Rewilding Britain

Inspiring a rewilding movement. Calling on governments to restore nature and fund natural climate solutions.

A geometric illustartion of red squirrel and beaver by Ed Harrison.
Illustration, Web design, Campaign

Rewilding Britain

Creating the graphics for Rewilding Britain's environmental campaign to gain political support for rewilding in the UK.

"Ed's designs have been crucial to our campaign work on the role of rewilding and helped us attract over 100,000 signatures to a petition that's set to trigger a debate in the UK parliament."

Charlie Peverett Communications strategy, Rewilding Britain

The Brief

  • It was the first time Rewilding Britain asked for political support and they commissioned me to lead the visual communications for their campaign.
  • The first goal was to captivate people's imaginations about the rewilding movement.
  • The second goal was to help people to understand the benefits of rewilding.
  • The third goal was a call to action: empowering people to sign a petition that calls on the UK government to fund natural climate solutions.

The Idea

  • I illustrated a series of scenes to celebrate some of the charismatic British species that are likely to return as a result of rewilding.
  • I created an icon set for the different critical habitats that need to be protected and restored.
  • I designed a series of graphics to visually communicate the role of rewilding against climate breakdown, such as carbon sequestration and flood prevention.
  • The visuals were used across web pages, newsletters, social campaigns and a report published about the decarbonising benefits of rewilding.

The Result

A digital illustration of a beaver created by Ed Harrison for Rewilding Britain.
A geometric illustartion of an egret created by Ed Harrison for Rewilding Britain.
A geometric illustartion of a pine marten created by Ed Harrison for Rewilding Britain.
A brand sheet of graphical elements for Rewilding Britain designed by Ed Harrison.
An illustrated scene by Ed Harrison of British wildlife with an egret, red squirrel and beaver.
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An illustrated scene by Ed Harrison of British wildlife with an eagle, pine marten and beaver.
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Project overview

Rewilding Britain published a report on how restoring nature can help decarbonise the UK. The illustrations were used to bring the text-heavy pages to life and I created a set of habitat icons to help readers navigate the content.

Read the report
A set of icons of 4 different habitats in the UK, designed by Ed Harrison.
An iPhone laying on a wooden desk displaying Rewilding Britain's web page.

My approach

When messages are clear and understood, it’s easier for audiences to take action. My aim was to create a series of compelling visuals to communicate how rewilding can help to prevent climate breakdown in a lively and compelling format for newsletters, social posts, and web pages.

A set of icons designed by Ed Harrison about the benefits of Rewilding.
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An open laptop on a wooden desk displaying Rewilding Britain's campaign web page.
An iPhone laying on a wooden desk displaying Rewilding Britain's campaign page.
A man walking in the street passing a series of Rewilding Britain posters.

A game-changing campaign

The campaign was shared by the Guardian as well as environmental influencers such as George Monbiot. Within a day 10,000 people had signed the petition. In less than two months they hit the 100,000 target. This triggered a debate in UK parliament about commitments to fund natural climate solutions.

View the petition
View all work