Case Study
American Forests
Protecting and restoring forests across America.
Overview Kicker
A Historic Brand in Need of a Website That Reflects a Bold, New Vision
Founded in 1875, American Forests is the nation’s longest-standing conservation nonprofit dedicated to protecting and restoring forests. Two years into implementing a new strategic plan to expand their mission with investments in urban forestry and Tree Equity programs, American Forests asked Constructive to help re-position their historic brand for the future.
Our collaboration focused on designing an expansive, new website to better tell their story, help audiences understand their array of programs, partnerships, policy initiatives, and increase donations. Together, we transformed American Forests’ brand, helping the conservation pioneer activate its new strategic plan and successfully move into a new era of impact.
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At a Glance
A New Brand Strategy: Together we developed a bold brand strategy that expands beyond the limitations of “just planting trees” and showcases the full potential and powerful mission of American Forests.
An Engaging Website: The new American Forests website encourages engagement with users through features like a quiz designed to challenge users’ assumptions about forestry.
Elevating Advocacy Work: Using the momentum from American Forests’ brand launch, we created a series of social posts to advocate for local policies and bring attention to AF’s policy work.
before redesign
An Underperforming Website from a Bygone Era
In recent years, American Forests has undergone significant changes with new leadership and a new vision for social impact that centers on forests as solutions to systemic issues, such as climate change, racism, and equity. When it came to its website, American Forests faced two major challenges: a design system and website that were stuck in the past and failed to live up to its progressive vision.
Behind the scenes, a significant amount of technical debt and a fragile CMS were frustrating staff and creating vulnerabilities. We partnered with American Forests to develop a design system that differentiates the environmental nonprofit from the visual sameness that dominated its space, create a digital strategy that brings vibrant imagery and impact stories to the forefront, and build a technical ecosystem that supports staff, members, and fundraising operations.
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“I knew that rebranding a 145-year old organization would be a big undertaking. I am so glad we chose Constructive to be our partner. Everyone on their team brought so much to the table to support us throughout the process: expertise, critical and creative minds, patience, adaptability and, importantly, humor. The result was branding that literally brought tears to my eyes and a website that’s perfectly aligned with our strategic priorities. Both received high praise from our Board of Directors, staff, partners, and funders alike. Looking to the future, we’re confident Constructive will add strategic, creative, and technical value to American Forests for years to come.”
Jill Schwartz
VP of Communications, American Forests
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