FMP: Greenwashing: Editorial Spread 1 Development Post-Feedback

I presented the above version of the first spread at the interim crit. I received mixed feedback which I noted in a previous blog post.

Generally, feedback was that my representation of greenwashing was slightly unclear and overly complex. There were concerns that attention is not drawn to the heading enough, or the designs to the left.

To make the message of the 1970-style designs, I first decided to make the misdirection towards litter picking slightly clearer. The text ‘Get Involved In Litter Picking!’ is larger. I also added small textured rectangles to the top corners of the designs, to give them the appearance of having been stuck to the wall.

With this effort of better-integrating these designs onto the wall, I decide to stop using the shadow figure. It seems to make the design slightly too visually busy, and it is not clear what the shadow figure communicates to the audience.

My first approach was to make minimal changes to help the green page overlay concept clearer and the heading bolder. I added a second page curl to the top-right corner and made the green page slightly brighter to pursue this. This does help to strengthen the appearance of a page which can be removed and exposed for what it is covering up. I then selected the bold brush style font for the heading to help attention be drawn towards this.

Further consideration and reflection on the feedback indicates however, that changes should be more significant. My use of clear greenwashing signifiers may be excessive. I am also dissatisfied with how the brush style text suits the rest of the page, despite appreciating how it draws far more attention to the heading. I am also increasingly dissatisfied with how the green paint is a weak contrast for the green page background, and would like to pull back on the use of this.

To simplify the spread and help the two pages to seem more clearly connected, I decided instead to remove the green page concept and return to the green wall concept instead. This takes better advantage of the interesting shape of the wall, not breaking it up with the green page overlay. It also makes more sense for the scene, since the wall represents the surface cover-up greenwash, in front of the scene of pollution behind.

I also increased the blur for the background pollution, toned down the red hue and lowered the brightness of it. These were choices to take some of the emphasis away from this background area, especially since to balance it out it would benefit from the right page not being covered up by a green overlay.

I made several changes for the version above. First testing shows that readability was too poor for the first green cover I used for the wall, so I applied a lighter bright green. I also blurred the wall where the text sits, since the shape of the brickwork also compromised readability of the text. I kept the wall texture clear for the area surrounding the designs on the left page, to help attention to be drawn to that area.

I also changed the heading. With the right page no longer having a green cover, the area for the heading is darker in tone. I used this by placing white text over the dark background, where the heading stands out well. I reverted back to the regular heading text I have been using, since this will help to keep further spreads more connected with this one. Using the paint style also doesn’t make sense for that area with no page covering it – the sky is not a surface for paint. I arranged the heading to fit more evenly in the shape of the wiring above the wall, rather than focusing on alignment with the grid. This is to take the best advantage of the wiring as a framing device.

I next filled back in the area to the bottom-right. Reading through the text content, it is clear the reader could benefit from being given a definition for the term ‘greenwashing’ in that space. I added an appropriately sized green paint area to frame a definition for the term ‘Greenwashing’, which sits below the end of the article. The text is slightly larger for the definition to help this stand out from the rest of the article.

I received more positive feedback from this version of the spread. The greenwashing on the wall is clearer and a better use of the interesting shape across the spread. Adding a definition for the term ‘Greenwashing’ and making the litter picking aspect slightly clearer on the left page also help the design to illustrate the text.

FMP: Greenwashing: Editorial Spread 2 Development Part 2

This continued part of the development follows on from thoughts I gained in the interim crit. Developments keep this feedback in mind.

Continuing development, the first issue to address was that the nuclear waste aspect needed to be clearer. The faint appearance of the barrels through the water was a choice to pursue a realistic effect, but did not effectively communicate to the audience.

To achieve an appearance that the barrels are in the water, but to still make them visible, I decided to aim for an appearance that the barrels are only partially submerged in the water, partially floating above the surface. To achieve this effect, I would need to lower the opacity drastically, to around 25%, and then copy the top half of the layer over it with full opacity. Applying a slight blur and slightly adjusting brightness/saturation is then important to help the barrels to seem like they are a part of the scene.

I have several barrels copied, with their different angles and small size in the image helping to conceal the fact it is the same barrel repeated. I arranged them carefully to be declining in size as they need to appear further away in the shot. I arranged them over the part in the water which is reflecting the cooling towers, to keep this nuclear waste connected with the nuclear power more.

I next decide to pursue another paint effect. I was dissatisfied with how the solid border for the image was looking adjacent to the green paint effect under the headings. By using a layer mask, I can have the frame of the image be a painted area, with the same brush I used for the green paint on the spread.

It was also here it can be seen I am taking the spread in the direction of using a yellow background. This choice is a break from the green which has been prevalent in my designs so far, and was suggested may become excessive in my interim crit feedback. The yellow focuses on the nuclear waste danger warnings aspect of the visualisation. I also note that this spread is very important for introducing the term ‘greenwashing’, so the boldness of the yellow is quite appropriate in how it will draw attention to this spread more than most others likely will.

