Water Bottle Design Rationale & Feedback Summery

The early versions of my work were not successful as i could not get a solid concept, i decided to re-think the entire task and after conducting an investigation on bottled water, its health and environmental effects along with its economical, energy, wastes and impacts, I have come to the conclusion that plastic bottles are harmful to both us and environment.

My task and aim was to produce a poster which would impact on people in order to reduce the use of single use plastic bottles and promote the alternative which is aluminium bottles. However my research also showed that some aluminium bottles are coated with plastic and therefore just as bad, thus coming to the conclusion that glass bottles are the only safe alternative. I didn't want to promote aluminium bottles after i had realized this, but the job required it.

I came up with the a concept, derived from the "three R's of the environment" Reuse, Reduce Recycle. I had Reduce, Reuse, Restore as the studies showed that plastic bottles don't really get recycled and i thought that by promoting the recycling people would just think its ok to buy bottled water because they would recycle. I also included the slogan "make a change today a little goes a long way" but it came into conflict with my focal point and the impact of the three R's. I later added Reduce plastic bottles, Reuse alternatives and Restore environments, this was to emphasize the environmental issues caused by plastic bottles and how people could help. I used a minimalist approach and I tried to eliminate any second thoughts or questions when it came to communicating my message, i didn't want people to be confused or to decipher a code. I used the colour green because it not only was associated with the environment, goodness and health but it also stood out on the white background and this would grab peoples attention.

I had a strong concept purely type based, i was then told it needed another element an image to tie to my message, I was trying to avoid this but decided the best way this would be accomplished is with an aluminum bottle. My first attempt didn't work as people who haven't seen an aluminum bottle would not recognize it, i created a simpler bottle which was more recognizable and also added a caption. After a few rewrites i decided to include a bit of my initial slogan and came up with "Make a change. Use an aluminium bottle as an alternative, Contact your student association for more information". This would tell people who didn't know that they were looking at an aluminium bottle and they should make a change and if they want more information they can contact their student association as this was aimed at tertiary institutes.

After a few tweaks, i had a strong final piece of work. The feedback i received was my concept was simple, being a poster people don't have much time to take in the information so its straight to the point, its strong and doesn't show weakness, it's harmonious, it has 60% function and 40% form.

I decided to go for an environmental angle as i felt strongly about this issue and also enjoyed it. I believe i produced a poster which fulfilled the needs of the task i was given.

Research: These are the various sites and YouTube videos that i collected, based and questioned information from. I recommend people watch "The Story of Bottled Water" it was very informative and made me think about what i am really buying.

Websites:
http://www.gotap.com.au/Did%20you%20know/Facts.aspx
http://www.allaboutwater.org/
http://www.bottledwater.org.au/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=ASP0003/ccms.r?PageId=10068
http://www.bottledwaterblues.com/bottled_water_facts.php
http://storyofstuff.org/
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/qbw.asp
http://www.bottledwater.org.au/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=ASP0003/ccms.r?PageId=10009
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-bottled-unsafe-drinking.htm
http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_5300319_health-risks-aluminum-water-bottles.html

You tube Videos:
The Story of Bottled Water (2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0

Bottled Water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk7DV0OAd7I&feature=fvst

The Effects of Bottled Water on the Environment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4PJOp5Szyw&feature=related

Tap Water vs. the Water Bottle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YohXg877KOc&feature=related

Bottled Water vs Tap Water on 20/20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3QBZac3MSY

The Real Story of Bottled Water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwV2JpFnxWM&feature=related

Confessions of a Plastic Water Bottle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2m0mjg_rhM&feature=grec_index