A platform built to inspire action.

Overview

Conservation runs on public trust.

The British Columbia Conservation Foundation is a long-standing force in protecting and enhancing fish and wildlife across the province. Its work spans habitat conservation, education, research, and the development of innovative solutions on the ground.

BCCF empowers communities, Indigenous partners, and government groups to collaborate on conservation initiatives that range from land acquisition to wildlife protection and restoration, with the aim of keeping ecosystems healthy today and for the generations that follow.

When the Foundation approached Burst, the goal was to build a modern, credible brand and online presence that reflected both its scientific expertise and its community-driven values. Those two things pull in different directions, and holding them together was the whole assignment.

The Challenge

Credible to everyone at once.

BCCF speaks to policy partners, funders, government agencies, Indigenous communities, and local volunteers, often on the same day.

The identity needed to hold scientific authority without becoming clinical, and warmth without losing rigour. A brand that reads as a research body will not recruit a volunteer; one that reads as a community group will not hold a funding conversation.

The website carried the same tension. It had to make initiatives, projects, and educational resources easy to explore, stay discoverable in search, and make giving straightforward on any device, all without the clutter that accumulates on a site that has grown one section at a time.

The goal was never a refresh for its own sake. It was a brand and a platform that earn trust on first contact.

Strategy

Clarity, before decoration.

Burst began with a full brand refresh, working from the Foundation’s mission outward rather than from a style preference inward.

BCCF’s identity carries the weight of its history and its work, so the approach was to strengthen what was already there rather than to start over. Refine the visual standards, codify the system, and make consistency the default rather than an effort.

That principle held through every deliverable. Where a decision could be made once and applied everywhere, it was, so that the brand holds together without anyone having to police it.

The Mark

Inspired by BC’s ecosystems.

At the centre of the refresh is a unique and visually striking logo, designed to capture the essence of BCCF’s mission in a single mark.

It draws on British Columbia’s ecosystems for its form, blending clarity with meaning so that it works on both levels at once: immediate enough for a volunteer glancing at a field sign, substantial enough to sit on a funding submission.

The mark carries the weight of the Foundation’s history, so it was built to hold its presence at every size and in every medium: digital, print, signage, and materials that spend their working life outdoors.

The System

Consistency, made the default.

Around the mark sits a complete brand system: typography, colour, and the standards that govern how they are used.

The palette works from British Columbia itself, a forest green anchored by bronze, white, and a deep neutral grey. It is a range that reads as landscape rather than as corporate decoration, and it survives being printed cheaply, which matters for an organization that produces field and outreach material.

Documented standards mean the system delivers consistency and professionalism across digital, print, and outreach without depending on any one person to remember how it works.

The Site

A platform built for discovery.

To support BCCF’s digital goals, Burst designed and developed a custom WordPress website tailored to their operations.

It is responsive, user-friendly, and optimized for discoverability, which matters for an organization whose audience often arrives through a search for a species, a watershed, or a specific programme rather than through the front door. Initiatives, projects, and educational resources are structured so that each one can be found on its own terms.

From content structure to interaction flow, the site was built for real-world performance and long-term scalability, designed to absorb new programmes without a redesign each time the Foundation’s work expands.

Giving

Support, without the friction.

Secure donation forms were embedded directly into the site to streamline giving and ensure a smooth experience across devices.

The forms capture essential information with minimal friction. Every additional field on a donation form is a place where support quietly disappears, so the flow was built to ask for what is needed and nothing more.

Giving sits close to the work that motivates it rather than behind a separate portal, so the moment of interest and the moment of contribution are only a step apart.

The Impact

Recognition that carries.

BCCF’s mark is now strong, recognizable, and adaptable across every medium, and the brand system holds together across digital, print, and outreach.

The platform reflects the Foundation’s authority while welcoming public involvement in conservation. Initiatives and resources are easier to explore, the site is easier to find, and giving is easier to complete.

Taken together, the Foundation is equipped to make a lasting first impression, communicate clearly, and protect the integrity of its mark as its reach grows.

In Closing

Design in service of the work.

BCCF’s success depends on its ability to inform, to inspire, and to unite a broad network of partners and supporters.

A clear brand and a well-built platform do not do that work. What they do is remove the friction between the Foundation and the people who might carry it forward, and at scale that difference compounds.

This project shows how design can preserve a heritage while supporting a bold, future-focused mission.