Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation World Oceans Day illustration

Having worked with us on numerous design projects – LEAF . Don't Let Them Disappear . Elephants . Sharks . QRFN – the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation appointed graphic design agency Superfried once again to develop an illustration style for a promotional t-shirt to raise awareness via a two-week flash sale for World Oceans Day.

During the research stage, the client supplied oceanic imagery, one of which was a rotating shoal of fish. I was immediately drawn to the calming, organic yet geometric, circular shape being formed.

To ensure the focus remained solely on the oceans rather than the plight of an individual species, the fish that formed the basis of the illustration style was deliberately generic. A quick mock-up based on the duplication of one fish sketch was approved.

Working on the final creative solution, it now had to feel more organic. Each fish in turn was tweaked and adapted to ensure it was unique in some way, as would be the case in the wild. This immediately transformed the feel of the illustrated fish despite the minimal, silhouette illustration style employed. The final piece was signed off and sent to Represent for production for the flash sale.

The t-shirt sale was a great success. It was personally rewarding to see it worn by practitioners and experts within the field including Enric Sala, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, and Leonardo DiCaprio himself.