i don’t bother with many contests but for some reason i like what the folks at positive posters are doing. they choose an issue each year and the competition involves designing a poster to spread awareness for that cause. the ideas are simple and the winning posters typically have been very simple. this year’s brief allowed the entrants to choose their own cause. this seems like a first world problem at first but i chose the idea of energy and its conservation, use, renewal, sourcing, impacts, etc.
anyway, a simple light bulb printed in a particular way would sort of get across all the different angles i was thinking. the bulb would be printed with glow in the dark ink. the base would be printed with some sort of reflective or metallic ink. the light bulb itself is an obvious reference to energy i think but it’s also a typical symbol of ideas or so-called light bulb moments.  all of this together would foster awareness in and remind viewers about energy conservation (the bulb is “uplugged” and it’s glow is finite), use (the glow), alternatives (phospherescence “powers” the bulb), renewal (bright lights “charge” the bulb), etc.
it was nice to focus on something more conceptual considering that most of my work has been focused on the bestiary lately.