Solidarity to Solutions Week (Sol2Sol) took place during the Global Climate Action Summit, September 8-14, 2018. It Takes Roots member organizations and international allies descended on Ohlone Territories, San Francisco, 30,000+ strong, to join forces and build solidarity. ITR is a cross-sector, multi-movement alliance of alliances: Climate Justice Alliance, Indigenous Environmental Network, Right to the City, and Grassroots Global Justice.
These 6 days of marches, events, panels, direct actions, and creative demonstrations exposed false solutions promoted by the summit investors and offered true solutions to the climate crisis, grounded in real life experiences of frontline communities.
Design Action Collective created the branding and materials for this massive mobilization – Art and Design Direction: MJ Hammond, Project and Materials Direction: former owner Ivy Climacosa
Process
“The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible”
As resource members of the Grassroots Global Justice network, Design Action Collective, Center for Story-based Strategy (CSS) and The Ruckus Society collaborated to create powerful images, messaging, action art, and strategy.
First, CSS prepared It Takes Roots members to harness the narrative as a unified voice from impacted communities around the Americas, and develop key messages.
From there, our team at Design Action developed the visual branding and action art. With such a rich multiplicity of voices and messages coming together for the summit, our challenge was to create visuals that would bring them all together under a united visual language while also honoring each alliance’s unique cultural identity. Drawing from extensive creative visioning sessions with GGJ, and deeper relationship-building with the ITR base as a whole, we arrived on the graphic elements that would tell the movement’s story.
The final rendition of the half sun, half sunflower across a distinct diagonal split was a visual take on the name “SOL 2 SOL” and representative of the values Solutions to Solidarity. The sun (sol) is the source of all energy on planet earth, representing the sky, life, influence, power, courage, and solutions. The sunflower (sol) has long been a symbol representing the grassroots environmental justice movement, due to its connotations with bioremediation and healing of the earth, as well as longevity, beauty, nourishment, and solidarity.
The dynamic diagonal split down the middle captures the essence of movement, action, and resilience. The place where they meet conjures up a mental image of the surge of power created when forces are combined. These two halves do not stand in contrast or opposition to each other, but rather represent a coalescence in reflection of each other’s beauty and strength. The organic edges and hand drawn quality of the illustrations represent nature and the people power required to create true climate solutions from frontline communities.
This logo and extending visual identity of the bold red/yellow/orange color palette and diagonal lines with bars of text was used to create banners, flags, t-shirts, posters, fliers, buttons, bandanas, social media graphics, postcards, and even a giant mural.
Incredible local community vendors we worked with to print the materials: oakbrandusa, Broken Seal Buttons, and Community Printers!
IP3 (Indigenous Peoples Power Project) came through with the vision and steady hands to help Design Action create the smaller semi-transparent banners and vertical orange multilingual banners. IP3 is a nonviolent direct action training and support network advancing Indigenous communities’ ability to exercise their inherent rights to environmental justice, cultural livelihood, and self-determination.
Finally, Ruckus Society worked on the art build for the action visuals, and incorporated the art and messaging into the overall strategy for a direct action at the gates of the Global Climate Action Summit.
Out in the streets
Thousands of people filled the streets to call on leaders to stand with communities, not corporations. The bandana was designed to be versatile, and we LOVED the different ways people rocked it, making it their own!
The New York Times ran a feature on Sol2Sol – Jade Daniels (GGJ Communications Coordinator) shown here in a flashmob action.
Even Amy Goodman from Democracy Now had to get a shot of that gorgeous banner!
The Sol2Sol Week – Solidarity to Solutions offered real solutions to the climate crisis, grounded in real life experiences of frontline communities. Our future generations are counting on us to save the planet! Will you join the struggle?
Photos by Brooke Anderson Photography, Marian Carrasquero, Denny Khamphanthong – Please let us know if we missed a photography credit!