Here I have integrated the desired paint effect, which makes the spread more consistent. Lowered opacity strokes help the effect to appear realistic as a hastily applied paint cover. At this point I am satisfied with the visibility of the nuclear aspect, but find that the green paint over a cooling tower could go further to represent an attempt at greenwashing on the part of the nuclear power plant.

To make the nuclear plant’s greenwashing attempts clearer, I am placing a sign on the cooling tower. This name ‘Clean and Safe Energy’ shows, as obviously as possible, an attempt on the part of the nuclear plant to display a green, positive public image. The wording is a quote from the text content on the page also.

Here I have integrated the textured sign onto the cooling tower’s face. I placed a low opacity faded warning symbol beneath it to show that this green image is deliberately covering up the danger and harm of nuclear energy.

Here is a the spread with the above-described developments. I also added the small paint brush illustration to the subheading, to continue to show a deliberate attempt to the greenwashing.

The use of a paint brush effect across the spread helps to keep things visually connected. The spread overall appears strikingly bold, but with not compromise to text readability.

I added some extra details to the spread here. It was advised to me that the use of pull quotes will help to achieve a professional editorial look, and are known to help to draw people into the subject matter of the article. My visual research of editorial design also shows a lot of use of pull quotes, which really help spreads to stand out.

I added another low opacity nuclear warning symbol as well, to help to keep the page to the right more visually intriguing but still not overly complex and difficult to read. This keeps the yellow background connected with the nuclear greenwashing issue also.

As a final touch I also added some shading to the sides of the cooling towers. Paying attention to the reflection in the water surface, I realised that my green paint effect has covered up a lot of the shading in the original photo. Preserving this shading is very important to help to keep a realistic appearance, keeping a sense of depth and a realistic environment.

I may make further changes to the spread based on any feedback, or to keep this spread linked with further spreads I develop. This version above does, however, currently appear to be appropriate as a final version.

FMP: Greenwashing: Interim Crit Feedback

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I presented my progress on the Final Major Project work with the slides above, detailing my process. Feedback was mixed and I take on the following points to consider addressing going forward.

• Consider holding back more on the use of the colour green. There are other ways to represent the issue. I acknowledge I may become to reliant on the colour which may not serve the visual effectiveness of the spreads very well. I need to be open to other ways of communicating the issue, and I should avoid instances where green paint is set on a green background. I should perhaps consider colour palettes. However, based upon my strong foundation of research, the colour remains vital for representing some aspects of the issue, since it is being introduced to audiences who need to gain a quick understanding of it. The colour accurately reflects how companies use the colour to sell a false environmentalism, and has consistently been used when others have visualised the concept.
• Make the concept of a false green filter over a reality, move obvious. I’m not fully following through on this on the “Misdirecting Climate Action” spread, and can use visual touches to play into this more.
• Consider heirarchy. This is a constructive criticism I need to follow up with my tutor in further depth. I take on that there is an issue with the “Misdirecting Climate Action” spread that there is no clear place for the eye to immediately be drawn to.
• Be certain about the direction for these spreads, whether I intend to incorporate illustration or not. I explained that I decided against illustration for the spreads I have progressed on, since I cannot effectively represent a grim reality associated with the truth behind the greenwash. The idea to use the Corporate Memphis illustration style remains potentially effective, but should not be pursued if it doesn’t match the spreads which have not used Corporate Memphis.
• Consider some lead-in text before the large block of small 10 pt text, to help readers to get into the content.

There was valuable constructive criticism from the presentation. This has given me an important perspective on my spreads which I did not find myself through evaluation. I will follow up on this feedback with my tutors, and begin to make changes to these spreads in consideration of the feedback, whilst I also look to progress on the following spreads.

FMP: Greenwashing: Editorial Spread 2 Development Part 1

Paying careful attention to the text content of the first part of this page, I decide to change the layout to move the text on the right side of the spread above, onto the following spread, leaving just the text on the left page for this spread. This text is then moved on to the right page to keep it connected with the following page. This choice was taken because I find there is a lot to potentially visualise from the text on the current left page, to warrant prioritising a clear page adjacent to it to do so.

To set alongside the text, I look to represent Nuclear greenwashing, with recognisable cooling towers as a dominant feature which can be shown to be involved in greenwashing.

https://pixabay.com/photos/nuclear-power-plant-cooling-tower-3140401/

I find the image above, sourced from a free creative commons license, to have potential as it shows a body of water with it. This is an opportunity to make use of a reflection, as a parallel, which perhaps exposes a truth which is covered up on a surface greenwash. I found examples of people visualising greenwashing which have used a body of water to show something literally hidden beneath the surface.

I start off by placing the image on the left page to the text. The text at this point has been arranged to fit a smaller image/visualisation in it, after a lot of adjustments.

