This a whitepaper report design I was contracted to do for Pollfish, a B2B survey service company. This is a study put together by them for the World Health Organization (WHO), in coordination with Wunderman Thompson and the University of Melbourne. It’s purpose was to analyze how Gen Z and Millennials get information on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because this report covered a fairly serious topic, I wanted to make sure that the graphics I included didn’t take attention away from the content, but instead helped emphasize and illustrate the data. For this reason, I knew I didn’t want to use the simplified-shape-flat-design-corporate-stock-art style that is so (overly) common with tech companies right now. Instead I opted for simple, clear line art graphics with the reasoning that “less is more.”
For the most part I stuck with Pollfish’s two main brand colors, a red and black, and excluded their third brand color, a garish turquoise blue (under strict orders from the head of marketing- no complaints here!) and threw in other colors for extra emphasis when I deemed appropriate. I often enjoy working with a more limited color palette, as it allows me to focus more on the actual design, and spend less time worrying about how different colors interact with each other.
I was pretty much given free rein on the graphic style of this report, so I made sure to think carefully about my design choices. My first inclination was to enhance the graphs by styling them with a theme related to the data that they covered, but given the number of figures in each graph and the content they conveyed, I decided to keep things clean and simple by using a basic bar graph design. However, I felt the smaller data callouts throughout the report could be enhanced with graphics to help catch the eye and better exemplify the data. This is where I was able to have some fun, figuring out how to combine different graphics to cleanly and clearly display the information, without overwhelming the reader. I feel like this is where I’m really able to shine, as I love thinking up clever concepts and ways to display information and ideas just as much as I love actually making them. My years of training thinking up bad puns finally comes in handy!
