikTok is more relevant than ever (barring alleged bans to said platform in the US).
Plastic is a vicious cycle, but we can’t stop now. We have to put our money where our mouth is so to speak. There needs to be a broad call-to-action to anyone who interacts with these designs. In the end, we want to keep the plastic on land. So we must encourage everyone, although it’s not a perfect system...
Please recycle.