Introducing the McKenzie-Delis Packer Review
We’re delighted to have partnered with DIAL Global to create the McKenzie-Delis Packer Review into diversity & inclusion in the workplace. An important document, released at a time when we have the chance to make the maximum positive impact on our workforces.
How JDJ Creative designed the Mckenzie-Delis Packer Review
How do you design a report that encompasses the themes of revolution and change, whilst still maintaining all the corporate elements of an annual report? That was the challenge we at JDJ Creative faced when DIAL Global tasked us with designing the McKenzie-Delis Packer Review into diversity & inclusion (D&I) in the UK workplace – a challenge we were delighted to accept.
A groundbreaking report, this document represents the first comprehensive review of D&I in the UK. Taking a holistic look at the current situation in the UK, the document further provides actionable recommendations on how companies can move the dial on D&I.
This report represents a real vessel for change.
Given its subject and purpose, we couldn’t design this document in the same style as many similar reports which have come before. Using ‘corporate-friendly’ typefaces and the same stock images of diverse workforces sat around a boardroom table would be unimaginative and counterproductive.
Positively, the team at DIAL Global had the same idea, so it gave us free rein to design the look and feel of both the document and the brand itself…
Telling a brand story through images and typography
Alongside the global pandemic, 2020 has been a year of empowerment. People from all backgrounds and races have come together to campaign against social injustice. This was the prevailing mood we set out to reflect within this document. The zeitgeist we wished to capture through these pages.
So, we chose street art as the key theme of the report.
Street art provides everyone with a voice and a way to express themselves. It transcends race and status and offers true freedom to be creative. It’s also rebellious and defiant – key characteristics of a true disrupter.
This theme was central to the entire report. You can see it in the graffiti stencil style typography in the quotes. You immediately feel the grungy and protest like connotations. The capitalisation forces decision-makers to sit up and take notice.
The choice of imagery too is so important to this central theme. Bright, bold images against backdrops of bricks and mortar add to the feeling of challenging accepted norms. Of pushing for change.
However, being a report, there’s a tightrope to traverse. A balance to strike. As a team, we felt it important to mix this rebellious feel with the corporate elements a reader expects to see. So, the text itself is clean, aligned and easily readable. This is a serious issue that needs to be communicated clearly to the readers, and we feel these elements keep the document grounded.
Infographics say a 1,000 words
Another area in which we’ve been creative is in the raw data’s visualisation.
In an information-heavy document such as this review, how this data is communicated plays an important part in how it’s received. To make these statistics visually pleasing, we utilised informative graphics, placed alongside traditional charts and graphs.
Read more:Â Infographics in the age of the infovore [Updated for 2020]
These infographics quickly communicate their information in a way which is fun and easy to digest. This juxtaposition with longer pieces of text varies the document, keeping it interesting for the audience.
Forward-thinking, these graphics are also easy to repurpose, share on social media or display in presentation slide decks, should a future need arise.
Making it interactive
Given the ease of distribution, the key findings of the report lend themselves to digital circulation channels. To make this digital offering interactive, we converted the original report to a web publishing tool called Foleon. Media-rich, we designed this digital publication to encourage interaction, with the magazine-style, linear format guiding the user from page to page.
Similarly to the design of the main report, the Foleon has the same central themes of protest and change. We’ve replicated the street art elements in both media, transporting the assets from the report to the screen. Importantly for the authors, the Foleon offers a snapshot of what is available in the main report, encouraging downloads of the full version.
