Humans are intrinsically linked to the earth. If our largest mammals are threatened by environmental impacts, then we are as well. Whales understand the environment they live in better than we do. And together, we can learn how to help them.
Project CETI (a non-profit organization) is on a mission to decode sperm whale language to better understand their world. But breakthrough science requires breakthrough storytelling in order to move hearts and minds.
Introducing Listen to the Whales.
The Listen to the Whales campaign is a transformative experience of listening, understanding, and bridging the gap. It offers an adventure into an underwater landscape, akin to dipping your head beneath the surface, where the world softens and cetacean frequencies link us to something larger than ourselves. It is a movement for a new era, one rooted in curiosity, synergy, and understanding.
We developed an aesthetic that echoes the spirit of sound and the power of listening, picking up on the mystery of the ocean, from logomark to brand playbook to web presence. The rippling logomark was created with both water and sound waves in mind, while the bright, vivid hues and watery tones of the color palette evoke a sense of hopefulness. When applied to a digital landscape, the ethos of the movement emerges while putting the spotlight on the media produced by their partners at National Geographic.
The design language comes alive in the relaying of stories that are awe-evoking and educational, while making science approachable, light, and playful. It ushers audiences into a dreamy underwater world that takes over the senses, using movement and sound as an escape from everything competing for our attention, while intertwining us with the rhythms of the sea. It needed to strike a balance between rich content and white space, feeling calm and peaceful, and evoking wonder and symbiosis with the natural world.
By slowing people down and asking them to tune in, Listen to the Whales fosters a deeper emotional attachment to sperm whales, the ocean, and the planet we share. Through science, art, learning, and policy engagement, the campaign encourages people of all ages to experience wonder and curiosity about non-human intelligence, to see themselves as listeners and stewards of the organic realm, and to support a future where technology deepens, not diminishes, our bond with other living things.
Teachable Yet Accessible, Noticeable but Not Noisy
While rooted in the scientific community, this project needed to reach far beyond white papers into the public consciousness. The art direction had to be lively and approachable, connected to Project CETI but also standing as a key identifier for the campaign. Listen to the Whales seeks to galvanize audiences by cultivating care that will eventually lead to action.
Immersive Storytelling with Multimedia
Through immersive storytelling, Listen to the Whales shares what CETI is discovering about the rich internal and communal lives and language of these gentle creatures, and why it matters. Multimedia content, including audio of sperm whale clicks, is at the heart of the campaign, with visual narratives that explore what we might experience if we could understand better, drawing parallels between cetacean societies and our own. The digital experience is designed with flexibility to accommodate new information as we learn more about the science of the whales, while stories revealing their social lives, cultures, and individual personalities educate and inspire.
Through narratives grounded in authentic scientific discovery, Listen to the Whales has created a current of change, transforming curiosity into compassion, and compassion into tangible action.
Continued financial support through donations will allow Project CETI to continue fostering a better understanding between whales and humans, and the world as a whole.
So, let's listen.
