Final Poster and Explanation

In the end, it was my water poster that I chose as my final design.

As for the whole meaning behind my poster, every part of the design was intentional. To begin with the title, I wanted to play on the fact that we, in North America, see water as an unlimited source. We use it excessively without thinking, on our lawns, in the shower, in the kitchen. We tend to think that there’s no end to the water coming out of our taps, whereas people in areas of drought or in developing countries experience a lack of water everyday. They know that it is a very limited source, that if there’s going to be a third World War, it’s going to be over water. For that reason, “limited” in the title is in a bolder colour and in full opacity, whereas the “un” is in white and with a reduced opacity, because the idea that water is unlimited is quickly fading in truth. The hand squeezing the world like a sponge is representing how we’re “squeezing” all the drinkable water from the  world without a second thought to the consequences, and the ones receiving that water is us North Americans, the privileged. I even made the white man have a grey, desaturated skin tone to represent the lack of humanity or compassion towards the Earth and towards those who don’t have the unlimited source of water we think we have. He’s even standing in the remains, the puddle that the poor people are drinking out of, like the careless privileged person he is, dirtying their water. This is exactly what us North Americans do: Whatever water we do leave for those suffering from water scarcity is tainted, polluted, and dirty from our waste, whether it be garbage or harmful chemicals from our living and production of goods. Even so, these “poor people” drinking from the puddle are a lot more colourful that their greedy counterpart, which is often the case for the people suffering. While their physically needy, culturally, they are full of life and full of love, sticking together and supporting each other in their communities.

Links for more information

Also, if you are interested, here are the sources which I used during my research for water scarcity. The documentary film (listed first) is what I saw to begin my interest in this issue. It can be found on Netflix. 

• Last Call to the Oasis *
  

• World Wildlife Foundation
• Business Insider Article
• The Water Project
• World Watch Institute - Vital Signs Article *