Graphic Design, UI Design and Software Integration
This company has an excellent business model based on both sides of the natural gas resources market. They operate large-scale facilities that gather and export liquid propane gas (LPG) to Asian markets, plus they also operate natural gas utility companies serving multiple states in the U.S. Their annual Sustainability Report is the primary document that needs to communicate effectively with a mixed Investor/Consumer/Community audience.
Key objectives: No greenwashing; keep the content clean and inviting for the reader; make the content easy to navigate; showcase the diversity of our workforce as well as our operations; support the written narrative, include design elements that reveal the new brand for our key stakeholder audiences.
This was not the first Sustainability Report I had designed for them, but it was going to be the first big reveal of the refreshed brand that was being developed, so it had to look like a familiar bridge between the old and the new. The new design incorporated a more open and evolving layout that broke the column-structure in subtle yet meaningful ways and the supplied photography received custom enhancements along the way to meet the new brand standards being put forth.
The top NAV was devised and playtested through the content/storyboarding phase, just to ensure we addressed any/all user interaction feedback while streamlining the content from previous yearly documents, which were generally considered to be overly-dense, with content redundancies and less-intuitive for the reader to mouse around in.
The editorial team was collaborating within the cloud-based “Workiva” platform. I was familiar enough with this platform that I was able to provide my best guidance and designed solutions in order to maximize the key benefit of Workiva (100% data assurance) without suffering any of the cumbersome design integration restrictions. I do not intend to go into details about the Workiva platform, but I do hope that my many documented tips/conversations with the Workiva dev team will result in some desperately-needed improvements on their end.
End-result: A well-received brand-transition document that initiated internal and external conversation focused on the company’s future growth potential alongside the general appreciation for their renewed strategic communications approach in “walking the talk” of operational sustainability and cooperation within the communities they serve.
