Clean heat transition illustrations

Visual Design

Sep 29

Written by Savannah Vize

✹ Project: Illustrated booklet on financing Europe's clean heat transition
✦ Client: Cool Heating Coalition
✦ Role: Illustration, information and editorial design
✦ Year: 2026
- How do you make a financing gap feel urgent to the people who can close it?
- What can illustration do that a white paper can't?
- How can a visual story help policymakers see a clear, hopeful choice?
Policy briefings on energy financing are typically presented as dense, text-heavy white papers that are easy to forget. The Cool Heating Coalition, an umbrella organisation of 17 civil society groups, wanted something that would stand out in an event full of policymakers. Their message, based on a study by LCP Delta, is that Europe can afford to decarbonise residential heating by redirecting its financial resources.
I created seven illustrations that turn this argument into a visual story, set out like snapshots scattered across a rolling green landscape. The sequence starts with fossil-heated homes under a heavy purple sky. It then moves through the good news that the technology already exists, and the up-front costs that make it a dealbreaker for many households. It ends with a policymaker weighing a greener path. A heart-shaped locket shows what's at stake for families, and two very differently stocked cookie jars show how public money is currently shared out. Presented in a simple print booklet, the result gives decision-makers a compelling story in a unique and memorable format.

Based on a study by LCP Delta.