Frank Fallano’s Gold-winning poster collection for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) Program showcases endangered species through a blend of vintage travel poster inspiration and modern conservation messaging. Featuring the North American songbird, Mexican wolf, monarch butterfly, jaguar, and more, the series employs dramatic sunset palettes, layered compositions, and distinctive typography to create both visual impact and emotional resonance. This poster collection demonstrates how strategic design choices—from custom geometric sans serifs to atmospheric photography integration—can transform conservation advocacy into compelling art that appeals to both design enthusiasts and wildlife supporters.

By: Frank Fallano, Owner, Fallano Faulkner & Associates

This group of posters is part of a new group of 15 posters, adding to the original group of 19 posters that started this very successful campaign where we needed to create a series of posters featuring animals in the Associations of Zoos & Aquariums’ SAFE program (Saving Animals From Extinction). As each animal is inducted into the program, an action plan is formulated by member institutions to address the issue. The project’s purpose was to raise awareness in the member institutions’ visiting populations as well as the general public. The client’s creative requirements included: 

• The additional capability of member institutions to brand the posters with their logo and offer them for their own sales and promotional efforts. 
• The client had suggested a style inspired by vintage travel posters of the 1930s-40s.

Taking the travel posters as inspiration but not remaining wedded to that aesthetic, we (FF&A) created a poster for each endangered species selected. The client provided some reference photography, and we used some of our own existing images as well as images shot specifically for the project. Each image was created using a number of techniques: photography, photo compositing, digital drawing, and conventional ink-on-paper drawing. In addition, the series was tied together with some common elements–distant horizon lines with changing angles of view, breaking the frame boundary with elements to enliven the composition, and treating a few items as flat graphic shapes to evoke the vintage posters mentioned in the client’s brief.

This group of posters is new, and research data has not yet been compiled. However, the following client commentary talks about the results of the original poster campaign:

“Over the course of the Party for the Planet: Spring into Action campaign, AZA released a series of visually stunning poster graphics for the SAFE species. The posters, along with accompanying social media graphics, were shared with AZA members for them to utilize during the awareness campaign. On AZA’s social media channels, the most engaging images were a giraffe on Facebook, a black-footed ferret on Instagram, and an orangutan on X (Twitter).

“A key goal for SAFE is to raise awareness about saving species and the role of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums in this effort. According to research, awareness of the SAFE program among people familiar with AZA is 46%, and overall favorability among millennials—a key action-oriented demographic—regarding zoos and aquariums is up nine points. As part of AZA’s national communications strategy, a coordinated messaging toolkit, complete with SAFE species graphics, was created and shared with the AZA membership. During the coordinated SAFE campaign from Earth Day to World Ocean Day, AZA’s social posts reached nearly one million people. AZA members, when combined, have a potential reach of over 45 million people and were also encouraged to share the toolkit information. The client’s team was delighted with the result, stating that it was the most successful campaign that they have ever created and that they have never had such an overwhelmingly positive response from their members.”

Fallano Faulkner & Associates provides marketing communications, advertising, branding, and marketing consultation to businesses and institutions in a variety of market sectors, including health care, education, high technology, telecommunications, and finance. The FF&A team has created and implemented successful marketing initiatives that range from local to international in scope.

Working closely with their clients, FF&A’s strength lies in creating strategic marketing plans that meld core messaging with memorable imagery that builds a compelling brand story. Whatever the media—print, broadcast, web, direct mail, or collateral development—FF&A can be the ideal partner for developing and implementing your communication plans.

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