I started work on Crystal serendipitously around nine months before Smokey the Bear’s Eightieth anniversary of his commercial debut. I realized in the summer that Smokey’s birthday is celebrated on the conceptualization of the campaign a couple months prior. Fortunately, I was able to match the launch of Smokey the Bear campaign on October 10th 2024.

I was already aware that there has been a shrinking polar bear habitat with less arctic ice in the north pole. This combined with Canadian wild fires, a smokey the bear poster I frequently see, and the increasing talk of climate change based on recent events, I decided to follow through on this project.

To be honest I did not start with a real Crystal the Polar bear. It wasn’t until after I had conceptualized her that I realized there truley was a “Crystal”. An orphaned polar bear in Alaska, circa 2022, was becoming to familiar with humans. After some debate they decided to add them to the Alaska Zoo for their welfare.

I hope you enjoy Crystal and take time to consider the human impact on the environment.

– Davis

P.S. I have not sent this to the Alaska Zoo, but I am tempted to share it with them…