Research and Policy Recommendation Report
The Need
Bridges to Brighter Futures, a funding initiative supporting programs and institutions that assist students with postsecondary pathways, worked with a research team called The Practice to identify the challenges and successes of the grantee organizations. The findings and recommendations needed to be communicated via an impact report that highlighted steps for funders, policymakers, organizational leaders and the postsecondary education field at large.
The Project
Utilizing a map metaphor to highlight the ongoing journey of the organizations and their impact, I created a highly-polished, engaging document that systematically presents the findings and recommendations across three cohorts, as well as collectively. I focused on easy wayfinding, highlighting key information and participant quotes, showing the process through photography, and supporting the metaphor through handcrafted map elements that communicated the categories of information effectively.
The Process
I started with defining the look and feel of the document, embracing the map framework that was used in the convenings by creating hand-drawn map icons that were assigned to the major categories of information. I paired these icons with organic-feeling shapes and established a color palette that would serve both in the overall findings as well as the individual cohort areas.
With such a colorful and icon-rich report, I kept the typography quite simple, establishing the hierarchy of information and participant quotations through the use of a single typeface, with variations in weight and color. It was important to the team that the report be easy to skim through and while colorful and playful, not distracting to read.
To maximize wayfinding, I used all of the Bridges to Brighter Futures brand colors throughout the initial section focusing on an overview of all of the grantees’ experiences and needs. When designing the sections featuring individual cohorts, I assigned each one of the brand colors, with all of the repeating elements and type treatments featuring the cohort color.
Color coding is important for reader wayfinding, to easily associate the green with the community coaching, orange with construction trades, and blue with information technology. The cohort briefs also follow the same structure as the previous section, making the rhythm of the report easy to navigate through for readers.
Finally, while the client wanted the body of the report to feature very little background color and be minimally distracting outside of the information presented on the map spreads, there were a few sections that needed special page treatments. The first of these was a spotlight on equity, which defined how the organization uses it as a North Star and how practices should be implemented within the postsecondary field. For this standout section, I used subtle page coloring to create a pause in the report, while keeping the typography hierarchy intact to make it feel of a piece. One additional section which explored the dichotomy of limited resources and grantee efforts across 4 different topics, also utilizing pale gradient backgrounds and unique text layout to present the information.
The result of this design work was a report that readily communicates the value that the grantees in guiding low-income postsecondary students along career pathways in their community, as well as policy and organizational recommendations for improvement.
The clients were so pleased with the direction of the project that after just one draft, they started putting together a panel discussion event for the research findings and arranged to have several hard copies produced to celebrate the work. The audience for the work grew significantly thanks to the well-designed container for the tremendous research and recommendations produced by the client and their consultant.
