“How can we make the Global Goals famous?" That is the question that led Jakob Trollbäck and his team to develop the now world-famous UN Global Goals brand and iconography. The Global goals wheel and its set of pictograms are arguably the most impactful piece of brand design ever created. It has single-handedly made it easier for both governments, private companies, NGOs, and citizens to imagine and work towards a better world.

This September, we spoke to Jakob to learn more about the story behind the iconic work, and what's next for the global goals.

Browse the key takeaways from the chat below 👇👇

Jakob shared the story of the Global Goals brand during a Brand The Change community event. The full recording is available to members. Join us to access this and more unique events that will help you build your brand for change.

What was life like before the UN Global Goals project? 

Jakob started his career as a music enthusiast, DJ and club owner before he discovered his passion for design. 

Enchanted by the power of visual storytelling, he started experimenting with motion design and blending it with typography and architecture.

A self-taught designer, he left his native Sweden where the use of computers in his craft wasn’t appreciated, and built a practice in New York: Trollbäck and company.

Over the years, they built a design philosophy - ‘discard everything that means nothing ‘- that came to be the secret sauce in the UN SDG project.

How did you get involved in the UN Global Goals project?

The project started off with British movie director Richard Curtis (of Love Actually, Notting Hill ,and Four Weddings’ fame) asking Jakob for help figuring out how to make the United Nations’ global goals famous. Initially, he took on the project pro bono.

He breaks down the process:

• Discard everything that means nothing: The first and most crucial step was to understand the goals and translate long, complex sentences into short, simple, and easy-to-understand words. 

• Information is not communication: The second phase was creating visual recognition. A long process of icon design commenced for each of the 17 goals. He went through sketching icons to represent each of the 17 goals.

• Great design is surprising and inevitable: The aim was to create images that are simple and universally understood. They chose 6 colors to correspond with the 6 goal categories the UN created.

You were working with an organization with many different stakeholders, did you face any challenges with the adoption of your ideas internally?

Some members of the UN were afraid that nobody would remember the 17 goals, risking that they are not widely embraced.

They wanted the goals reduced from 17 to 10, making each one so general it would be hard to communicate clearly.

As the project progressed, people started to see its possibilities and their confidence grew. More resources were allocated to help with the execution. 

Do you think the Global Goals have become famous enough? What could be done to make them more impactful?

Jakob thinks that the Goals have become famous in the way he had hoped. The simplification and clarity of the global goals have made it easy for organizations to embrace them, but not entirely in the way he expected: for instance, it has been picked up more by companies, and less by governments, who could use it as a blueprint for policies. 

In some countries, the uptake has been good but there is an opportunity to popularize them more, for instance, in education. 

Tell us more about the Inner Development Goals you are currently developing.

Though the SDGs have become quite famous, their uptake needs to be sped up. Jakob and team noted that it had to do with individual leadership. Change had to come from within in order to help drive action.

So they asked people: what drives change? - Through surveys they identified six categories of drivers for change:  being, thinking (cognitive skills), relating (caring for others and the world), collaborating (social skills, co-creation, trust), and acting (courage, creativity, optimism). Jakob and his team then identified the skills, capacities, and psychological drivers behind each, which they have developed as the Inner Development Goals (IDGs).

Want to learn more?

Read more on the Inner Development Goals

Check out New Division, Jakob’s sustainability consultancy

Follow Jakob on LinkedIn

Book recommendation by Jakob: The Status Game by Will Storr

join our community

The Brand The Change community hosts a talk like this every month, plus two other events to inspire you with ideas on how to build your brand for change. Become a member.