Don't Pave My Bay!
Role: Wireframes & Design Project Date: 2010 Client: Save The Bay (For Free Range)
Sometimes it's a good sign when people look at you like you're crazy.
While working at Free Range Studios, I worked closely with Save The Bay, a foundation working to protect and restore the San Francisco Bay. One of their campaigns is against Cargill, who is working to develop on over 1,400 acres of wetlands in the area. While the project first started as a very generic website, the passion which the client showed about the project lent itself to a much more passionate approach. We needed to show just how dire of a situation this was for the wetlands. I took a very literal approach, having the website itself actually being paved by a bulldozer. When we first showed it to the client, they were very excited and very nervous. They had to check with their legal department about using the Cargill logo on the design, but in the end decided it could only help their case.
In order to create this image, I spent countless hours finding imagery that I could composite together to create the final. When it came to the billboard itself, I thought back to what I was taught in school that no "Photoshopping" will look quite as real as the real thing, and crunched a piece of paper with the side of a ruler to create the effect of the billboard itself being crushed by a bulldozer. All the other designers in the office looked at me like I was crazy that day, but the results were worth it.
What about the Bay?
As of early 2012, the Cargill Saltworks project has been postponed, which is considered a win for those trying to save it. For now the wetlands remain safe, and in better condition than the bulldozed website trying to save them.