WPP// Priority: Earth

Now that we have a solid name to work with, Priority: Earth, Simon and myself feel that we can begin to work on the visuals with more focus. As mentioned before the core visual for the campaign will be the planet, and how it reacts to outside stimuli. Because we plan on using thermochromic ink the poster will have to be screenprinted. We also want the core concepts of the campaign to be down on the poster, so that the viewer can either spot the poster and remember the name and move on or move in closer to find out more if they have the time.

As a result of the screen-printing any tonal images will be bitmaps, an aesthetic I quite like anyway.

The first renditions of the poster follow many of our previous sketches and plans, and  are also clearly inspired by the Earth Day poster. We have also included the tag-line 'The only time to act is now.' This is intended to be a warning, reminder, however it also offers a hint of positivity, because it implies that there is a plan, or it should do, at the moment there is nothing on the poster that could lead someone to think this.

The plan is to add a manifesto to the poster once it is written up and also direct people towards a website which will take them further into the campaign. For now we need to square off this poster and refine our image. As with the name, this will be a fluid process and the poster will likely change as the campaign grows and develops. We have also introduced a second sub-title 'Make climate change a key issue [in politics]. This has become a core theme of this campaign, to get people who already believe in climate change, but currently do not act to get up and do something about it. This could be a personal endeavour like recycling however the big target is government, as this is really where change can be made, convincing people to stand up to officials and force them to change policy.

Having done more research on the thermo ink we want to use we have found that our original poster plan is not as realistic as we had thought. The ink is much lighter than we thought so anything printed beneath will be clearly visible. As a result the 'warning message' will be printed over the Earth, then with human interaction, removed. This could also be reversed in filming for our original idea to work. At the end of the day this change is probably for the best, especially since the vast majority of people will not go and heat up the poster to see it change, it needs to work without being interacted with as well and this issue has forced us to consider that in our design.

We have also been playing around with the identity of the campaign, and the logo. The logo as it stands is simply the text Priority: Earth in the font Avenir Next arranged as is seen at the top of the poster. We are also considering using a version with that text within a circle. However I believe that this is unnecessary. Saying this I am really liking the simplistic modernist aesthetic that these posters are portraying. Using just two colours and focusing on a single image, I would like this design style to follow into the website and books.