The Assignment:

Concern Worldwide commissioned our Creative team for the design of their Annual Report for the 16th year running - this is no mean feat and something we are proud of.

Our close working relationship with Concern WW provides us with an ongoing knowledge of their organization, their aims, goals and brand values.

Concern WW works with the world's poorest people to transform their lives. Together with their outstanding supporters, they are working for a world free from hunger and poverty.

At the start of the design process, our clients at Concern WW meet to discuss the key projects they want to feature and we explore the themes and possible directions. This year was no different - the client engaged throughout the process but from the start they gave us an insight into the NGO's recent achievements which sparked new ideas with our Creatives on possible routes/themes. Normally their programmes on specific projects run continously for years. However in 2014, one of these came to an end and this Report documents that achievement in it's entirety as well as showing their ongoing work in other countries.

Our Approach:
We researched the Client's key programmes during 2014 and immersed ourselves with the information provided at our briefing meeting with the client. After exploring the different achievements in 2014 and the one project they'd completed along with the available imagery, we chose the cover image to show how they tackle poverty in different ways all over the world. We led with the powerful good news story of their completed programme in the Phillipines:

This beautiful cover features a great underwater image of the coral reef regeneration project carried out by Concern in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan in late 2013. In the aftermath of the Typhoon many of the coral reefs were decimated from 85% to 15%. This significantly reduced the number of fish available which impacted the livelihoods of poor fishing communities adding to the poverty in the area:

Concern WW worked with the government to instigate a coral transplantation programme to help restore the coral and in turn help the local fishing communities combat poverty thus supporting local livelihoods.

When the Typhoon hit they provided emergency response as 90% of the housing was destroyed.

Concern also sponsored the construction of underwater pipelines to bring fresh water to the islands that had been destroyed and trained local fishermen how to dive and install the equipment, supporting them with work where the fish stocks had been depleted.

Not only did they rebuild schools but they also ensured they function as safe evacuation centres for future typhoons and are earthquake resistant.

They also supported the local island and coastal villages to develop early warning systems and risk reduction plans benefiting 34,987 families.

For the interior of the document we also featured these four key programme areas of Concern's work throughout: Emergencies, Livelihoods, Health and Education. Each section is color coded using their corporate color palette and introduces each section with a stunning image across a double page spread for impact.

The rest of the report is editorial in style with lots of white space to allow the copy to breathe aiding the legibility of the Report. Along with black, we chose 4 main shades of green to clearly divide the document into the different sections. The financial report itself at the rear of the Report is reproduced in one color green throughout.

The format of this Report is 8" x 10" in size - chosen to work within regular US and European size envelopes so it can be circulated easily worldwide without unnecessary additional artworking, printing and subsequent carriage charges. The unusual size also makes it look more unique and distinctive.

Results:
The document not only reflects the sobriety of the situations featured and the dignity of those people Concern WW helps, but it also shows good news stories and positive results throughout demonstrating just how this NGO transforms peoples lives. It does so while reflecting on their achievements in the past year. As a result, it's a positive and uplifting Annual Report. This was a real departure from previous years Reports which have been sober throughout. The idea for this theme was sparked by that initial briefing meeting with the client. They were engaged and greatly involved through the whole process and the collaboration worked really well as the end result has been warmly received and highly praised by the Board, stakeholders and target audiences alike.