Fracking the System
Film Poster
Students were tasked with creating a 27” x 40” film poster for the assigned documentary Fracking the System: Colorado’s Oil and Gas Wars. The objectives of the assignment included developing a deep understanding of the film’s subject matter, collaborating with a client, and gaining experience designing at a large format scale. The concept behind my poster was to emphasize the presence of fracking-related toxins—often invisible to the naked eye—by incorporating thermal camera imaging over part of the photograph, revealing what typically goes unseen.
TOOLS: Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
VERSION 2
VERSION 1
FINAL
The initial draft of my poster lacked accuracy in depicting proper fracking equipment, and the thermal (FLIR) effect was overly saturated, clashing with the visual tone I was aiming for. In the second iteration, I introduced a contrast between a realistic photographic perspective and a thermal camera lens view to emphasize the unseen toxins. I also shifted the effect to black and white to create a lighter, more cohesive color palette. While this version was much closer to the final design, I encountered issues with text legibility, which I addressed by refining the placement and contrast to improve readability without compromising the image.