Client: Sierra Club
Creative Director: Peter Walbridge
My Role: Designer
The Sierra Club was founded in 1892 by conservationist John Muir, as an organization to protect the Sierra Nevada in California. The organization's first lobbying victory came with the establishment of Yosemite National Park, soon after Muir escorted Theodore Roosevelt through the valley.
The Sierra Club logo has always had a giant sequoia, El Capitan, and Half Dome in Yosemite Valley. We wanted to keep these elements, and also move the logo forward into the digital age by simplifying details that would help the logo work well small.
The biggest shift of the new logo was incorporating a tree that was a true giant sequoia. The sequoia has deep historical ties to the Sierra Club's 124 year history, and is iconic to early Club victories. Only showing a few here, but we tried many different trees to find one that was a strong shape and also fit well into the Valley scene.
Giant sequoias don't grow in Yosemite Valley itself, but just outside of it. Removing the land beneath the tree was a way to create an extremely foreshortened scene.
This helped the logo read clearer on the web and small sizes.
We opened up more white space, and smoothed and simplified the woodcut illustration. While I love woodcut style, we wanted to cut some of the detail and create a stronger silhouette when reduced to a small size. Made it a full circle to increase versatility (on items such as buttons, stickers, web). Removed the borders to open up space above the tree. Dropped the 'Founded in 1892' tagline and brightened the color to Pantone 575C for a warmer, vibrant green.
We opened up more white space, and smoothed and simplified the woodcut illustration. While I love woodcut style, we wanted to cut some of the detail and create a stronger silhouette when reduced to a small size. Made it a full circle to increase versatility (on items such as buttons, stickers, web). Removed the borders to open up space above the tree. Dropped the 'Founded in 1892' tagline and brightened the color to Pantone 575C for a warmer, vibrant green.
New Sierra Club merch logo available at: store.sierraclub.org.
All proceeds contribute to Sierra Club’s mission to preserve and protect the planet.
Thanks for viewing!
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