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Adrian Rodriguez

Ms. Dott

AOIT English III

29th October 2017

The Melting Earth

Imagine a hot summer day, sweat running down everyone’s forehead, as they try any way to cool

down. Then, a thought comes into their mind-a cold ice cream cone. The ice cream melts due to the

extreme heat wave. But, there’s a twist. The horror on everyone’s face as they finally realize that the ice

cream itself is the Earth, melting down onto the cone. This image was on a World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

poster (VVL/BBDO). WWF is an international organization which purpose is to reduce the human impact

on the environment which many times deals, with Global Warming. The background information on the

WWF’s purpose helps everyone get the main idea that the poster was referencing to Global Warming.

The artist did an excellent job to grab the viewer’s attention by color choices, symbolism and using

objects that everyone has seen before.

Many can say that colors are very important when it comes to catching the audience’s attention.

In an article by Cheryl Woods, she says that “a totally black backdrop adds drama to any image. All the

attention is directed to your subject” (Woods). This means the artist of the poster intentional uses a black

background to keep their attention’s eyes on their main idea. If the artist was to use a white background,

the image will seem open and tends to not guide the audience’s attention to their main idea. According to

Donald Giannatti, “in the black shots, the portrait seems much more isolated to me, while the white

backgrounds seem to be more open” (Giannatti). Furthermore, color choices is a great way to catch the

audience’s attention into seeing the most important parts of the picture.

Selecting the correct symbolism can help the viewers acquire a deeper meaning behind the art. In

the poster, the Earth is shown like ice cream, melting giving with the impression to the viewers that the

Earth isn’t permanently damaged. It’s commonly known that if anyone puts melting ice cream in the

freezer, the ice cream will stop melting. The artist’s choice of depleting the Earth as melting ice cream
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gives a different tone than if the artist made Earth be on fire. Both a melting Earth and an Earth on fire

can convey the same message of Global Warming. However, fire can be seen as the symbol of destruction

since fire tends to destroy anything in its path. Like putting melting ice cream back in the freezer, if the

Earth were to cool down, then the earth will be able to be restored again. The black background was also

has symbolism since black tends to give “an impression of authority and power” (Scott-Kemmis). This

means that the artist wasn’t to use authority and power to show the viewers that the hidden message in the

artwork is a serious matter. If the artist was to use white, then the tone would change. “[The] meaning of

white is purity, innocence, wholeness and completion” (Scott-Kemmis). The meaning of white would

mean that the viewers wouldn’t pay must mind to it since white might give the impression that nothing is

wrong and everything perfect.

The final choice was using objects that everyone has seen before. By an early age, everyone is

taught that we live on Earth and is usually referred as home. Home tends to “have a deep and unique

emotional meaning. Our earliest memories of home are often connected to our childhood” (Bennett).

Throughout history, we noticed that people tend to keep their homes and the memories of them while

protecting them. This encourages viewers to figure out the meaning behind the poster and how to solve

the problem in order to assure the safety of their home and memories.

Images could be conveying a powerful message, but only if the artist uses the colors, symbols,

and objects that attract most attention to the message. Everyone loves ice cream and their homes.

Therefore, connecting them through an image brings up our attention to the issue of protecting our home

by preventing global warming.

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Word Cited

Bennett, Linda. “What Is the Meaning of Home?” Architizer, Architizer, 3 Oct. 2014,

architizer.com/blog/what-is-the-meaning-of-home/.

Giannatti, Donald. “Light or Dark Backgrounds for a Portrait? Sometimes It Is Subject Driven –

ESSENTIALS For Photographers.” ESSENTIALS For Photographers, Lighting Essentials, 22 Dec. 2011,

www.lighting-essentials.com/light-or-dark-backgrounds-for-a-portrait-sometimes-it-is-subject-driven/.

Scott-Kemmis, Judy. “The Color Black.” Empowered By Color, Empower-Yourself-with-Color-

Psychology, www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-black.html.

Scott-Kemmis, Judy. “The Color White.” Empowered By Color, Empower-Yourself-with-Color-

Psychology, www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-white.html.

VVL/BBDO. “The Global Warming Effect On Art & Design: Because The World Is Melting.”Yatzer,

WWF, 18 Aug. 2015, www.yatzer.com/global-warming-effect-art-design-because-world-melting.

Woods, Cheryl. “Background Lighting Techniques.” Savage Universal, Savage Universal, 31 Mar. 2017,

www.savageuniversal.com/blog/background-lighting-techniques/.