Public expectations of the private sector are shifting with greater emphasis on corporate purpose being placed above profit. Increasingly, companies are being measured not only on financial performance but on their commitment to sustainability and social responsibility and with long-term value in mind. Corporate transparency and the provision of accurate performance data across both is, therefore, invaluable to investors.

The SustainAbility Transparency Network is a global peer-network of leading companies collaborating to further corporate transparency. Each year it publishes a research report and its most recent offering, The Art of Alignment, examines this push towards aligned transparency, outlining the benefits of alignment for companies, investors and the public alike.

The 2019 edition of the SustainAbility Transparency Network’s annual report The Art of Alignment examines the trend towards the alignment of sustainability and financial transparency as well as providing a roadmap for practitioners to use to bring together their company’s sustainability and financial disclosures and meet the needs of their investment stakeholders in efficient and effective ways.

We were commissioned by the network to bring this concept of alignment to life through design; establishing a report layout that increased comprehension of the subject matter, whilst enhancing the reading experience.

Working closely with the team at SustainAbility, we set out to gain a clear understanding of the report’s overarching message around the benefits of aligning financial and sustainability transparency.

Through a series of workshops and ideation sessions we developed a concept based around a system of simple geometric shapes. Before and after shots of these shapes in and out of alignment with each other were positioned either side of the chapter dividers to evoke the sense of harmony that is felt when things are aligned.

To bring this concept quite literally to life we worked with a prop stylist to physically create real hand cut shapes out of wood. These were then photographed in a studio to create a suite of images that create a multidimensional and tactile final product.

This visual design was then applied to a suite of supporting collateral, including website and newsletter assets, social media cards and presentation and workshop materials.

The outcome of this project is a striking finished product that will turn heads in both corporate boardrooms and across social media.

Within the first six months of publication the online version of the report received over 4,300 page views (an increase of 10% on the previous year), and the webinar was watched by an audience of more than 500.

“We love the editorial look and feel of this report. The project is a perfect marriage of content and design that both reflects and reinforces the subject matter. The team at Wolf&Player are a joy to work with and produce very high quality outputs.”

Rebecca O’Neill & Sarah McElroy

Project Leads, SustainAbility