Denver Water has started a new ad campaign stressing people to conserve water. All around the city there are humorous orange billboards and installations. They use the juxtaposition of size to communicate their message. For example, they have a large bench next to a normal sized one; an over-sized newspaper stand next to an average one. On the larger objects they have text that reads, "How much water you give your lawn," and on the smaller objects, "How much it really needs." This is very effective because it is so simple to comprehend. No one would ever need an over-sized newspaper stand or bench, so why would anyone need to over-water their lawns? On their billboards, the bright (but not annoying) use of orange grabs the viewer's attention. The images comparing head hair does the same job as the installations, emphasizing that we water our lawns more than we need to.
The company is interesting in itself. On their website you can find not just information about how to pay bills and such, but also pages, links and tips on conservation, water quality, recreation, outreach and education. They have a long history that began in 1867 and their outreach and education is quite impressive. It has tours of the plants, speakers you can listen to, a teacher resource packet, educational videos and tips on saving money on your water bill. The website and the public ads have the same orange and typeface, creating an organized effort that can be recognized anywhere.
I think that they are doing a great job communicating their message. They have chosen to expand from the cliches of all things to do with water and environmental issues. We are constantly exposed to the "green" movement to conserve energy. You can really tell from their website that they care about water conservation without having to push the "green" attitude in our faces. Most of these have green and blue colors and nature references. Denver Water not only refuses to use blue and pictures of water, but they have used effective elements of art to communicate. The juxtaposition of the over-sized and normal objects is similar to some of the popular art today. The installations look like an art piece with a statement. The billboards and the installations let people translate the visual message to their personal use of water easily; wow, that is a really big bench...do I over-water my lawn?
http://www.denverwater.org/
I pass by a few of these billboards everyday on my way to and from Denver. I feel as though the designers of these billboards have really thought outside the box in order to capture people's eye and relay their message.
ReplyDeleteI love these billboards I've come to expect creativity from them, they're very entertaining! I especially like the one that has the woman with the crazy hair and the dude with the unibrow
ReplyDeleteAngie,
ReplyDeleteThis is a terrific and in my opinion quite effective at communicating the message. Brilliant.
Great post! The designs they came up with are definitely creative and get the message across very well. I love the use of orange in there as well which subconsciously makes us think of an important warning we need to read or something exciting that can't wait. I especially like the bench picture with one on the left obviously being overkill, it catches your eye and gets you to read the message that I'm sure a lot of us would normally just walk past without a second glance.
ReplyDeleteI think Sukle has created one of the most visually-striking ad campaigns that I've ever seen in Denver. They have definitely took they're ideas out of the box and for us, design students, gives us a solid source of inspiration. Awesome post!
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