Say Something Poster 2011: No App for Life

Last year, I participated in the first Say Something Poster project. It was a fun project and is for a good cause, so I decided to join in again this year. While the organization and theme had changed, the mission hadn't: try to inspire the youth of today with a positive message. 

Today so many kids have their noses glued to some kind of screen. They are too busy to notice what is going on around them in the real world. I thought about how I could convey this concept in simple, yet effective way. I was talking with a mutual friend and he summed up my thoughts: "There's no app for life." Yep, that was it! Now how to illustrate "life". I did some research into some ancient icons that might have represented "life". I found a few, but it wasn't quite right. I then searched my photos for one that might give  a sense of living life.

I found a vacation shot from my trip to Miami a few years ago of the sun rising over the Atlantic. The rolling waves of the ocean, water, life with the sun rising in the background spoke to me. So I got to work assembling the image.

I wanted the familiar shape of the "app" icon to be present in my image. I wanted to show that part within the icon as "hyperreal" to reinforce the message it was not the real thing. I also combined it with a symbol for life I found in my research of ancient petroglyphs.

I'm not 100% happy with the result, I just can't put my finger on it, but it's still not quite right. But the deadline loomed so it went out. I don't think it's terrible, but somehow it seems like I could have made it simpler, more refined...anyhoo, you can vote for me through 12/31 if you do like the image and the message.