Why this illustration?
This illustration is something I had discovered on Pinterest a while back. The simplicity of the design, the colour palette, and the message are all elements that I love about the piece. I thought it was very clever with how it was constructed, as the bright red plastic bag is still the focal point despite the quirky character telling the story that she has clearly been caught. I immediately thought of this image when taking on this exercise due to the boldness and for how current it feels.
To help collect information for this exercise I did resort to using the internet. As the topic of the brief covers current news, it felt easy to access and search for the information I wanted in one place, to achieve a good, believable background to the brief. I also used some of my own images from my travels as evidence of the issue surrounding plastic.
Photos taken in Vietnam - Phu Quoc Island - 2018
Having personally witnessed the damage that plastic pollution has caused in Asia, where beaches have been closed down due to the huge amount of waste that drowns them, I wanted to bring facts that will connect the illustrator to the brief so to understand the importance and why the brief even exists.
I have also witnessed progressive countries within Asia where a huge effort has been made to clean up the city, some of which seems more progressive than the likes of Western countries. This first hand proof shows that change can be made and why this brief is a perfect example on how a government can implement such changes.
The Facts:
"Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them." - National Geography
After the WWII, plastic became more of an accessible material which lead to the boom in fashion, fabric, toys and appliances. It became a slippery slope from there, and has taken years for anyone to notice the damage it was causing. Plastic is a phenomenal material, it's a saviour and a destroyer.
"Plastics revolutionised medicine with life-saving devices, made space travel possible, lightened cars and jets—saving fuel and pollution—and saved lives with helmets, incubators, and equipment for clean drinking water." - National Geography
Single-Use plastic is said to be disposed after an average of 12 minutes (BiologicalDiversity.org).
At least 267 different species have been affected by plastic pollution in the ocean. - (BiologicalDiversity.org)
It takes 500 (or more) years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. Unfortunately the bags don't break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment. - (BiologicalDiversity.org)
Kenya introduced one of the world’s toughest laws against plastic bags in 2017. Now, Kenyans who are caught producing, selling, or even using plastic bags will risk imprisonment of up to four years or fines of $40,000 (£31,000). - https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/plastic-pollution-facts/
The average person eats 70,000 microplastics each year. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/plastic-pollution-facts/
Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes and then take up to a thousand years to decompose.
Delhi's Plastic Crisis
"A CPCB report in 2015 stated that Delhi produced 689.5 tonnes of plastic every day. It is estimated that 80% of this plastic is not recycled and ends up in landfills and drains." [5]
The Brief:
Delhi first banned the use of plastic bags in 2009 in an effort to clean the streets that were in desperate need of rescuing. Unfortunately the ban was rarely enforced, which lead to plastic bags finding their way back into markets, shopkeepers, etc. Leaving parts of the city unmanageable with pollution.
In an attempt to reenforce the ban effectively, we are currently investing in a major marketing campaign that will inform locals of the punitive measures against plastic bags. Punishments of imprisonment or a heavy fine has become a necessity in order to reduce the plastic pollution.
We would like the illustrator to demonstrate the new law through an imaginative, eye-catching and engaging image for a poster that will inform and provoke.
The illustration must feature a red plastic bag in the final artwork, whilst the remaining illustration is to be in black, white and grey. Red is very important colour to the campaign due to the intensity and representations to danger. It is our goal to stress the severity of the issues surrounding Delhi and plastic. Red will be used across the entire campaign.
Our idea is that the plastic bag will be the clothing of a character who is being held at gun point. The style should be a simple vector like art that will compliment the bag and not distract from it.
Text is to be included saying "Plastic bag use is a Capital Offence". The text need not interact with the illustration, we would like this to be a bold Sans font which will sit at the bottom right corner.
Our message is simple, the poster needs to reflect this.
Artwork Dimensions
Final printed posters will be A2 sized.
We are initially running 200 posters
Artwork Deadline
We would like to see an initial concept within 2 weeks of the start date. The final poster to be finished within an additional 2 weeks.
The campaign will launch February 2020 with posters rolling out across Delhi. It will also feature on our website for a solid 6 months, and feature in newspapers for 2 months.
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