I have set the heading text ‘Greenwashing’ in a hand-painted style which is appropriate to fit with the common visual element of green paint and a paintbrush. The title is especially large, stretching over two pages, to draw attention to this page for giving the definition and origin of the term, very important to the overall text across the spreads.

https://pixabay.com/photos/nuclear-waste-radioactive-waste-1471361/

To introduce nuclear waste to the body of water which reflects the nuclear cooling towers, I turn to the recognisable evidence of the harm of nuclear energy, barrels of nuclear waste. Sourced from a free creative commons license, I extract a barrel from the image above, and copy it to faintly have these barrels appear in the water, which I also have a dark hue over.

I developed the spread here in a few ways to communicate the greenwashing issue. First, more use of the colour green is a choice which links to how examples of greenwashing manifest visually in the world, with companies using the colour for a surface level cover of environmentalism. A paint effect with the colour matches with the greenwashing process.

I apply the green paint effect to the cooling tower, to illustrate the kinds of attempts made by those involved in nuclear energy (as described in the text) to appear as a ‘green’ alternative. I contradict the green paint on the tower by giving more power to the smoke coming from the tower. I extracted a section of the smoke on the image and placed it on top of the heading, to show the air pollution truly undermining a false green message.

At this stage I need to consider how to make the nuclear harm clearer in the body of water, whilst not being too distracting an maintaining some realism that the waste is present in the water. I also plan to potentially develop a visual element to be placed on the page on the right, which involves the greenwashing of towels at a resort, which are important to the text.

FMP: Greenwashing: Text Visualisation Planning 2

With the first spread having moved forward in development, I turn my focus to the text content of the following spreads.

Above is the planned text content for the next 2 spreads. The text content From the upper spread, set to cover pages 4-5, is sourced from The Guardian. The text content from the spread below it, currently set to just the page on the right of the spread 6-7, is sourced from Duclarion.com.

Key concepts/events/things to potentially visualise:

Spread 4-5:

• Jay Westerveld
• Intense corporate marketing of their environmentalism on TV in the 1980s
• Greenwashing nuclear power, covering up the harm of this energy source. Half-truths.
• Stolen towels: Signs to pick up/re-use towels, for the environment, from an imposing harmful beach resort in a vulnerable area. Greenwashing in an attractive beach location.
• Energy company Chevron greenwashing with a butterfly reserve – covering up oil spills in protected wildlife refuges, unclean air and water.
• Chemical company DuPont greenwashing with the applause of happy animals, covering up major pollution.

• Bottled water companies falsely linking personal health to environmentalism without any actual justification for it, using vague positive language and imagery.
• Nestle’s use of aesthetically pleasing scenes of natural environments, despite its unnecessary use of plastics.
• Using recycled and plant-based plastics, with greenwashing which makes the consumer forget that using no plastic at all would be much better than these ‘green’ innovations – which still leave millions of tons of waste in landfill.
• Nestle sourcing water from regions with severe drought (California, Oregon, Arizona)

Spread 6-7:

• Nestle’s vague statements of recyclable or reusable packaging.
• The sought-after well-intentioned consumers think they are supporting a sustainable product, when they are not.
• Focusing on a small positive environmental change whilst obscuring vast remaining environmental harm.
• Question of the profit motivations behind companies’ environmentalist efforts.
• Consumer awareness of greenwashing would be ideal, as well as regulation of greenwashing.

Visual Inspiration Part 1

The first part of the text serves as a general definition for Greenwashing. I may therefore wish to implement visualisation of the concept in general, which I found very inspiring examples of in a previous post.

Note: I first looked up Jay Westerveld, and have found that he is a relatively obscure environmental activist. I will not pursue illustrating this man as, despite appropriate credit given to his coining of the term, the article is concerned more with the implications of it, specifically relating to graphic design – rather than a more generalised history.

Looking at the greenwashing of Nuclear specifically, the prominent use of cooling tower(s) or nuclear waste barrels strike me as having potential to visualise greenwashing in a very clear way, an obvious harm associated with these nuclear waste products and air pollution.

Next I turn to signs advising people to pick up their towels. This relates to the example which directly inspired Westerveld in coining the term Greenwashing. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with these kinds of signs, and they make a valid point, it is important for them to be understood in the context of the hotel that is putting these such signs out. I may be able to visualise a hotel which is in some way contributing major environmental harm, whilst showing their environmental commitment just in the form of this very small aspect of their carbon footprint which calls on the customer to act rather than the hotel itself. The illustration more fully visualises the issue, though in the Spanish language.

Upon continued research, I have found close to no acknowledgement of a Chevron-funded butterfly preserve, meaning this approach may not be an appropriate direction for a large visualisation.

The text describes DuPont greenwashing with the use of applauding animals for their small positive change whilst persisting environmental harm. I found the ad in question which does show a series of animals applauding. It may not be an ideal approach to focus on animals due to the illustration required and the fact it would not match the previous spread at all, but this is a strong example of greenwashing.

Visual Inspiration Part 2

The next part of the text focuses on bottled water, which is a product with well-documented cases of greenwashing. The Nestle brand is of particular focus.

Nestle bottled water exasperating drought issues in California is an example of focus in the text, which may lend itself well to visualisation. A pristine bottled water which communicates green in harmony with nature, contrasted with the grim reality of dry cracked mud which the supposedly green product is partly responsible for.

