Seeding the City
Overview
This poster design was created as part of a conceptual project focused on urban greening, aiming to highlight the integration of nature within urban spaces.
Objective
In the face of environmental destruction, thanks largely in part to human urbanization, I wanted to create a poster that fostered hope. The idea was to create a cityscape that could be the inspiration for the development of future skylines, one that integrates nature and highlights its beauty. I felt it important to create positive imagery under the context of environmentalism as it is often a dreary subjective. It’s important to be reminded not only what you’re fighting against but what you are working towards. In this case, this poster reminds us we’re working towards a future with plant life fully ingrained into our urban landscape.
Process
This piece was made using a picture I took of a vase with flowers in it. The vase was actually a
repurposed daiquiri cup and the flowers are white and red carnations. Symbolically, red carnations
represent love, and white carnations are good luck. The combination of the two helps to add depth to
the poster’s meaning by symbolizing both the love for nature and urban environments and the wish for
luck in our endeavor towards uniting the two.
One of the challenges of making the piece was how to get all elements– the building, cityscape, and
type– to look as though they belonged in the same image instead of separate item layered on top of
each other. To do this I employed a couple techniques. One of which was weaving the text through the
plants so they appeared to be interacting. I also gave the text a glowing affect like the flower
building and used a typeface that had a rough texture with some see through parts. This allowed the
backdrop to become more integrated through the text as well as having the same texture as concrete
walls you would see in an urban environment. Finally layered a texture over the whole image to unify
the piece and add more grunginess that can be associated with major cities.
Outcome
The final poster was one of six pieces from the College of San Mateo that were featured alongside other posters in the Seeding the City International Exhibition. It is visually captivating and successfully conveys the idea of blending nature with the urban landscape. It received positive feedback for its unique and thought-provoking design, igniting conversations about the importance of having hope for the future of the environment and ourselves.
