Campaign // Identity:
Kwon Gesh Climate Pledge at UN
Kwon Gesh Climate Pledge at UN
Clients:
The Government of Ireland at the United Nations
The Government of Ireland at the United Nations
The Government of the Marshall Islands at the United Nations
Launch:
UN Youth Climate Summit 2019
Launch:
UN Youth Climate Summit 2019
My roles were to assist in the planning and authorship stages of a climate justice pledge campaign, focusing on youth policy and action, in partnership with actors on behalf of the above clients, then design an accompanying identity for the campaign upon completion of authorship. Theme the campaign for climate justice and design pleasing, attractive and culturally-sensitive visuals to promote it.
Planning began upon my invitation from the office of the Irish Mission to the UN in New York to contribute to a campaign of this nature in 2018, for the UN Youth Climate Summit in New York in 2019 - which would later become famous for the impact of Greta Thunberg's speech to the UN.
My role was to consult on the authorship and to direct the visual development of the campaign. The campaign was for governments of the world to pledge to shape climate policy with representation by and consultancy with both the world's youth and the elderly.
Involved in this role was the review of the pledge contents and returning feedback on its framing and positioning, from an authorship standpoint. This involved some feedback - for naming, suggested content and proof editing - for the pledge itself.
Then research and advice on desirable visual criteria, submitting for review before commencing development of visual assets and solutions.
Solutions included potential visual themes, influences and outcomes that could satisfy desired criteria in a brief, intense, iterative process. The result should present the pledge in a positive, attractive and culturally sensitive manner, to influence improved adoption of climate policy in co-signing partner governments, supported by the resources available to them by the UN Sustainability Goals project.
The pledge was conceived in cooperation by two "island cultures", Ireland and the Marshall Islands. Islands have unique concerns with regards to climate change and this is part of an international cooperative effort between them to address these concerns.
After assisting to shape the pledge itself, in a consultant capacity, I had to develop a logo, a central, identifying emblem for the pledge and present the pledge document itself both for signing by world leaders, and promotion of the campaign itself.
Time: Planning for the pledge was periodical over 9 months. Actual design time was 36 hours over 3 weeks total.
Launch: September 21, 2019
Launched by President Heine of the Marshall Islands, the pledge was an immediate success with 50 countries signing up on the day of its launch at the summit itself and more continue to do so to date.
The Logo Design
The Aesthetic:
The Aesthetic:
I employed an overall weight to the design that follows traditional Marshallese pattern aesthetics - bright, sophisticated patterns, often radial, which weave geometric and natural symbolism, employing all negative space. These follow some similar principles to traditional Irish patterns and other traditional imagery, globally.
The Shapes:
The pattern in the Kwon Gesh icon shows hands holding hands - this symbolises the agreement, commitment and unity of purpose, with each hand leading attached to the same body as a hand following and all are clasped in handshake. They are arranged in a star - a symbol for navigation which transcends language, and in particular the eight pointed star, which is the visual shorthand of a compass dial. There is an internal star of blue, representing air, cooling and calm, which eminates from an abstract of the world, represented by a blue circle (the oceans) with a leaf shape of green (the environment), giving the impression of land on the globe. The imagery aims to evoke cooperative global focus on the environment.
The Colours:
The colours of the hands were derived from dividing a gradient into eight parts. The gradient was built from sampling flag colours from the UN states but weighting Ireland and the Marshall Islands slightly (orange being a shared colour, while the Irish green and Marshall blue are both bright midtones, making the cool tones lighter). It is hoped to not give any one country priority with the colour palette and to have a bright optimistic colour palette.
This is the finished pledge. This is the main, English-language format design for the pledge. Other formats were supplied, along with an editable format supplied for translation and appropriate reformatting.
The pledge launched with resounding success, covered in international media. Pictured are signatory countries including representatives from (1) Ireland, (2) Peru, the first country to sign the pledge, (3) Estonia, (4) Czechia, and (5) from left to right, Denmark, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and Summit Host, Steve Chiu, all featuring the pledge design.
A signable format and package was provided in all cases.
A signable format and package was provided in all cases.
"The summit also marked the launch of the Kwon-Gesh Pledge. The Marshall Islands (southwest of Hawaii) and Ireland initiated the pledge. It asks U.N. leaders to include youth in carrying out goals of the Paris Accord. This pledge is perhaps the most concrete measure to include youth in policymaking."
- G. Moran, Science News Explores
"Ireland and the Marshall Islands jointly called on Governments across the world to pledge to include young people in climate policy creation under what is known as the Kwon Gesh Youth Pledge launched at the summit. The term refers to “solemn duty”; symbolising the duty this generation owes to the next generation. This initiative will feed into deliberations by heads of state on Monday."
- Kevin O'Sullivan, The Irish Times
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