This combines water with the use of green paint as a way to clearly communicate the practice of greenwashing.

This shows bottled water in its less visually appealing state, as a part of huge amounts of waste (despite promises of recycling). This may be an effective way to contrast the pure and appealing bottle.

Above are some images focusing around the concept of the green consumer. This is more difficult to visualise, but might be worth bringing in to show the process of how consumers are misled into supporting brands which harm the environment, through their designed greenwashing.

This visual research has been important for me to be able to plan for and develop the designs for the following editorial spreads. I will continue based on the findings of the most relevant imagery, particularly the nuclear energy greenwashing and the bottled water greenwashing.

FMP: Greenwashing: Editorial Spread 1 Development Part 3

Continuing on with this full-spread image, I apply it to the text content in InDesign.

I made some first changes to help the design fit in with the Greenwashing theme and with the shape of the image it sits over. I started with the title, which has been positioned to fit within the wired wall. I find this to be an effective way of using the shape of the background image effectively with the word content above, conveying that the text is linked with the visualisation and creating more visual interest. I also made the cover over the right page slightly brighter to make sure the black text stands out well, and I gave it a mild green hue to show make it a green cover, appropriate to greenwashing.

https://www.ecowatch.com/greenwashing-guide-2655331542.html

I next re-consider the ways that people convey the concept of greenwashing, to start to bring that more into the design of this spread. The focus will be on the very end of the body text with the first mention of the word, with the text before providing useful contextual information for it. The intention is to imply that the pages after this one, will go further to define and explore the issue of greenwashing. These are things that will also help to keep this spread visually linked with the spreads that follow it, as they will certainly be applied in some way to them. The use of a green filter, green paint and a green paint brush over a scene of pollution, is a key recognisable approach that goes to represent the issue of greenwashing.

To implement the look of green paint, I first needed to experiment with different brush strokes. After much consideration, I found that the best approach was to apply a paint effect brush with a limited opacity, and then layer strokes on top of each other. Strokes shouldn’t be too thick or thin of this process, so that they can be linked to an appropriately sized paint brush.

In applying the green paint effect to the spread, I note here the importance of keeping further text and objects in consideration of the column structure, as here I place the text through four columns.

I next wanted to illustrate a simple paint brush. I found an appropriate subject and copy/imitate its shapes, paying special attention to the bristles which require fine lines with alternating shades.

I considered using brush strokes to draw people to the bottom right corner to read on. This choice is because the term “Greenwashing” is defined at the end of the text on that page, and then elaborated on in the following page; readers should be encouraged to turn the page and go on. The concept was to continue the paint brush theme, and communicate the page turning message.

I then re-considered as I see the potential in using a page curl effect instead. This is a direct visualisation of the intended action to turn the page. Furthermore it links to a prominent concept of greenwashing, that there is a green cover behind a darker truth. So the green sheet or page is being lifted to expose something underneath that reveals true harm.

I initially had difficulties with creating an appropriate curved shape, but I paid close attention to visual inspiration.

I found that gradient shading was very important to show a convincing page curl effect, to show a depth where light hits the front facing surface most prominently. I then applied a soft drop shadow to further convey the depth.

I chose a crimson tone to go beneath the green page curl. This is firstly a choice to bring together two known complimentary colours, red and green. This also links to the spread’s existing use of red and green, starting to build up a distinct identity of colour. The choice of a red tone also communicates danger, the negative implications of environmental harm, which is why this was used prominently on the left page.

I have here implemented the aforementioned green paint touches, with strokes over an emphasised placement of the term “Greenwashing” which is the key word for the designs. I also decided to apply a brush stroke to the heading for this text, to help it stand out and keep the greenwashing green paint theme present on the spread. I decided to place a paint brush near the strokes, as this starts to show that there is a deliberate effort in greenwashing. Placing it beneath the page curl also helps to show the depth of this curl and it also covers up who may be holding the paint brush. This could add a subtle sense of mystery, and links to the fact that the intentions and person behind a green design is not always clear or reliable to see.

I next needed to address the issue that the full-scale photograph is hiding the pagination folios which was set up on the A-Master. This persisted despite the obvious check to make sure that the image was arranged to the back. This tutorial was very helpful in explaining that all elements on the A-Master would be placed behind all layers of the main sheet by default, and following it I was able to rectify the issue and display the page numbers from the A-Master whilst keeping the full size image.

Before leaving this version of the first page, I wanted to make an effort to show more of the human intervention to show the greenwashing, that it comes from a person’s actions. I didn’t want to place blame on a typical painter, and have the details of a person become distracting, so I wanted an obscured representation of a person in the wall space.

The pagination has been implemented, and I decided to change the text from black to white so that it can be seen on the darker surfaces. I followed through on using a shape of a person by creating a shadow effect above. I used the removed background figure, set it at full threshold to turn it a solid black cover, and then lowered the opacity and applied a gaussian blur to create the shadow effect.

