It’s often the stories that are right in front of us that are the most important.
We were not only racing against time when we started working on the 21-page Anti-Corruption Impact Report for the United Nations Global Compact Network India (UN GCNI), but we were also facing a different kind of challenge: tone. From the start, the UN GCNI team made it clear that this would not be a normal technical report full of jargon. They wanted something more real. More human. They wanted a story.
That story began with UN GCNI itself. As the Indian arm of the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, it brings together over 500 organisations across sectors and regions. Its mission is to promote ethical, sustainable business practices rooted in the UN’s ten universally accepted principles, one of which focuses on fighting corruption.
UN GCNI’s mission is to promote ethical, sustainable business practices
The report set out to capture their work with MSMEs: Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. In this sector, systemic pressures, limited awareness of legal protections, and informal work cultures can make unethical practices feel routine, even necessary.
When the Story Needed a New Skin
We weren’t just supposed to give the facts. It was to shape a narrative that showed why this work matters and to help readers feel the weight of it.
Initially, the design followed a more traditional template. We used UN GCNI’s brand colours and a clean layout. Pull quotes were highlighted. Key data points were marked. It looked clean, but it didn’t feel alive. That’s when we pivoted. If this report was going to be narrative-led, then it needed to look the part.
We introduced hand-drawn illustrations: unusual for this kind of document but necessary to push the story’s visual edge. The cover art featured a globe wrapped in a chain made of money, symbolising corruption’s hold, and a figure tearing it apart. It was subtle but strong.
The illustrations stayed within the brand palette, bright enough to be noticed, but restrained enough to not distract. They weren’t just pretty pictures; they had meaning.
The illustrations stayed in the brand’s colour scheme, were bright enough to be seen, but not so bright that they were distracting.
The pace and content of this project weren’t the only things that made it memorable; it was also the fact that everyone was willing to break the rules. To take a complex, technical issue and treat it with the storytelling care it deserved. To visualise not only what was being done, but why it mattered.
Let’s Keep the Story Going
If you’re in the nonprofit or policy space and care about turning complex themes into compelling communication, our newsletter might speak to you. We share lessons like these, design reflections, and stories of impact that listen closely before they speak. Subscribe to stay connected to work that values both detail and dignity.
