TEXAS LIVING WATERS
Connecting the streams.
In the last 25 years, Texas Living Waters has become one of the most influential advocates for the conservation and protection of Texas’ waterways. Yet they were still somewhat misunderstood.
Lawmakers. Scientists. Community and business leaders. All the big stakeholders in the space rely on Texas Living Water’s reports, analysis and expert recommendations to guide big and small decisions being made about our state’s waterways every day. However if you asked many of those same stakeholders to describe who Texas Living Waters is and what makes them different from other water advocates in the state, you probably wouldn’t get a very clear answer. And that lack of clarity was affecting their ability to appeal to new audiences, expand their fundraising efforts, and ultimately grow their influence and impact.
It’s easy to see how people could be unclear about who they are and what they do. The answers to those questions are complicated. TLW isn’t a singular organization. They’re a coalition of six leading nature conservation organizations. And their work itself can be pretty wonky — as they are focused on leveraging data and science to inform smarter water management plans and bolder legislative policies. We helped them update their brand’s visual identity and core messaging in a way that made their story more clear, positioned them as the go-to experts of Texas’ springs, rivers and bays, and distinguished them from the growing number of water-focused nonprofits in Texas.
SERVICES
Blitz
Brand Strategy
Positioning
Visual Identity
Tagline
Narrative
LOGO
TLW’s previous logo featured a map of all the waterways in Texas. Even though it told a very literal story about what they’re focused on, it was just too complex for that story to come through in a logo and didn’t function well at smaller sizes. And the shape of Texas, while loved, is also used by many of the biggest water-focused organizations in the state.
The new logo features a bluebonnet icon made from water drops. By leveraging this beloved symbol of Texas identity, it positions the state’s waterways as a critical part of that identity and vital to sustaining it. And the six big water drops supporting the three smaller drops at top represent the six organizations coming together to support TLW’s three focus areas of research, policy and implementation.
TAGLINE
Texas waterways connect our ecology, economy and politics in deeply complex ways. TLW is one of the few advocacy groups that understand and can explain those connections. Their tagline is a short and simple way to frame what they do best. It speaks to how they help connect the dots on water issues so that they make sense — so that they flow. It also speaks to the power of their coalition of experts — six organizations coming together to be the voice for our springs, rivers and bays.
COLORS
TLW’s primary and secondary brand colors were inspired by the waters they work to protect and the natural landscapes around those waters.
Yet, they needed more than just primary and secondary colors. TLW, like many brands working in the conservation space, often needs to tell a story using data — complex statistics, charts and visualizations. So they also needed an expanded color palette just for data. We developed a series of color palettes for different types of data that complement the brand’s core colors — giving them the tools to tell more complex stories without diluting the brand.
“We are very good at telling the story of water in Texas, but the people who utilize our work did not fully understand who we are. Butler helped us develop a strong visual identity to celebrate 25 years of our coalition and and gave us the tools to keep telling our story for the next 25 years.”
JENNIFER WALKER, Texas Coast and Water Program Director, National Wildlife Federation
PEOPLE
We were honored to roll up our pant legs and wade into this work with TLW. They were a diverse group of researchers, policy leads and legislative experts from all six member organizations who make up TLW’s coalition. These organizations represent some of the biggest voices in nature conservation in Texas and include National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy in Texas, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter, Hill Country Alliance, Galveston Bay Foundation and Bayou City Waterkeeper.
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