ARLA – Rooted In
The revolution starts here
Swell created a brand and mission statement to reframe the focus of climate change from an inaccessible global problem to local solutions that prove that small, intentional actions and lifestyle changes can have a big collective impact on our health and safety. We created an original campaign name, visual brand identity, core messaging and launch strategy for the Rooted In campaign. By thinking small, we can make real change in our own backyards, communities and lifestyle choices. A hyper-local approach to accelerating resilience to climate change.
The Challenge
Radically shifting the approach
A climate crisis has arrived, and no matter what we do today it will get worse before it can get better. Our entire ecosystem—our oceans, forests, water, and habitats—is fraying. It’s killing the planet and it’s killing people. With that accelerating destruction, we are left unprotected from intensifying extreme floods, hotter heat waves, longer and more intense droughts, famine, and fires. The damage that has been caused by decades of mismanagement is so extreme that even the layers of safeguards—our infrastructure and emergency services—are unable to keep us safe, resulting in loss of life and property damage, global economic loss and diseases.
BRAND IDENTITY We crafted a brand with a strict color palette, but a lively and flexible approach to typography to illustrate the community of voices that come together to fight climate change.
The Brand
Nature isn’t out there. It’s right under our feet
Given the saturation of climate resilience campaigns, it was critical to uncover the distinguishable qualities of this campaign and showcase them visually across the brand’s visual elements.
After an immersive discovery phase––including competitive analysis, stakeholder interviews, and landscape research––Swell found the hyper-local, real-time focus of the campaign to be its greatest differentiator.
By using this concept as the brand’s North star, everything else fell into place––starting with the name. The “Rooted In L.A.” name immediately conjures an image of nature, but it also plays on one’s ties to their community and inspires the local, individual-level behavior change foundational to the campaign’s movement.
Rooted In is about inclusion and community. It’s about amplifying and respecting voices across all of Los Angeles. Swell’s designers created a graphic system that mirrors these attributes by choosing typography that is expressive, unique, and multi-generational and using a fluid approach to iconography, illustration, and supplementary visuals. The color palette moves beyond the typical environmentalist hues of blues and greens to incorporate the vibrancy and diversity of Los Angeles. And the tree logo provides the perfect metaphor for the many facets of the campaign—leaves, branches and roots become air quality, coalitions, and foundational investment.
SOCIAL MEDIA Dynamic social media highlights the places, people, and techniques that make Rooted In part of the Los Angeles community.
Intended Impact
A local movement for global change
If we radically shift how we think about our climate and resources, we can create immediate change and save lives. This starts with our own neighborhoods. They’re ground zero for a climate revolution: our water, soil, trees, food, and people—and the choices we make can keep us alive. It’s time to start thinking and acting on a smaller scale to imagine and implement big changes that can protect us and improve our quality of life—faster than we thought possible. A global problem that demands a local solution. Prove that small, intentional actions can have a big impact.
A chance to re-envision the natural environment, block by block, across our county. A model to scale coordinated and integrated investments in natural and human resources to create benefits across our health, economy, and environment.
