Assignment 3 - Preliminary Studies

Preliminary Studies
Global Mean Temperature

A thermometer is placed on a world map drawn on a canvas. The intention is to depict that the Earth is being affected by the rise of Global Mean Temperature. Colors had faded away from the map due to the unbearable heat, which would be the most apparent consequence of Global Warming.

Assignment 3 - Precedent Studies

A magazine cover art on Global Warming that helped me to think of a good layout for the poster with the proper use of typography.

A world map, that I have used as a reference for tracing. It also inspired me to choose suitable colors and texture for the poster as it inherited much of an authentic look.

Assignment 3 - Background Research

The greenhouse effect is the process in which the emission of infrared radiation by the atmosphere warms a planet's surface.


The Earth's average surface temperature is about 33°C warmer than it would be without the greenhouse effect. The Earth reflects about 30% of the incoming solar radiation. The remaining 70% is absorbed, warming the land, atmosphere and oceans.

For the Earth's temperature to be in steady state so that the Earth does not rapidly heat or cool, this absorbed solar radiation must be very nearly balanced by energy radiated back to space in the infrared wavelengths.

The infrared photons emitted by the surface are mostly absorbed in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases and clouds and do not escape directly to space so the surface temperature will rise until it generates thermal radiation equivalent to the sum of the incoming solar and infrared radiation.

Anthropogenic Global Warming, a recent warming of the Earth's lower atmosphere, is believed to be the result of an 'enhanced greenhouse effect' mainly due to human-produced increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and changes in the use of land.

Assignment 2 - Subject Matter

The final composition of the concept,
Global Mean Temperature

Assignment 2 - Process

Created the base of the thermometer using three rectangles, which were manipulated to resemble a box looked through a perspective view.


Drew the markings on the base using the Line Segment Tool and the Blend Tool, to get a sequence of shapes in a more efficient way.


Outlined a profile of a thermometer using the Line Tool.


Applied basic color profiles to the shapes. Markings on the base inherit a stroke color of gray.


Added specularity to the thermometer to give a feeling that it is being made out of glass. Used layers of shapes with subtle changes in color to achieve the desired effect. The Mesh Tool and the Gradient Tool had been used excessively through out the process. In some cases I had to use the effect, Gaussian Blur to make the specularity more diffused.


The whole process of illustrating the ideation concludes with application of shadows and a background to the scene. Used the effect, Drop Shadow to apply the shadows, but I also had to create some shadow effects on my own as the default shadow effect is not that realistic that it shows no decay in values of the color.

Assignment 2 - Precedent Studies

After seeing this image I got the idea of using a thermometer as a subject matter to symbolize the increase in Global Mean Temperature.


An old-fashioned thermometer, which inspired me to give my ideation more of an authentic look.

Assignment 2 - Background Research

The greenhouse effect is a natural process that plays a major part in shaping the earth’s climate. It produces the relatively warm and hospitable environment near the earth’s surface where humans and other life-forms have been able to develop and prosper. It is one of a large number of physical,chemical and biological processes that combine and interact to determine the earth’s climate.

Not all changes in climate are due to natural processes. Humans have also exerted an influence. Through building cities and altering patterns of land use, people have changed climate at the local scale. Through a range of activities since the industrial era of the mid-19th century, such as accelerated use of fossil fuels and broad scale deforestation and land use changes, humans have also contributed to an enhancement of the natural greenhouse effect. This enhanced greenhouse effect results from an increase in the atmospheric concentrations of the so-called greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, and is widely believed to be responsible for the observed increase in Global Mean Temperatures through the 20th century.

see also : The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change