Elephant Crisis Fund Brand identity + illustration

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, established in 1998 to protect the world’s last wild places, had worked with Superfried on numerous successful design projects – LEAF . Don't Let Them Disappear . World Oceans Day . Sharks . QRFN. Consequently, they approached graphic design studio Superfried once again, to develop the brand identity for a global crisis fund set-up to protect elephants and tackle the ivory market.

In the brief, they requested that if possible the brandmark should simultaneously represent both the species and their natural habitat. To achieve this, after much image research and numerous design iterations, an illustration style was adopted to convey the elephant via topographic contours. Two potential design solutions emerged – face-on and profile. With the latter selected by the client as the final creative solution, I developed various mock-ups to ensure the brandmark was sufficiently versatile across all media.

During the image research for the mock-ups, an additional connection between the elephants and their habitat emerged. Close-up shots of their skin bore a striking resemblance to the parched landscapes within which they reside. With this realised, additional close-ups of elephant skin were sourced to be used as a backdrop for the graphic design of branded collateral.

Mock-up designs – visuals shown – were developed to ensure the new marque was sufficiently versatile to work across all media and scenarios. For promotional and fundraising video content on social media, an animated logo ident was designed and developed.