MESSAGING STICKERS
Oregon Marine Reserves
YEAR
2023
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INDUSTRY
Life Sciences: Marine Conservation
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SHARED BELIEFS
Marine Conservation, Awareness, & Advocacy
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SCOPE
Print Collateral Design: Stickers
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USE CASE
Climate Change & Ocean Acidification Survey
Project Summary
Oregon Marine Reserves (OMR) approached me to provide 2 visually similar sticker designs for their upcoming scientific survey to create education and awareness of Climate Change and Ocean Acidification. This project was in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the Human Dimensions Lab (HD Lab) at Oregon State University.
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I worked closely with these collaborative teams to help develop punderful and impactful messaging and design for both sticker variations. With the goal of determining which message and visual would better resonate with survey takers. The challenge was to create vibrant illustrations with key elements of the Oregon coast that contained visual elements similar to that of OMR's logos and branding, but still be differentiated enough to stand out.
LET'S TURN THE TIDES...
THE GOAL
In collaboration with ODFW’s Oregon Marine Reserves, the HD Lab is designing and conducting a study using social psychology approaches to better understand how Oregonians and coastal tourists perceive ocean acidification and climate change. The study will also explore the use of micro-interventions to increase personal and public behaviors related to ocean acidification. In short? The ultimate goal of this project is to increase education, awareness, and advocacy efforts toward improving climate change and ocean acidification (ocean change).
THE GAP
The initial hurdle was homing in on 2 short, but sweet messages that were fun, impactful, and engaging. The messages also needed to contain a potent call to action that would intrigue future sticker-viewers as survey takers place these on their water bottles, laptops, etc. In essence, how do we make walking, talking, mini ads that encourage others to make a splash, make a change, and take action? Puns! Ok, fine I got one pun and one swell CTA message.
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After some trial and error, and a shell-shockingly good brainstorming session with HD Lab's and OSU's conservation social scientist, Megan Jones, Ph.D. we seas'd the day with the following 2 messages, "ocean change makes our mussels weaker", and "let's turn the tides on climate change".
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With the messaging approved it was time for me to tackle the designs. After all, content drives design.
THE GAMBLE
My client's initial ask was to create one visual approach and a general layout for both stickers as the focus of the survey and the experiment was on the impact messaging itself. However, I offered up a couple of visual perspectives that work to strengthen the overall messaging for each of the two individual stickers. I suggested that this could open the door to examining whether or not the macro (organism-focused) or the bigger picture (environment-focused) had any enhanced impact on the strength of the messaging for each, and the survey taker's decision on which to choose.
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The other ask was to utilize OMR's branding system to create the stickers. I researched their logo suite, brand guide, and a variety of brand collateral to discern key aspects of their visual system and infuse these elements into the stickers to create standout designs with an impact. Check out my visual explorations below.
THE GAIN
The results of the scientific survey are still to be determined -- so stay tuned to find out which sticker is the winner! That being said, you can learn more about the ongoing survey by visiting Oregon Marine Reserves website.
STICKERS W/ STAYING POWER
Ocean Change Sticker
This approach changes the viewer’s perspective of the coastline and the Mussel itself. Allowing the Blue Mussel to be the central visual focus for the ocean change (acidification) sticker -- focuses the viewer’s perspective on the macro (Mussel) as a symbol for various calcifying organisms. That being said, there are many hard-shelled and other marine creatures adversely affected by ocean acidification. You can learn more about ocean acidification by visiting the National Ocean Service website today.
Climate Change Sticker
This approach expands the viewer’s perspective to the larger ecosystem of the coastline and the ocean. This approach could appeal to a mix of local and tourist audiences with the inclusion of various marine vessels. It was also important to tie in the Blue Mussel shell into the design as they are often seen on rocks along the coastline.