Back in the lockdown days of 2021, our agency, 33Seconds, launched Earthtopia - an eco-community on TikTok - to provide young people with positive and informative content about climate change.
As a communications agency that already worked within the climate and sustainability sector, we wanted to utilise our skills and knowledge beyond our client work to create something meaningful that would make a positive difference in the world.
Our thinking was - we’d all like to do more to save the planet, so providing people with positive information and practical advice is a welcome antidote to the dreaded ‘doom scroll’ that leaves many feeling dejected and with little hope for the future.
Evolution of the Earthtopia brand
This engaging, optimistic approach must have resonated - Earthtopia has since grown to over 500,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, becoming one of the largest eco-communities globally.
As a result of growing this largely Gen Z and Millennial audience, we began to be approached by companies like Nike, YouTube, Netflix and eBay, who were keen to communicate their sustainability-focused initiatives, as well as not-for-profit organisations such as the United Nations and the Earthshot Prize.
Because of the popularity of the tips and advice content we were creating, we recognised that it may also work well in the form of a book and allow us to reach even more young people with these positive messages of hope. We took this idea to Penguin Random House UK, who thankfully agreed.
The resulting book is being published this November. Entitled ‘100 Ways You Can Help Save the Planet’, it offers 100 illustrated, practical solutions to everyday environmental challenges - including swapping fast fashion for sustainable choices, using eco-friendly banking and deleting emails to reduce digital pollution.
We see it as an extension of our mission to raise awareness of the small changes everyone can make for a greener future. And with such an important message, as the book's art director, I wanted to make sure its design and illustrations engaged and educated in a similar positive way to the social content.
The book’s creative process and illustrations
Earthtopia started out as a very graphically-led Instagram page. Our content was heavily inspired by DIY and lo-fi production methods, used by both punks and ravers alike when they created posters, flyers or fanzines for their communities - a style that has always inspired me as an artist.
These communities would use collage and photocopiers to create crude imagery using pop culture references, repurposed in a very specific aesthetic. In fact, the name Earthtopia is inspired by recurring rave event names!
One of the main reasons for using this art direction was due to the recycled nature of collage - using lost and found imagery and combining it to make something new.
Ultimately though, this direction evolved as we leaned into using TikTok, with only the Earthtopia logo remaining as a main visual component.
When we began discussions with Penguin Random House UK about the book, it made sense to resurrect this collage style of illustration. The main difference between our output for social media and the book was the movement from vibrant, rave inspired neon colours to purely black and white.
The process of each illustration began by reading the title of the tip and seeing what sprang to mind immediately. I wanted the illustrations to be eye-catching first and foremost as people flipped through the pages. I then added in as many elements from the body text of the tip to flesh this out.
One big shift though was having to use imagery that was licensed, as opposed to ripping elements from my favourite pop culture sources. This meant exclusively using stock photos (Shutterstock in this case) so that all the illustrations would be suitable for publishing.
Retro imagery from the 50s, mediaeval etchings and mascot style characters make recurring appearances throughout the 101 illustrations, as they were naturally black and white to begin with. I also wanted to make the Earthtopia globe logo a motif that appeared frequently throughout the book.
Some of the illustrations would take under 30 minutes to produce, whilst others would stretch into multiple hours, as I tried to figure out how best to communicate each tip with a style that certainly had its pros but also posed challenges!
‘100 Ways You Can Help Save the Planet’ will be widely available from 7th November 2024 and is available for pre-order now. With its engaging content, vibrant illustrations, and approachable tone, this book is ideal for anyone looking to start their eco-journey or expand their environmental knowledge.