Thursday, October 15, 2009

Anything But Green

I ran across a promo for a juried art show which asked applicants to interpret the theme “Anything But Green”- any way they wanted. I couldn’t help but think about the perceived oversaturation of the word “Green” today, and wondered if that was the impetus for the show theme.

Green fatigue is already a commonplace word in the English lexicon. Susan H. Greenberg wrote an essay about this in a June 30, 2008, Newsweek article by entitled “I’m SO Tired of Being Green”. In it, she interviewed Suzanne Shelton, CEO of the Shelton Group, a U.S. marketing firm that monitors America's environmental pulse.

Shelton Group's latest study, Energy Pulse 2007, revealed that between 2006 and 2007, Americans' enthusiasm for energy-efficient products and services fell across the board. "We are really seeing a backlash to the whole green thing," says Shelton. "We've tested environmental messaging for some clients lately, and we get a lot of eye rolls and deep sighs. We hear things like 'I'm so tired of the green label being slapped on everything,' 'I'm so tired of being guilted into being green'. Confusion creates inner shock, and when consumers are confused, they just do nothing."

OK, so what does that mean for those of us who are still trying to deliver a conservation - a green - message? It says that we have to use more effective tools to get our message across. And that’s where Fine Print Imaging’s green initiative - Art for Conservation - comes in. To successfully deliver a compelling message, one on which people will act, you have to appeal to their emotions.

We KNOW that images deliver a more impactful - more emotional - message than words alone. Fine Print Imaging is working with literally 100s of photographers and artists who are meticulously crafting their art so that it effectively communicates a conservation message. And while this may conjure up imagery of a river with floating debris or a pristine mountain top being scraped to mine for coal, it more often means images showing all of the beauty that our planet has to offer.

Fine Print Imaging and Art for Conservation partner together to provide discounted printing services to these artists. We also provide a beautiful online gallery of their art which helps them raise funds to continue creating art that helps preserve our delicate ecosystem. And we provide a strong social networking component that fosters communication between all of the parties involved in conservation of our natural resources.

One of our strongest partnerships is with the International League of Conservation Photographers. In conjunction with their book on climate change, "A Climate for Life", we created a 50 print exhibit highlighting the photography of the world's top conservation photographers. The gallery wrapped canvas giclee exhibit is touring North America and will eventually land in the offices of Conservation International in Arlington, Virginia.

Rather than screaming our message through a megaphone, we focus on telling the conservation story through imagery. And we tell the stories of our artists and photographers who make these conservation images. Instead of shoving green down people’s throats, we allow them to draw their own conclusions by viewing both beautiful and disturbing images. We KNOW that appealing to their emotions will make a stronger and longer lasting impression.

We would love to help you deliver your conservation message and support your conservation efforts by selling your images. Join us on Art for conservation - http://www.artforconservation.org - and become a member of the Fine Print Imaging family.

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