In conjunction with November’s 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the Terra Carta Seal recognizing private sector companies leading the way in creating sustainable markets has just been unveiled.
The seal will get granted to those in the private sector who have distinguished themselves for their sustainability efforts. Brought to life by HRH Prince Charles’ Sustainable Markets Initiative and the creative collective LoveFrom, the seal is rich with ornate natural iconography.
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With LoveFrom founder and the former Chief Design Officer at Apple, Jony Ive, at the helm of the design, the Terra Carta Seal features delicate flourishes of illustrated flora and fauna that exemplify the charter’s goals of preserving nature, people, and our planet.
The circular seal includes intricate depictions of oak leaves, acorns, fern, magnolia, phlox, ladybirds, monarch butterflies, birds, and honey bees. These elements get woven throughout a “Terra Carta” wordmark composed in LoveFrom’s very own exclusive serif inspired by John Baskerville’s letterforms, a bespoke typeface only available for special projects such as this. The ornamented details are bordered by Terra Carta’s motto, “for the harmony of nature, people and the planet, ”in both Latin and English.
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The illustrated elements of the design drew inspiration from the patterns and compositions of William Morris, Josef Frank, Nick Knight, and Christopher Marley. The result is a “visually lush celebration of the power of nature,” as Ive himself puts it.
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As an addendum to the digital seal, LoveFrom collaborated with British paper mill James Cropper to create a physical paper version. The team crafted the physical edition using a combination of printing, embossing, die-cutting, and micro-perforation techniques, with the text letterpressed into handmade exposition from James Cropper’s Paper Foundation in Cumbria (which runs on solar and hydropower).
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We have a long way to go to set our planet on the path of recovery and preservation. But if we can harness the same mastery and precision used in this seal design, I think we’ve got a shot.