Scaling up a Sustainable Blue Economy For All

Our journey with GCF 

How do you make more people care about saving the ocean?

At Future By Design, we believe the best way to drive action is through human connection.

The most powerful climate stories start with people, so when GCF asked us to bring their #SustainableBlueEconomy work to life, we knew it had to go beyond stats and policy and move hearts and minds.

Through human-centred storytelling, cinematic visuals, and science-backed narratives, we brought GCF’s work to life. We showed how policy becomes protection, how investment becomes impact, and how real people are leading ocean solutions on the frontlines of climate change.

The result is a campaign that inspires action, builds trust, and highlights the shared responsibility to protect our ocean.

A word from the Creative Director

The goal was for creative direction to feel grounded and honest, but also fresh and expressive. We used real photos and videos from GCF’s library to keep the focus on the people and places at the heart of the campaign.

To bring in a more expressive, emotional layer, we introduced watercolor illustrations and used a watercolor-style typeface to accent certain words. Watercolor felt like the perfect visual metaphor — fluid, vibrant, and directly connected to the theme of water. The way the pigments flow and blend naturally mirrors the movement of the ocean and adds a sense of openness and creativity.

This project was a balancing act between staying true to real-world stories and adding an expressive, creative layer. The result was a campaign that felt alive, accessible, and grounded in both reality and creativity.

Colors

The selected palette features three shades of blue that represent the varying depths of the sea, from the shimmering surface to the mysterious deep. Accents of orange symbolize vibrant coral reefs and the warmth of sunlight on the horizon, while two off-white tones evoke the purity of icebergs and the frothy texture of ocean waves.

Fonts

For accent words or headlines a watercolor font called Hot Mess! Watercolors are the perfect blend of what this campaign is about (water) and creativity that is represented through color. The bleeding pigments evoke the natural flow of water, creating an immediate visual connection to the cause. This font can be used for acceting certain words and numbers.

By sticking with Museo Sans, the constant throughout very campaign, it would continue to appeal to stakeholders, financial partners and private sector representative, but the introduction of Hot Mess! will open up the campaign to younger generations as well as attract media and journalists that would help amplify the message.