The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a global body enabling businesses and financial institutions to set ambitious emissions reductions targets in line with climate science. As their influence and visibility grew, SBTi needed to modernise and formalise their brand, ensuring consistency across digital and print, while also creating engaging campaign assets to mobilise businesses around the world.
They came to us at a pivotal moment: with their new website design already underway, they needed a creative partner to finalise their rebrand, build comprehensive brand guidelines, and create templates and assets that could be applied across their wide-reaching communications.
SBTi’s visual identity was in transition. A new website design had introduced a fresher, more modern look, but beyond this there was inconsistency in style, colour usage, and application across campaigns, reports, and internal communications. They needed us to take what was in place and transform it into a coherent, practical brand system that could flex across global campaigns, high-profile reports, social media, and partner materials, while remaining recognisably SBTi.
The challenge was to take the foundations of the existing rebrand and expand them into a complete, coherent identity. This meant creating a system that could bring clarity to complex climate science while working seamlessly across high-profile campaigns, detailed reports, and a growing suite of digital assets.
We began by collaborating closely with the SBTi team and partners, reviewing their new website design and the draft style guide it had generated. We developed comprehensive brand guidelines covering colour combinations, typography usage, imagery, iconography, and practical applications across print and digital. From there we created a suite of templates in a range of programs giving SBTi a ready-to-use toolkit for consistent brand communication. These were then applied to key campaigns and outputs, including the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign, animated and static social cards, milestone infographics, quick start guides, factsheets and flagship publications such as their From Ambition to Impact Annual Report,.
Throughout, we balanced clarity and authority with accessibility and warmth. Our visual approach reflected SBTi’s mission: clean, bright, and modern, with a professional yet approachable aesthetic. This ensured their communications could resonate with diverse audiences, from global corporations to policymakers and the public.
The finalised brand and new suite of templates gave SBTi the consistency and confidence they needed to scale their communications globally. Their flagship reports, guides, and campaign assets were published widely, shaping climate action discourse and engaging thousands of companies worldwide.
The Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign became a central pillar of SBTi’s advocacy, supported by the bold, unified visuals we created. Meanwhile, the From Ambition to Impact annual report was praised for its clarity and professional design, helping communicate complex data in an accessible, engaging format.
By embedding design-for-good principles into the work, we helped SBTi ensure that their visual identity amplified their message: that science-based targets are not only achievable, but essential to tackling the climate crisis.
