Metro / Sustainability Campaign

Now 20 years into an overhaul of Southern California’s public transportation system, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, known as Metro, has expanded access to all forms of mobility from trains and buses to highways, biking and pedestrian services. A commitment to sustainability has been at the heart of the agency’s efforts with innovative solutions in the use of alternative fuels, emissions controls and city planning. Metro wanted to create a campaign to remind riders that it takes everyone working together to help the environment and to encourage Angelenos to ride public transportation as part of their own contribution to emissions reductions.

The campaign’s visual system is based on a leaf—a shape that is not only inherent to environmental storytelling, but created when one circle, a nod to Metro’s signature graphic, overlaps another. Groupings of broadly colored leaves were animated in different ways to bring the concept of everyone working together to life. As the campaign continued into its second year, sister graphics were created to advertise electric vehicle services being introduced at Metro stations throughout the region. The ongoing program has extended to print, digital, motion and advertising collateral. It has also included a calendar featuring agency conservation success stories, which was distributed to Metro’s 40,000 employees.