Help a new not-for-profit conservation foundation protect Earth's fragile ecosystems.

Environmental

We are an about-to-be-formed not-for-profit foundation (early next week) with the following mission: Investing in scientific discovery and conservation of Earth’s Ecosystems.

Background The April & Jeff Sayre Fund for Nature is a heart and legacy project of wife and husband April Sayre and Jeff Sayre. Through 32-years of marriage, April and Jeff have made natural history and the conservation of threatened species and ecosystems one of their driving passions. April’s professional career has centered around science communication, authoring and publishing (via major publishing houses) over 80 children’s books. Many of her books focus on natural history topics. Jeff has had a varied career — from ecological consulting to advising, investing in, and running life sciences startups. He was the co-author, along with Kenn and Kim Kaufman, of the Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of the Midwest, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company (2015). In their spare time, they are both avid birders, semi-expert botanists, and ecological restorationists. No matter what vocations and avocations they have had, the common thread that has connected their lives is nature. In the early 2000s, they had a natural history tour company that allowed them to take select clients to some of the most pristine ecosystems on Earth in search of rare birds, amazing plants, and inspiring habitats. They offered a few tours each year that coincided with the few weeks Jeff took off each year from his ecological consultancy. In April of this year, they learned some terrible news: April’s breast cancer had returned with a vengeance. Her prognosis is not good. April’s illness motivated them to to take the initiative and establish a conservation-focused foundation that will continue their legacy — while they are still alive and long after. This has always been a dream of theirs. The foundation will award yearly grants from profits generated from the invested principal. The goal is to help researchers continue their critical field work in helping to better understand the ecological connections of Earth’s plants and animals and how best to protect and conserve them. When possible, larger grants will be made to directly participate in the protection of critical habitats. Design Ideas Whereas we think an emblem logo might be most appropriate, we are open to designers' creative visions. After initial designs come in, we will uploaded a few very basic, concept ideas we designed. We are not at all attached to them. Perhaps look at logos from similar conservation organizations for some inspiration. Foundation short name: Sayre Nature Note: We are considering adding the article "The" to official foundation name. That decision has not yet been made. So plan accordingly. We think it would be nice to show representative species in the logo — perhaps as outline or shadow form only. So several species. But we are open to creative ideas! Species to consider using: - Beetles - Large African or South American mammal (Okapi, Giraffe, Anteater, etc.) - Birds (something emblematic of the Earth’s rainforests?) - Plants: maybe several — tree, orchid, grasses, etc - Amphibians: frogs - Bees - Butterflies ------------------------------------------------ June 18, 2020: Morning Update to Brief Thank you all for your interest in our project and your submissions so far. There are a few designs we think are already moving in the right direction! We have scored each design (or are in the process) and provided feedback where we think necessary and helpful. We have not yet determined our preferred color palette or font family. Should the typeface be serifed or sans? Should the typeface contain upper and lower case lettering or be upper and small caps? What font family should be used? Our design ideals will clarify as we see more of everyone's wonderful and creative submissions! A few more comments about the logo. We do think that some type of an emblem is the likely direction we see this going. There are a several designs that already suggest some type of heraldic emblem. Those are cool! As mentioned in the design brief, we do want to include a few species that represent our passion for and focus on Earth's ecology. So as an example, a mammal, a bird, an insect, a plant, a frog. We realize that it might not be possible, or at least practical, to create a design that uses such a large number of representative species. We want our logo to offer a creative, clean, and powerful message — one that clearly communicates our vision. So if that means fewer species in the design, then that is okay. We will work together to select a handful that work for us! ------------------------------------------------ June 18, 2020: Evening Update to Brief We have a few design ideas to help guide everyone. We like the idea of a heraldic emblem, possibly with a crest wrapped around it. So here is a possible idea to explore. As you are the design professionals, you will have to let us know if this is too much or if there is a better way. Here's the concept. We have Wild Lupine that grows in our yard. It is one of our favorite plants. So we envision having a lupine flower spike on the left or right side of the central design element and then a motmot on the other side. They can partially wrap around the central image like vegetated crest logos. Here's an example we just discovered that actually uses the exact lupine we mention. We came up with this idea independently and then found this! It was the winning design, but look at the other designs on the page as well. https://99designs.com/logo-design/contests/design-plant-nature-hand-drawn-logo-park-city-803993/entries For reference, here are some sources on the species: Wild Lupine: https://www.prairienursery.com/lupine-lupinus-perennis.html Note: the flower spike and / or a lupine leaf is interesting Rufous Motmot: https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/rufous-motmot-royalty-free-image/1132443108

Every design category has flexible pricing for all budgets. Logo design starts at €289.