I have mixed thoughts about the result of adding the shadow figure. It does add a more mysterious and human-caused look to the visualisation of the text, as is appropriate. It takes up some of the free space and makes the design less simple and comfortable, which is also quite appropriate for the complex subject. It also helps the two Keep America Beautiful designs to appear genuinely attached to the wall.

However, I feel the shadow may become too distracting in how it’s not exactly clear who it represents (which is, in a way, the point). The shape of the object in the person’s hand is unfortunately not clear at all. It looks like it could likely be some kind of weapon – which might be an effective angle in suggesting towards the harm of greenwashing, but not when it’s this vague.

This will require further consideration, but I also need to focus on looking at what the designs of the following spreads will be, before I am in a position to finalise choices for this spread. It was just important to develop this spread first, to give a clearer idea in my mind of where following spreads can link to this one, and to show and gain feedback on.

FMP: Greenwashing: Editorial Spread 1 Development Part 2

Moving past the previous approach of combining satirised Keep America Beautiful imagery with Corporate Memphis style litter pickers, I decided the approach to visualising the test content should be more focused on representing the most relevant imagery for the period Greenwashing message.

Discarding the Corporate Memphis approach for this spread, as it’s not relevant for the time period and not explained in the text, I look back to the famous Crying Indian piece for more inspiration.

I refined the approach to the Nixon twist on the Keep America Beautiful design, abandoning the exaggerated blue teardrop for a more subtle, realistic teardrop with a soft brush and limited opacity. I also preserve a more clear divide between the photo and the text area (solid background), as is seen on the real Keep America Beautiful message. I use the same text as in my previous developments.

I paid attention to kerning here to refine the typography. The default spacing from the type tool had some displeasing gaps, mostly for the problem of gaps being far too tight. It’s important for the kerning to be consistent, upholding a professional standard. Other than this, I applied a grain texture to the image, and a subtle glow to the text. This resembles how the original ‘Crying Indian’ piece is seen, and helps these elements to appear connected and aged.

I made two further pieces satirizing these Keep America Beautiful messages, encouraging litter picking with excessively dramatic and bleak designs which don’t reflect the litter picking solution that is being prompted, and which make inappropriate claims overstating the contribution of people’s littering to harmful pollution – the lower image caption I created directly addresses the audience falsely with the blame of litter which can be clearly traced back to a prominent company (Coca Cola). I used the same main typeface to keep these pieces recognisably similar, as well as keeping in the grayscale to help them to seem dated. Using the earth from space as a subject from one was directly inspired by how the text described a new appreciation for this perspective at the time of 1970, which I also observed in my visual research. The litter on the ground was inspired by a piece which used this kind of bleak dramatic photography, also from the appropriate period.

I first applied these 3 pieces to the spread in a straightforward way. Starting from this, it was clear I would need to try out different things to help to bring through the theme of greenwashing, to add some more visual interest to the spread.

I started thinking back to the key ways that people visualise the concept of greenwashing. The most common, which I certainly intend to implement through the editorial spreads for this brief, is the use of green paint. I wanted to try a concept where these advertisements are seen on a wall that is being painted green, literally a part of the greenwashing.

The man painting, sourced from a free Creative Commons license, has had its background cut out and placed in this green space, with green applied to the paint roller. The choice was to show that there is an intention behind the green, not that the wall just happens to be green, so it connects it to the deliberate greenwash.

I applied a textured background to resemble some kind of wall, and lightly erased part of the right side of the spread area so that the black body text will stand out against the background enough.

Here I followed through on this concept, with satirised designs applied to the left spread.

I have found problems with this solution. Firstly, the textured background isn’t clearly a wall, and similar textures were also not providing ideal results. Secondly, even here where I haven’t taken further steps to help them blend with the background, it is clear that the Keep America Beautiful designs on the left space don’t fit in well with the greenwashing background. These are visually a very different form of greenwashing, with the colour green not prominently associated with the Keep America Beautiful campaign of focus.

Upon further consideration, it’s also clear that the painter needs to be abandoned. Too much attention is drawn to this stock person, and it may unfairly place blame on the working individual doing the painting. Nothing about the person’s attire suggests that they are some kind of successful business executive that produces the greenwashing – these are the kinds of people who should be associated with it.

Furthermore, the scale of the different elements on the spread and the abrupt flatness of the green wall, may make for an uninviting spread, not using contrast, balance or depth. There is also very little space left at the top to follow through on the concept of the green wall obscuring the true factory pollution behind.

Recognising the need for change, I first turned to real brick textures to help to better establish the wall which the designs will be placed on.

I realised that applying this, I still didn’t have a top for the wall in place to cover a polluting scene behind it, and it would still make a very flat spread which might be difficult to make visually appealing.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_thorn_wire_wall_1.JPG

I turned instead to the wall above which has a wired top to appear very unappealing visually, revealing the ‘ugly truth’ they are covering up behind the wall with pollution.

