You see it all the time – in fashion magazines, in corporate marketing materials, even on your favorite brand of toothpaste. Someone is always announcing their “new look” to the world. Well, even small nonprofits, such as One Earth Conservation, sometimes feel the need to undergo a makeover. So, a few months ago, our staff agreed it was time to update our logo.
Making such a change is not something to be taken lightly. A logo sends a message about who we are, what we are all about, and how we want the world to see us. It is an image that becomes synonymous with an organization and the work it does. It’s important that it be recognizable, but also simple, clear, and beautiful. This is not work for the faint of heart!
Therefore, I reached out to my good friend and extremely talented graphic designer, Robin Weisz of Robin Weisz Design. Robin generously agreed to donate her services for our new logo project and we are so very grateful for the time and effort she put into this project. In general, volunteers play an important role in the work we do and we are thankful for all of their efforts (to learn more about how you can help, send us an email at info@oneearthconservation.org).
The first step was for us to communicate to Robin what we want to convey through the new logo and what we wanted to change, or keep the same, from the original logo. We knew we wanted to emphasize our work with parrots, our commitment to conservation and protecting the planet, and our solidarity with the local people with whom we partner. Parrots remaining free is so central to our vision, so we decided to keep the image of a wild scarlet macaw in the logo, which is one of the main species we work to protect. To emphasize our work with local people and connection with nature, we wanted to keep an “earthy” look to the typeface and colors as well.
Keeping parrots free in the wild and, whenever possible, out of captivity is important for multiple reasons:
1. As long as humans continue to purchase parrots and support the international trade by perpetuating demand, these animals will suffer. More parrots will be bred for lives behind cage bars, illegal poaching and trapping will further threaten already declining populations, and Indigenous and other local cultures and communities will continue to be destroyed. The exploitative and tragic cycle of trapping, selling, suffering, and declining populations will continue.
2. Human communities and ecosystems are also harmed by the wildlife trade, as parrots are seed dispersers and are important to the spiritual and cultural health of human communities.
3. Furthermore, people involved in the wildlife trade (sale, transport, trapping, poaching) are susceptible to injury, disease, and death.
Robin presented us with a number of options to choose from and after some back and forth among our staff, we selected the final version. We love the bird flying free, the suggestion of our one Earth (or the sun or moon) behind it, the unique quality of the typeface, and the emphasis on the green, blue, and red colors. All these elements tie together in a clean, clear, and beautiful image that can be used in multiple formats. We bid a fond farewell to our original logo (and send a huge thanks to Debra Neill Mareci, who designed it) and excitedly welcome the new one in the new year. We hope you like it as much as we do and would love to hear your thoughts about what the logo brings to mind for you. To do so, please email us at info@oneearthconservation.org.
Comments