Nuclear Bets
A prominent non-profit needed a poster to bring awareness to the riskiness of nuclear power as a future energy solution. When they reached out to me for ideas, I knew it would be a fascinating opportunity to make a visual statement.
CHALLENGE
- The Alliance wanted to communicate the potential dangers and shortcomings of nuclear power to ordinary people in rural areas who were not activists, or particularly well-read on the topic.
- Rather than a detailed manifesto against nuclear power, they wanted to keep it simple, succinct and powerful, with a single image that would quickly convey a single idea.
- Considering the poster could be seen by people who work at nuclear plants, it needed to be eye-opening and conversational rather than demeaning or confrontational.
SOLUTION
- My mind arrived at the gambling metaphor to convey that the inherent risk of nuclear power amounts to ‘gambling with our future.’
- Through visual exploration, I found myself sketching poker chips stacked in the shape of nuclear cooling towers, an image which I then styled and photographed.
- I selected a font for the headline that reinforces the feeling of distress and unpredictability that nuclear energy potentially brings to society.
The cooling tower is saying, ‘Are you willing to take all the chips and place them on one energy option?’
Scott Boylston
Program Coordinator, Design for Sustainability Savannah College of Art and Design