Equal One
A community-centric economic development initiative that protects snow leopards and wild ecosystems in Asia’s high mountains.
The Equal One network promotes sustainable local businesses and inclusive economies to assist in mitigating the ongoing biodiversity and climate crisis.
Some of these community-centric projects include Snow Leopard Friendly Pashmina Project (India), Snow Leopard Friendly Honey (Kyrgyzstan), Snow Leopard Friendly Dairy Processing and Marketing (Mongolia), and Sustainable Wildlife Tourism (Kyrgyzstan).
Service
Industry
Brand Naming
While naming this initiative, we kept the core principles of Unity and Equity at the forefront. Our explorations led to the idea of ‘Oneness’ – a world where many things come together as One. The name Equal One was selected, because it simply and directly refers to these principles of co-existence.
A whole world. A full circle.
The stencil typeface of the logotype comprises of fragments that aren’t perfect, but they create meaning when they come together. The ‘O’ is symbolic of completeness and unity. A whole world. A full circle. Holistic. The blue-green palette is inspired by the landscapes.
Borrowing from the landscapes
Crisp blue skies. Deep summer greens of dense forest. Browns of the earth and rocks. The dry shrubs during the harsh winters. The colours are a reflection of snow leopard geographies.
Inspiration for the illustrations
The illustrations are inspired by topographic lines (of high altitudes) – concentric curvilinear lines and fluid forms are juxtaposed with simple geometric forms.The ‘equal one’ symbol is extracted from the logo unit, to create a set of symbols that depict the natural environment and habitat of the snow leopard – birds, insects and trees.
A set of illustrations depicting the snow leopard and other animals found in the same geography – ibex, argali, etc.
Messaging System
The brand messaging takes the visual familiarity of a formula, to always add up to ONE.For example, in the Honeybee Project, the bee, beekeeper and the snow leopard are all part of ONE equation/ ecosystem.
When the process is as beautiful as the outcome, you know you are in the right place. More than a year ago, when we embarked on this journey of developing a business model, branding and visual communications, little did we know how enriching and educating it will be for us ecologists...
–
Koustubh Sharma
Director, Science & Conservation
The Website
The Equal One website outlines the belief system, geographical focus, and the impact of the work. It showcases the on-going community projects. The website is visually rich, with videos of this unique geography.
Launch website
Equal One was formally launched at the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program, held in October 2022 at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The event was attended by ministries and embassies of the 12 snow leopard countries, as well as global environmental and funding organisations.Along with the Snow Leopard Trust team, we presented the thinking behind the initiative and the brand, and how it was created.Needless to say, visiting Kyrgyzstan was the experience of a lifetime :)
Team
Design Director
- Seema Seth
Strategy
- Manu Neelakandhan
Design
- Aysha Nilofar
- Anunya Raj
Illustrations
- Trusha Sawant
Web Development
- Pankaj Sharma
Client Team
- Ranjini Murali
- Charudutt Mishra
- Koustubh Sharma
