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Forest of Biologists campaign

The Forest of Biologists is a biodiversity initiative from The Company of Biologists. For every Research Article and Review they publish, a native tree is planted in the UK, and ancient woodland is protected in honour of their peer reviewers.

A pixel-art style, top-down isometric view of a lush green landscape densely filled with a wide variety of trees. The trees feature varying shades of green, differing canopy shapes, and some display white or reddish blossoms. Small stacks of wooden logs and tiny forest details are scattered across the green ground throughout the scene.

Campaign identity

The idea was simple, so the design did not need a long run of concepts. A few mock-ups were enough to agree direction; from there the identity was largely designed in the browser, in context, rather than as a stack of boards.

The mark is a cluster of splayed leaves — a forest, not a single tree — drawn simply enough to hold at small sizes, with veins to keep the shape clear. The colours follow leaf abscission: green giving way to the yellow and orange of carotenoid pigments. It is lively without becoming loud, and it sits comfortably next to The Company of Biologists’ existing branding without copying it.

Logos for "The Forest of Biologists" and "The Company of Biologists" displayed against a light aerial forest background on the top half and a dark green aerial forest background on the bottom half. On the left, "The Forest of Biologists" logo features four colourful, overlapping leaf shapes — yellow, light green, dark green, and orange — next to the text "THE FOREST OF BIOLOGISTS". On the right, "The Company of Biologists" logo features a colourful fan-like icon composed of vibrant semi-circular segments alongside the text "The Company of Biologists".

Trees maketh a forest

We created a custom illustration for each species of tree planted in the forest. They had to be detailed enough to read as that tree, but simple enough to produce that it would not take a year to draw each one.

Trees carry their character in thousands of leaves, so that is what we drew — taking care to randomise the pattern so it felt grown, not stamped. We were not aiming for photorealism, but for something in between.

  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Field Maple tree.
    Field Maple
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Dog Rose tree.
    Dog Rose
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Yew tree.
    Yew
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Holly tree.
    Holly
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Hazel tree.
    Hazel
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Ash tree.
    Ash
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Sycamore tree.
    Sycamore
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Aspen tree.
    Aspen
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Sessile Oak tree.
    Sessile Oak
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single English Oak tree.
    English Oak
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Wild Cherry tree.
    Wild Cherry
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Willow tree.
    Willow
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Rowan tree.
    Rowan
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Beech tree.
    Beech
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Small Leaved Lime tree.
    Small Leaved Lime
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Hawthorn tree.
    Hawthorn
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Alder tree.
    Alder
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single English Oak tree.
    English Oak
  • A 2D digital illustration of a single Birch tree.
    Birch

On the forest floor

No self-respecting forest would be seen without its companions. To give the landscape some variety, we made a handful of artefacts that could be scattered through the trees at random.

  • A 2D digital illustration of a cluster of mushrooms.
    Cluster of mushrooms
  • A 2D digital illustration of two separate cluster of red cap mushrooms.
    Red cap mushrooms
  • A 2D digital illustration of clusters of bluebells.
    Bluebells
  • A 2D digital illustration of pile of logs.
    Logs in a pile
  • A 2D digital illustration of pile of logs, and mushrooms surrounding the logs.
    Logs surrounded by mushrooms
  • A 2D digital illustration of two moss covered rocks surrounded by bluebells.
    Rocks covered in moss surrounded by bluebells
  • A 2D digital illustration of two moss covered rocks.
    Rocks covered in moss

Brand guidelines

We wrote a set of guidelines for The Company of Biologists team so the identity would stay consistent once it left us: minimum logo sizes, how to use the leaf, and — in more depth — how the tree illustrations should be used, including rules for digital marketing and where particular elements can and cannot sit.

Brand guidelines
FoB brand guidelines

Launch materials

Around the identity we produced an A6 flyer, PowerPoint slides, web banners, and social collateral — covers, profile pictures, and graphics to sit alongside posts — so the launch had a single look across print, presentations and channels.

A collection of online banners promoting The Forest of Biologists showing the logo, words stating For biologists, for biology beneath which contains more words, A bio-positive publishing initiative from The Company of Biologist. Every is overlaid on a dark green background that show a forest canopy from above.
Online banners
A6 flyer promoting The Forest of Biologists showing the front of a leaflet overlaying the back of another partially obscuring it. The front contains grass green background with the logo, words stating For biologists, for biology beneath which contains a forest of tree illustrations.
A6 flyer

A campaign that took

The Forest of Biologists was taken up with real enthusiasm. The virtual forest became a way for authors and reviewers to see their part in it; the initiative was later shortlisted for the ALPSP Impact Award 2024. By 2025 the Company was talking in thousands of trees planted and more than ten thousand dedicated to peer review. 

The identity had a job: make that visible. It did.