I deleted the sky background of the wall, which had to be a manual process since the automatic background remover was intent on removing the brick wall. I found an image of air pollution from a building above – I was drawn to its symmetry which could help to link two pages of a spread together

Upon reflection I was dissatisfied with how the pollution didn’t come across strongly behind the wall. The overcast weather conditions in that photo meant there was less potential impact than there could have been.

https://pixabay.com/photos/power-plant-air-pollution-6807566/

I searched for different scenes of power plant pollution and found this to be an ideal option, with how the smoke is such a clear contrast to the sky around it, and the power plant shapes are very recognisable.

I found this to be a stronger combination, and edited the photos as seen above. I applied grayscale to the wall to help to place it in the 1970 time period for people’s minds, and to help it to provide better contrast and not distract from the pollution behind it. I applied a red hue to the pollution scene as a strong indicator of harm and to contrast with the subtle, understated green tint to the wall. Contrasting red and green to represent the real environmental harm vs the greenwash should be established as a running theme through the spreads. I also zoomed in more on the wall to get the black gap in the wall out of the way of the text area on the right of spread

The Keep America Beautiful designs needed to be applied to the wall space which was more limited in space in this version, so I decided to just use two of the pieces which I felt were slightly stronger and more accurate in taking on the look of the real designs of the time. I warped the designs to help them to fit on the wall, and also applied a subtle drop shadow to this end.

I find it very effective how the two designs on the left page line up with the smoke above the wall. It subtly reinforces the link between these visual elements. I also recall in researching professional practice in photography, the importance of using shape in this way.

I also added a subtle overlay to the right page, anticipating that the text will not reach satisfactory readability without a lighter background.

There still may need to be more work done to help designs blend onto the wall, perhaps with lighting or applying tape to the pieces. I also need to consider how best to change the text arrangement to fit in with the full spread sized image, and also consider how to further communicate the concept of Greenwashing at the end of the text with the word mentioned. I don’t intend to have the spread in its final form until I have looked into planning future spreads to consider how to keep them connected, however.

FMP: Greenwashing: Editorial Spread 1 Development Part 1

I have read through the text content above to decide what visual elements should be included with it on a double-page spread, to help attention to be drawn to this content and to help it to be understood by the audiences, having a clearer idea of how the described design messages manifested visually. My approach would be to mimic the greenwashing messages of the time in some way, hoping for them to be understood as somewhat satirical when read with the text content. This is an approach partially inspired by Adbusters.

I have identified that a key message of the greenwashing communication described above, was encouraging people to join litter-picking efforts. These litter-picking efforts were communicated as THE solution to pollution, placing the burden on the general public rather than the companies producing the materials which go to waste.

I decided to illustrate over some people taking part in litter-picking, as this would be the subject of the greenwashing. I decided I would try to replicate a Corporate Memphis style, as this is contemporarily associated with greenwashing, a bright and positive illustration style which lacks a sense of depth and obscures people’s features.

I begin using the line to draw around the subject’s features. I extended the limbs further than the actual photographed subject’s limbs, in attempt to achieve a Corporate Memphis style which is noted for excessively long limbs.

I start to select bright pastel colours for the person’s features, keeping very basic with the shapes and shading at this point to reach an undetailed look similar to what is seen in examples of Corporate Memphis, seen below.

Here you can see the illustration developing, individual shapes being combined. Some of the edges appear incorrectly shaped, and so are modified when I view them combined. The illustration is formed of layers so it was important to start with the parts behind first (such as the facial tone and shirt underneath the yellow jacket), and work towards the frontal parts (the arm holding the litter picker). The arms are deliberately elongated out of proportion, as stated before in an attempt to reach a Corporate Memphis appearance.

Here is a basic version of the illustration completed, intended to appear in a Corporate Memphis style, showing someone picking litter.

I created the other person to the left in the same process which was detailed for the person to the right above, also based on a reference image.

I put these 2 people picking litter in a simplified background, on some kind of public footpath where people may be litter picking. I don’t want to draw attention to the background, and for these simplified illustrations to seem like they belong in this place, which is why the background area is kept so basic.

The focus next turns to how to show the connection between the greenwashing and the litter picking. Showing a poster design of some kind which encourages the litter picking, is the approach I chose to address how the real Keep America Beautiful campaign directly put out messages and advertising to encourage the litter picking.

Keeping relevant to the key graphic design imagery of the period of time that the text focuses on, I turn my attention to the famous Crying Indian design from Keep America Beautiful. It is clear from researching this initiative, that the design above is by far the most recognised imagery for the campaign, so it makes sense to show this in some way.

Creative Commons Free Use Image

Pursuing a satirical angle, I decide to re-create the Crying Indian format whilst contradicting it, in the spirit of successful Adbusters designs. I focus on the subject President Richard Nixon above. Nixon was president at the time of the 1971 Keep America Beautiful ‘Crying Indian’ campaign, and was described as promoting this campaign against litter in the text I am setting visuals to.

