There's an interesting (Earth Day worthy!) visual story today over at SKAGGS, a design and branding firm based in New York and San Francisco. They've just finished up a campaign for TOTO's High Efficiency toilets, and recall their planning and thought process on their blog.
An excerpt:
It took almost 2 months of planning, 1 trip from El Paso to Dallas and
back, 1,000 five-gallon water bottles, 3 trucks, 2 tractors, 1 buggy and
a whole lot of man (and woman) power to show that TOTO's High
Efficiency toilets are all about saving water--lots of water. It's proven that TOTO's HETs
can save up to 24,655 gallons of water, in just 1 year. A fantastic
amount, but just how much is that visually? That was the first question
we asked ourselves and one that drove the concept behind the photoshoot.
We needed a large expanse, preferably one with a mountainous backdrop. The Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah are flooded every year, unbeknown to us. The next best thing?...The Salt Flat just outside the Guadalupe Mountain National Park. The national park described the location as "An alligator sat on a sand castle," due to the contrast of the mountain backdrop on the Salt Flat. We knew then that this would be the perfect location to shoot our 1,000 water bottles.
The photographer on this campaign was Tait Simpson, and I gave him a shout to ask how it all went down. This was the largest campaign Tait has worked on to date; there were 10-15 people on set for the three day shoot. They shot images for three prints ads and a number of pick up shots for the trade brochures. The ads, which have not come out yet, will most likely run in architecture and interior design trade magazine, because, you know, the average consumer isn't buying a high efficiency toilet (yet).
SKAGGS has a great behind-the-scenes flickr stream of the whole shoot. Here are some samples.
Set-up in the desert (the bottles had to be repeatedly polished, as they kept getting sandblasted). Simpson shot with a Hassie H2 and a P45 PhaseOne Digital back. He wanted the images to be large enough for the eventual trade show signage that will be made.
Night Shot
The photographer, day 3.
Yay, earth-friendly ad campaigns and photo shoots. And remember, if you can't get yourself a TOTO toilet:
if it's yellow, let it mellow.
Yay, earth-friendly ad campaigns and photo shoots. And remember, if you can't get yourself a TOTO toilet:
if it's yellow, let it mellow.
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It feels contradictory to use 1,000 five-gallon water bottles, 3 trucks, 2 tractors, and 1 buggy to prove a point about leaving a smaller footprint.
A lot of energy was used to create those products.
That should be "A Thousand (fewer) flushes".
Less water because of fewer flushes.
Sorry, it's one of those mistakes that drives me crazy. Like "is" when it should be "are", etc..
Theron hit on exactly what I was thinking as soon as I saw that image, especially since I couldn't tell if it was a composite or not. A similar image could be created with a lot less waste.
As much as I like doing things in camera, in this day and age keeping waste low seems to be a lot more important. I'll keep my big stupid prop ideas for installation work, where someone can actually experience it.
sorry about the "fewer". fixed.
It's good to know that so many people are concerned with the environment and are actively (we hope) making a change, rather than just talking about it!!
Being eco-efficient during the photoshoot was at the forefront of everybody's minds. From the recycling of the bottles, purchasing carbon offsets to giving the water to the rancher for his cattle.
This ad is just part of a campaign that intends to visualize and speak to TOTO's long standing, industry leading sustainable practices. In the case of this first ad, it specifically speaks to their 1.28 gallon per flush HET toilets.
As an agency we're 100% socially responsible for our environmental actions and a further look at our blog shows this. We've learnt a lot while shooting this campaign and working with TOTO USA. We would hope that from this, a lot more people will be aware of the importance of water savings (especially those concerned with the making of the ad).
One giant step towards being "green" would be for everyone talking about the making of the ad, to take heed and switch to HETs too.Imagine what the water savings on that would be - not to mention the visuals...