Water bottle design rationale & feedback summary

My first concept for my plastic bottle poster consisted of an image of a number of bottles expelling poisonous fumes and smoke. The idea behind this was to use imagery to make the viewer aware of what it takes to make a plastic bottle and show them what effect it has on the environment. I was so fixated on this idea that I did not take into account other ways that I could convey the same message in a much simpler format.

This was brought to my attention after our first group meeting with which everyone put forward their ideas for their posters. Our teachers advice to all of us was make everything more simple and stop thinking so complex. This advice was hard to take on as I kept thinking of ways to make the poster so aesthetically pleasing that I kept forgetting about creating an equal form vs function poster, only focusing on the form.

My final idea for my poster was an image of the world with a plastic bottle in front of it. The text read 'stop using plastic bottles' at the top of the page and then at the bottom 'look at whats at stake.' The typeface I used was called california. This typeface had a very earthy feel to it although it had a touch of distortion about it I felt it added to the idea that the bottles were destroying the planet. The entire background was black to give the out of space effect and to help the planet blend in and belong a little more. The idea behind the text 'look at whats at stake' was to make the reader think for a moment about the effect that it is having on our environment.

When the final design was put up for critiquing I must say that I was not happy with the final product. My idea was good but I felt that I could not execute it well enough. This was also explained to me by the class as they felt exactly the same way about it. In conclusion I do not see it as my best work and what I need to look into is making my ideas work better in the final design and always remember the phrase form vs function when designing anything. More research into the subject would benefit.