BC3 — Rebranding

The starting point

The Basque Centre for Climate Change is one of the most recognized European research centers on climate change. It publishes peer-reviewed research, participates in Horizon Europe programs, and coordinates projects across research, policy, and outreach.

The previous identity could not hold together three very different audiences the center has to serve every day: the international scientific community, institutional decision-makers, and the general public (including schools, media, and local partners).

The rebranding objective

Build a visual system that tells a story of positive change, impact, responsibility — the three concepts at the heart of the center’s mission — without compromising scientific rigor and without falling into the “green corporate” aesthetic that already saturates the sector.

The identity had to be:

• Recognizable in academic publications as much as on social media
• Adaptable across more than 30 project sub-brands (including the later UNTWIST)
• Sustainable — including physically, in printed materials
• Multilingual (English · Spanish · Catalan · Basque)

What we delivered

• Logo + system of variants (positive, negative, monochrome, small-format isolated)
• Complete Brand Manual with usage rules, palette, typography, grids, and icon system
• Stationery — letterhead, business cards, email signature templates, C5 envelope
• Editorial templates for papers, reports, executive summaries, policy briefs
• Modular social kit with a visual system for four different audiences
• Sub-brand system for related projects (template later applied to UNTWIST)

The approach

Co-design with BC3’s communication manager. Amelia Ochoa led the center’s internal voice; Pianeta.Studio brought the visual system and art direction. Three iteration cycles, each with navigable prototypes applied to the center’s real use cases.

Validation on actual materials. Every brand decision was tested on a real piece (a report, a LinkedIn post, a sample slide) before approval. No “logo looks great in PowerPoint” — only “will this template hold up across a year of publications?”

Designed to survive turnover. The brand manual is written so a new team member can apply it correctly within two days of onboarding. No implicit decisions, no templates left open to interpretation.

Outcome

• Identity live since November 2024
• Applied across all institutional communication of the center (website, publications, social, event presence)
• The system became the foundation for UNTWIST (2025) and other related projects with no need for a redesign
• Adopted internally as the recurring standard

Credits

• Communication Manager (BC3): Amelia Ochoa
• Creative Direction: Pianeta.Studio
• Client Manager & Art Director: Massimiliano Mauro
• Senior Designer: Francesca Fossati
• Digital Art: Mark Beccaloni

Dig deeper

Full gallery with every deliverable: BC3 Rebranding on Behance ↗

The 2025 project UNTWIST — Untangling the Water-Energy-Food Nexus is a direct descendant of this visual system: same family of typographic and color choices, same sub-brand logic.