The final symbol

Well after explaining the steps that have been used and tools I present to you my final symbol.

Title of symbol: Greening fridge

Meaning of the symbol: The main meaning or the message in this symbol is to alert people about the effects of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) that will harm the environment.

Metaphor: CFC gasses that are released by the fridge are the causes for green house gasses

Meaning of the shape of the symbol: The two leaves represents greening for the environment, the white box represents the fridge, the circle behind this two shapes represents the globe.

Meaning of the colour of the symbol: Green obviously represents nature and means that we need to promote greening around the world in order to put a stop to global warming. A gradient is applied to show that there is still hope if we start to realize our mistakes and start the whole go green campaign.

Relation to the area of global warming of my choice: I choose the pollution part of global warming, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) is indeed falls under this category and other factors that contribute to pollution are such as Carbon Monoxide (CO) that our vehicles emits. The other factors are such as factory smoke, many factories in Malaysia are not following the standard environment rules and regulations. Open burning that are openly done is also another culprit the burning of used tires releases thick black smoke and these gasses are so toxic that it can instantly kill a person when its inhaled in a large quantity. In a nutshell I personally think that pollution is the greatest threat to the overall global warming issue.

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Digital leaf in illustrator

Well its time to transform my sketch into a digital vector drawing.

1. Obviously its to take a picture of the sketch which I done by pencil and then exported to illustrator and it was set as a template.


2. trace out the leaf pattern on illustrator using the PEN TOOL. ALOT of work and editing has been put in because of the complicated leaf pattern and because I am still a nOOb in Illustrator. Compared to Mdm.Ling which she has used Illustrator for over 10 years this is a piece of cake for her i guess?


3. So we have a leaf shape then its time to apply the gradient and 'clone' another leaf. The other leaf was copied and pasted crtl+c , ctrl+f then it was reflected 90 degrees horizontal. well of course certain anchor points in the 2nd leaf has to be modified with the direct selection tool (A) so that the leaf has that more natural and curvy look. The green gradient was applied so that the leaf look more natural and normally leaves should have this colour.


4. The fridge is drawn. The fridge is constructed with alot of diffrent shapes and sizes tools like elipse tool, rectngle tool, rounded ractangle tool, the pen tool which is extremely usefull is also used in this process to construct the fridge.


5. Creating the glossy bubble. The bubble was created to represent the earth it is filled with the same gradient I used on the leaf. The second circle that is slightly faded in white colour is created with a green and white gradient and I set the opacity to 84% using normal blend mode, the circle was futher applied with a effect. I applied the feather effect to the circle so that the lines were not that visible and somehow makes it blend into the bigger bubble. The whole concept was to create a glossy bubble.


6. So with all the steps done the final outcome looks something like this.

References used for assignment 1

These are the few illustrations that I got from the web

Research on assignment 1

Global warming has become a hot topic since many countries are experiencing rise in temperature and the rise of the ocean level.

Here's some info i got from EPA usa...

The Earth's climate has changed many times during the planet's history, with events ranging from ice ages to long periods of warmth. Historically, natural factors such as volcanic eruptions, changes in the Earth's orbit, and the amount of energy released from the Sun have affected the Earth's climate. Beginning late in the 18th century, human activities associated with the Industrial Revolution have also changed the composition of the atmosphere and therefore very likely are influencing the Earth's climate.

Science

For over the past 200 years, the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, and deforestation have caused the concentrations of heat-trapping "greenhouse gases" to increase significantly in our atmosphere. These gases prevent heat from escaping to space, somewhat like the glass panels of a greenhouse.

Greenhouse gases are necessary to life as we know it, because they keep the planet's surface warmer than it otherwise would be. But, as the concentrations of these gases continue to increase in the atmosphere, the Earth's temperature is climbing above past levels. According to NOAA and NASA data, the Earth's average surface temperature has increased by about 1.2 to 1.4ºF in the last 100 years. The eight warmest years on record (since 1850) have all occurred since 1998, with the warmest year being 2005. Most of the warming in recent decades is very likely the result of human activities. Other aspects of the climate are also changing such as rainfall patterns, snow and ice cover, and sea level.

If greenhouse gases continue to increase, climate models predict that the average temperature at the Earth's surface could increase from 3.2 to 7.2ºF above 1990 levels by the end of this century. Scientists are certain that human activities are changing the composition of the atmosphere, and that increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases will change the planet's climate. But they are not sure by how much it will change, at what rate it will change, or what the exact effects will be.

Sources :
EPA USA

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) are compounds containing Chlorine , Florine and carbon only, that is they contain no hydrogen. They were formerly used widely in industry, for example as , refrigerant propellants, and cleaning solvents. Their use has been regularly prohibited by the Montreal Protocol, because of effects on the ozone layer(see ozone depletion). They are also powerful greenhouse gases, in terms of carbon dioxide equivalence (over a time period of one hundred years) between 5000 and 8100 per kg. CFCs have half-lives between 50-100 years, so their presence in the atmosphere and reactivity with ozone is long lived. One CFC molecule typically degrades around 10,000 ozone molecules before its removal, but this number can sometimes be in the millions.

Sources :
Wikipedia

Effects of CFCs on environment
CFCs, when released from the surface of the Earth, rise slowly into the stratosphere. Once there, they are bombarded by the incoming UV light from the Sun, releasing the chlorine atoms from the parent compound, which can then react with the ozone molecules (Figure 1). Eventually the chlorine atom is removed from the atmosphere by other reactions.

Figure 1: The destruction of stratospheric ozone (6)

Chlorofluorocarbons (which are used in aerosols, refrigerants, and other industrial products) are remarkably inert and nonreactive. Indeed, it is because of these characteristics---specifically because they are nontoxic and nonflammable---that they were invented. But when they eventually rise into the stratosphere, they are decomposed by solar ultraviolet radiations into free chlorine atoms:
Chlorofluorocarbon ---> Cl,
Cl + O3 ---> ClO + O2,
ClO + O ---> Cl + O2.
The chlorine atoms are recycled in these reactions, and are then free to attack other ozone molecules. A single chlorine atom, released by the action of UV radiation on chlorofluorocarbons, is capable of destroying catalytically tens of thousands of ozone molecules during its residence in the stratosphere.
The emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from refrigerators, air conditioners, and aerosols attributes to an increasing “hole” in the ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctica, coupled with growing evidence of global ozone depletion. (7)

Source : Wei Zhong , Department of Chemistry University of Georgia

2nd attemp on Assignment 1

Assignment 1 Presentation