The brief

Create a user-friendly version of the latest report from the Stellenbosch Business School Research Chair: Women at Work, designed for online reading.

The client

Stellenbosch Bussiness School 

The context

Trade is as much about people as it is about transactions. As such, it can be a catalyst for board gender diversity. As people meet to exchange goods and services, they also exchange ideas. This interchange offers a perfect opportunity to share insights on how to advance women on boards.

This topic stands central to a new publication that we recently worked on. In this report, Prof Anita Bosch and her co-author Shimon Baret examine how board structure, board size and the tenure of directors influence the gender composition of boards.

The process

The client wanted the design to be professional, accessible, clean and optimised for online reading. The client also wanted to create visual interest in the research findings without clutter standing in the way, given the many footnote references that had to be included. 

Our aim was to produce a publication that speaks to researchers and non-academics alike. Firstly, we developed a look and feel that combines the new corporate identities of Stellenbosch University and Stellenbosch Business School. Secondly, we worked closely with the client to ensure that the content is concise and easy to read. 

We employed creative design and illustration solutions to establish a clear visual thread throughout. This enabled us to present research findings in a more engaging way.

We believe visual and written language should always shape and inform one another in an integrated product.

With this in mind, we created tailor-made icons that help guide the reader through the document.

The result

We delivered a professional product that is quirky and playful but also still adheres to the client’s corporate identity requirements.

Busy decision-makers can access the top-level findings in the form of bite-sized chunks of information, while researchers who want to access more detailed data can still do so.

Read the full report here.

Credits

Content management and editing: Jorisna Bonthuys and Anneke Potgieter

Design, illustration and layout: Dorét Ferreira