Pentagram has created a campaign for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to highlight its pioneering work in promoting the need for a transition from a linear to a circular economy.

Set up by Dame Ellen MacArthur in 2009, the Foundation works alongside government, business and academia, to create the framework for an economy which is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.

The aim of the campaign was to create a ‘lightbulb moment’, where people would quickly grasp the relatively complex concept of a circular economy.

In a circular economy, there are ‘closed loops’, which means that everything is designed to stay in use. The team created ‘Circular Everything’, a series of short, circular poems designed as gifs which endlessly loop – mirroring how, in a circular economy, resources and products are continually reused.

The campaign concentrates on how the concept of the circular economy can be applied to different products, with each circular poem highlighting an everyday item including a pair of headphones, a plant pot and a car tyre. The circular theme is also mirrored by the visuals – as the words scroll through, the product also rotates through 360 degrees. This happens in an anti-clockwise direction, creating a tension between the words and the image which helps to hold the viewer’s attention.

The campaign was designed for sharing on social media, with a bright colour palette and bold typography reinforcing the central message.