Swapping out the Native American man for the well-recognised Richard Nixon is an appropriate way to subvert the original advertisement. It shows who the message from Keep America Beautiful is really coming from, the establishment, interested in excusing all pollution from companies and misdirecting attention towards the general public’s littering. The president of the United States is an ideal representation of those in power, and it helps to show this person in power in a critical light, that Nixon was a notorious president with a troubled legacy due to publicly well-remembered involvement in the Watergate Scandal.

Here is a first result of putting the litter picking illustrations together with the greenwashing messages that the text is critical of. The concept is that the posters, featuring Nixon, are prompting the litter picking which is seen in Corporate Memphis style in the foreground. I then decided, to make more clear that there are other problems with pollution that have little to do with littering, to have the wall which the Keep America Beautiful messages are on, be covering up pollution from a power plant or factory of some kind behind. With this, the A4 size area illustrates the message of the text. All photos used are copyright-free, under creative commons licenses.

I found there are significant issues with the spread in this form. The left and right pages don’t seem connected, which may need to be considered and have more added to the page on the right to fit in with the page on the left.

The use of Corporate Memphis style seems to be misguided in this spread, upon reflection. The text it sits with, the first block of text of the magazine, doesn’t detail Corporate Memphis, dealing primarily with greenwashing issues which far pre-date the prevalence of this style. Having not defined Corporate Memphis, it is a problem that audiences won’t be able to identify the intended use of this style – even if I go on to add more detail to the illustrations and exaggerate their features in line with Corporate Memphis style.

The intended clash between the real photos and the corporate memphis style isn’t properly committed to here, with the differences ideally visualising greenwashing. The Nixon posters should be in the same style as the people who are being greenwashed, carrying a similar visual identity and having the reality of the factory pollution behind contradicting this in a different visual style.

From here I need to remove the litter picking illustrations in this Corporate Memphis style. I consider also how the left page may be trying to do too much to give a full idea of the text on the right. From my research, illustrations for editorial work don’t necessarily need to visualise the whole message of the text, and can rather be implemented to support the atmosphere or time period of the design which is being focused on, giving some sense of what visually is relevant to the text. I may have been trying too much with this page, having a full illustration which, when refined, may be more similar to what would be appropriate for a front cover design.

From here I may focus more on replicating the graphic designs used by Keep America Beautiful and Earth Day in the time period, as are relevant to the text and I already researched. Displaying this style rather than incorporating Corporate Memphis and showing litter picking, may be a more appropriate and focused way of visually enhancing this spread.

FMP: Greenwashing: Typesetting – Justification and Hanging Punctuation

It is important to take the time to carefully consider the typesetting for this editorial work. Professional editorial design is edited in a way which keeps body text neat, inviting and still highly readable.

The initial placement I have above does give some comfortable spacing to the blocks of text, and aligns from the left as is standard for a lot of typesetting purposes. I already have the typeface set from previous development. I also already made the choice to disable hyphenation, as that tends to disrupt the flow of a sentence, harming readability.

I start by bringing the text boxes closer together, with the gaps between them being the standard gutters rather than the whole 1/12th columns they were separated by before. I initially kept them so spaced apart as I’m conscious to avoid presenting audiences with an unapproachable wall of text. However, looking through a lot of different magazine designs has made it clear that such large gaps between the text boxes is not preferred. The closer gaps are still perfectly readable, and it helps readers to be sure that the text is linked together – with sentences continuing from the bottom of one text box to the top of the text box adjacent to the right.

I next decided to set the text to be justified to the left and right, with InDesign’s settings making this a quick change to make. This was also inspired by seeing various professional examples favouring this – with exception. I have read some public opinion on the matter where compelling arguments are made for this choice, in aligning with professional standards and with the aesthetically pleasing, inviting quality of the even boxes of text. However, as popular reservations to this choice state, there is a certain issue with readability. As can be seen above, there are a lot of uncomfortably large gaps between words which can seriously harm the flow of a sentence.

I changed around the justification settings in InDesign for this text to see a change. These values were advised to me as a good balance, cutting down on a lot of the large gaps whilst not distorting words too much to become a problem for readability.

The resulting text sees some improvements. The large gaps between words which were particularly noticeable in the paragraph towards the bottom-left of the text above, it much tighter now. The tightness there is not quite ideal, so may require some minor adjustment, but this appears to be better to read than text with such large gaps through it. Some lines, such as the ‘Environmental visual’ line at the top of the last paragraph of this text, seem to have no easy solutions for looking appropriately spaced. Slightly editing the wording in cases like this may be a next step as the editorial design develops, though I keep in mind that this must absolutely be avoided in some cases of working with the text of others.

Above I tried another slight adjustment to the text, as was advised to me, to add hanging punctuation. This means that punctuation is able to sit outside of the text box which limits characters. This seems to be a layout choice which has a been used a lot in the history of editorial design. It perhaps helps the readability of the reader which is used to seeing this implemented, which may very well apply to a graphic design audience.

It has been a good step to make these slight adjustments for typesetting at a professional standard. I will keep these changes in mind going forward with the typesetting for this brief, trying to strike a balance of text which is aesthetically pleasing on the page, and which does not limit readability.

