SALMON NATION: AN ILLUSTRATION CAMPAIGN

Patagonia Campaign: Protecting Iceland’s Wild Salmon

Salmon Nation fish illustrations for a project for Patagonia

Services:

A visual campaign for environmental protection

Campaign illustrations for:

- Film poster

- Animation

- Stickers

- Billboards

- Projection mapping

- Screen printing

- Social media

Client:

Patagonia Europe

Open-net salmon farms in Iceland are driving wild salmon toward extinction, polluting coastlines, and raising serious animal welfare concerns. In collaboration with Patagonia Europe and four Icelandic NGOs, I was asked to create a compelling visual story to support their campaign for a nationwide ban on these farms.

Crafting the visual story

The goal was clear: creating a visual journey of what a healthy wild salmon looks like and the deformities that come from farming.

Working from the design brief and the ideas discussed with the Patagonia team, I started exploring ways to illustrate the salmon.

The challenge

Turning gruesome images of salmon into appealing illustrations was one of the biggest challenges of this project. The illustrations had to work across different platforms, billboards, videos, and event materials, while maintaining clarity and impact on light and dark backgrounds. They needed to be compelling yet palatable enough to make people stop and think, not look away.

Patagonia Salmon Nation Poster Design with various colors

The campaign's impact

The Salmon Nation digital campaign has over 325,000 views on YouTube. In Reykjavík, the premiere event to shed a light on this issue was completely sold-out. My artwork was displayed on billboards across the city, drawing attention and sparking conversations among locals and visitors. In 2024, the campaign was brought back, and all Patagonia stores in major European cities had the illustrations printed in the windows, extending its impact beyond borders.

The petition for a ban on the salmon farms, supported by Patagonia and the NGOs in question, collected over 500,000 signatures in two weeks, showcasing massive public support. The impact spilled over to the governmental sphere as well: Icelandic politicians attended the event, and discussions about banning open-net farms are now happening in parliament, illustrating the power of artivist campaigns to drive meaningful and legal changes.

Petition page

. Watch the film