EarthSmartCars
Job:12-84823 Title:RP-Graphic Design That Works (LDW)
175# Dtp:120/163 Page:52
Text (DS)
Client
Launched by the environmental group Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC), EarthSmartCars is
a campaign that aims to educate the public about the
importance of environmentally friendly cars and to
push for legislation that would require cars to
be built with reduced emissions.
ART DIRECTOR
Bethlyn B. Krakauer
DESIGNERS
Bethlyn B. Krakauer, Lee Lipscomb
ILLUSTRATOR
Leo Espinosa
FIRM
i.e. design
Process
Art director Bethlyn B. Krakauer and her team experimented with several approach-
es before coming up with the final design. One focused on the environment and con-
sisted of three icons: a cloud, a sun, and a raindrop. “It was a nice solution but it just
didn’t tie into the car world,” says Krakauer. Another approach emphasized the auto-
motive industry and involved a series of sketches of cars in outline. These too were
rejected. “We ran into the problem of does it look too much like a toy car—too much
like a 1965 Chevy? We needed something more universal,” says Krakauer. Her team
ended up combining the two approaches—environment and cars—and came up
with the idea of a leaf on wheels. Rough sketches were sent to Leo Espinosa, a comic
book artist, who refined the design, first by hand, adding details such as italicized
wheels to suggest motion, then in Illustrator. A drop shadow was later added to sug-
gest three dimensions, and the typeface Vag Rounded Bold was chosen for its
friendly, almost child-like feel. The result, says Krakauer, is a design that helps trans-
form the potentially dry subject of car emissions into an accessible one.
What Works
The logo, a cartoon-like leaf atop two wheels, has a playfulness that appeals to both
children and adults, and a simplicity that makes it adaptable to a broad range of
media, including metal plates that the NRDC hopes will one day be applied to cars
meeting reduced emissions standards.
+
=
Sketches show experi-
ments with the shape of
leaf and the placement
of the veins and wheels.
Graphic Design That Works
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040-069 84823 10/12/05 2:05 PM Page 52
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