FMP: Greenwashing: Text Visualisation Planning 1

I need to add photography/illustration pieces which appropriately support the parts of text they will sit next to. This first section of text, sourced from D H Schwartz, should have accompanying imagery which suits it.

Key concepts/events to potentially visualise:

• Earth Day.
• 50 years of advertising environmentalism.
• Nixon showing environmental concern.
• 1969 space mission raising concern.
• Coca-Cola involvement in ‘Keep America Beautiful’ Anti-Littering, placing the burden to act on consumers rather than the companies.
• ‘The Crying Indian’.

Earth Day 1970

I need to consider and potentially draw from the designs of the Earth Day 1970 events. This event is very important through the text on this page, as it links to how people had a new greater understanding of the earth in its fragile place in space, and were already being encouraged to ‘Keep America Beautiful’. This is the kind of early involvement in environmentalism from graphic design that should be emphasized. Involvement from Coca-Cola placing the burden of the consuming public to change their ways, whilst their actions when on unchallenged, also make some of these examples some early graphic design greenwashing.

This Earth Day poster can be noted for how dark and ominous its imagery is. This supports a notion that much of the imagery and the attention towards this campaign, stems from newly popular images of the earth from space. The planet is shown as the object of focus, which I may be able to draw from. The earth has a gas mask attached to it, suggesting that the earth is struggling in its air quality, that it is in danger. The visual is unusual and likely quite memorable for audiences. It sets a serious tone of concern for the earth, towards the advertised Earth Day events.

This poster also has quite a dangerous unsettling feel, continuing a trend of hard-hitting visuals not associated with the positive spin of greenwashing that much of the focus for this editorial will be on. The design’s dark grey and orange tint communicate danger, particularly with how crowded and uncomfortable this scene is. Attention is drawn to pollution from a factory of some kind and from an aeroplane, with a strong contrast of the near-black on a lighter orange background. Pollution is directly linked to human activity with this, as well as the cars blocking the road.

This poster features a much more simplified and abstracted illustration. It seems that the earth was paired down into two tones, one leaning towards blue and the other towards green, and placed here in the middle of two large arrows. These arrows are similar to those which are used to communicate recycling, and their use here generally gives a sense of two aspects connected, building off each other, even, sustaining the earth… the abstract nature of this illustration opens up such an array of interpretations. Though quite indirect, the illustration is quite positive, so it has some potential to link to greenwashing – though it may be inappropriate to represent the first Earth Day as a complete greenwash. I may wish to use a similar illustration style to that in the poster above since it shows to be relevant in visualising the text, and would be more simple to replicate than some of the more advanced illustration styles and photography.

This poster features a more detailed brightly coloured illustration style. Its meaning is more abstracted, appearing somewhat spiritual and giving a general sense of the earth’s diversity of fish, and life in general. This is a distinctive painted style which would be difficult to replicate, and it doesn’t do much to quickly give an idea of the purpose of earth week, so it’s a poster I take less inspiration from this whilst acknowledging its place in a varied range of ways that graphic design was implemented to promote the message of earth day.

This poster uses photography to promote Earth Day. It features a range of scenes, some of which can be quickly understood as environmentally harmful. The eagle in the middle of the photo may stand as something that must be protected, or as relating to a patriotic duty for an American audience. The typography appears to be cut out and hand-stuck along with the photos, which makes the poster come across as a collective human effort, which may link well to the Earth Day theme. Showing quite bleak photographs in promotion of earth day, as a way to shock people into doing their part, is what I keep in mind from this.

This is another abstracted and simplified illustration to promote Earth Day 1970. It seems to represent the earth with the sun rising over the sea. This poster takes a more positive approach than some of the other more serious and unsettling choices in previous examples. It is inspiring how it conveys a meaning and stands out so much with the use of simple shapes and block colours in a circular area. The prominence of examples with a main circular feature, tending to show the earth as a sphere, are something I may be able to carry forward when representing how this Earth Day was promoted.

This is a very important design from around the time of Earth Day, promoting the Keep America Beautiful Campaign which is mentioned in the text. “The Crying Indian” (Native American) is a prominent example of corporate greenwashing. It heavy-handedly shows those affected by pollution by highlighting the sadness of those affected by damage to the land, with a teardrop falling from their eye. The bold block text re-enforces the seriousness of the message. This design was a driving force for the campaign, which was backed by prominent companies such as Coca Cola, which shifted attention away from companies’ pollution, misdirecting efforts and guilt towards the general public concerning litter. In some way interpreting this design, mimicking the format or content in some way, may be important in visualising what is most relevant to the text content.

I have identified the concepts and seen some important visuals, to be able to represent the block of text content at the top of this post. I need to experiment and try to find an appropriate way of using these concepts and visuals, in a way which fits the themes of the text without trying to represent all of the text. I shouldn’t be creating a final appearance at this stage since I need to consider the rest of the text, and how the spreads’ visualisations may or may not be linked by the style and colours used.