Overview:

Developing a visual communication and information design strategy to communicate biodiversity positive design principles, values and processes within the field of landscape architecture.

Challenge:

The Biodiversity Positive Design Guide brings together complex ecological research, policy frameworks and professional practice considerations into a single resource.

The challenge was to structure and communicate this material in a way that would be clear, usable and engaging for landscape architects working in practice.

Approach:

Erin was commissioned by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects to develop a visual strategy for their Biodiversity Positive Design Guide. This 120-page professional practice guide outlines a seven-stage process for embedding biodiversity outcomes into landscape architecture.

She led the visual structuring and communication of the document, including identifying key relationships and messages, and developing or refreshing diagrams and workflows to support understanding and application.

Working closely with author and landscape architect A/Prof Scott Hawken, Erin translated detailed ecological research and policy frameworks into clear visual systems, tools and templates aligned with professional design workflows.

Key outputs included:

• framework diagrams and process models

• visual systems for the publication

• templates and applied tools for practitioners

Collaborating with Hawken, the development of a biodiversity definition as a visual form of knowledge representation was central to the guide. The definition diagram was later extended to support further scholarly research.

The diagrammatic representation of the Biodiversity Positive Design process was also a critical inclusion to the guide.

Outcome:

The resulting publication is rigorous and practical: a guide that landscape architects can apply directly in their projects.

Through clear structure and visual communication, critical principles, processes and case studies are made accessible and actionable, supporting the integration of biodiversity outcomes into everyday practice.

Testimonial:

“The AILA Biodiversity Positive Design Guide needed a designer who could make technical content feel accessible, credible, and creative. Erin delivered. Her collaborative approach meant each creative exchange kept ideas flowing and the project on track. Erin clearly keeps pace with evolving trends in environmental communication and business design, bringing a contemporary edge that makes the guide feel relevant, and communicated its public mission. Working with Erin meant having a creative partner who genuinely cared about the impact of the work”. — A/Prof Scott Hawken, Chair, Biodiversity Positive Design Working Group, Australian Institute of Landscape Architects