With their 40th anniversary approaching, the NYC Audubon asked REIT to redesign their brand and website to support a dramatic increase in visibility, engagement and fundraising — especially among younger audiences. Their brand look was dated and the website was hard to navigate, unfriendly on mobile and unable to serve the organization’s evolving needs. With a bold new five-year plan launching, the organization sought the tools to express its vision of establishing a singular leadership position in New York City conservancy.

We began with brand, communication and competitive research to understand the conservancy landscape and ensure differentiation from peer organizations, notably New York Audubon. The old brand identity centered the American Kestrel in the logo and was well liked. To signal a shift into a new era of growth and leadership, the organization sought to use a raptor in flight as its signature graphic. We drew the key elements together — the raptor, NYC’s iconic skyline and green spaces — to ground the visual identity with a compelling sense of place and purpose.

With a nod to the original logo’s bird silhouette and vertical shapes, we crafted a distinctive mark that set a raptor in flight against the City’s iconic skyline as viewed from a city park. We updated the color palette to warm greens and blues to signal conservancy, and selected a bold, modern typeface to dramatically improve legibility. By establishing a clear, purposeful brand architecture, we leveraged typography, color, photography, and graphic elements to create a compelling brand system for use across all media. Next, we brought the brand to life with a website as bold and intuitive as it is effective in driving key strategic objectives.