International Biochar Initiative rebrands with new logo

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) is excited to introduce the biochar industry and broader community to our new logo, brand, and refreshed organizational values. Stemming from IBI’s 15-year history as a trusted network, our new brand identity brings a modern, professional look to our robust programming, resources, and certification standards.

“As an IBI co-founder, and biochar researcher for nearly two decades, I am thrilled to see this organization maturing alongside the growing biochar industry and body of research,” said Johannes Lehmann, Liberty Hyde Bailey professor, School of Integrative Plant Science Soil and Crop Sciences Section at Cornell University, and IBI Board member. “IBI’s legacy, guided and inspired by our global community, makes this next chapter possible.”

To bring the brand to life, IBI contracted with Friendly Design Co., a strategic design studio that builds impactful brands and websites with organizations who repair our world and strengthen our communities. Friendly Design Co. worked with IBI stakeholders to create a renewed, mature presence to align the visual identity of our organization with the needs of the vibrant, global biochar community.

“After getting feedback from biochar industry stakeholders around the globe that IBI might benefit from a refresh, particularly from IBI’s amazing membership based in over 60 countries, I am so pleased to launch this new organizational visual identity to keep pace with the dynamic and rapidly growing biochar industry,” said Wendy Lu Maxwell-Barton, executive director of IBI.

The refreshed logo incorporates imagery relevant to the biochar industry; the soft hexagon shape references biochar’s chemical composition and the negative spaces suggest the veins of a leaf or branches of a tree (a nod to the foundations of IBI’s original logo). The gradation of charcoal and shades of green in the logomark suggest a process or cycle, like biochar production, and the sans serif typography is clear and bold – just like our vision for the future of biochar.

As a central hub for information and resources about biochar, we wanted our new logo to reflect the values that remain at the core of our work: optimistic, collaborative, grounded, and bold. These same values will take both our organization and the biochar industry to new heights as a solution to climate change and multi-sector issues worldwide.

We’re looking forward to this next chapter of our mission: to foster stakeholder collaboration, good industry practices, and environmental and ethical standards to support biochar systems that are safe and economically viable.