Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Unveils Stunning And Clever New Visual Identities

By Yoon Sann Wong, 02 Apr 2018

Composite by DesignTAXI. Left and right images via Superfried

Two animal conservation projects under the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) has received fresh branding from Superfried—the design studio alias of self-taught graphic designer Mark Richardson.

The LDF was established by renowned Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio in 1998, in aims of protecting threatened wildlife and their habitats. Under its charge are three major projects: ‘Lion Recovery’, ‘Shark Conservation’ and ‘Elephant Crisis’.

The identity for ‘Lion Recovery’ was already in place, so LDF contacted Superfried, which it had worked with previously, to develop new identities for ‘Shark Conservation’ and ‘Elephant Crisis’.

Drawing inspiration from the visual identity of ‘Lion Recovery’, which sports a lion’s head created using contour lines, Richardson decided to embody a similar style for the other two projects.

The Lion Recovery Fund was launched by Wildlife Conservation Network and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation on World Lion...
Posted by Lion Recovery Fund on Thursday, September 14, 2017

Since the ‘Shark Conservation’ fund protects not only sharks, but also rays, Richardson rendered a shark swimming alongside a ray, enclosed within a circular frame. Here, the shark’s main dorsal fin doubles as the wings of the ray. To distinguish the two animals inside the logo, the shark is filled in with a solid color, while the ray is identified through negative space.

Image via Superfried

Richardson explained the client had requested that, if possible, the identities should concurrently represent the creature as well as its habitat. “With this in mind I looked for similarities in form in both rays and sharks. Likewise to convey their habitat, waves and their fins were conveniently close in shape.”

As for the ‘Elephant Crisis’ fund, Richardson used an elephant’s head positioned within a circle, with its habitat represented using topographic contours. Close-up images of elephant skin don the background at times, as seen in the main image above, to convey the animal’s parched environment.

See more images of the visual identities below.