European Endowment for Democracy Annual Report 2022

The European Endowment for Democracy (EED) is an independent, grant-making organisation based in Brussels. EED was established in 2013 by the EU and EU member states, as an autonomous International Trust Fund to foster democracy in the European Neighbourhood, the Western Balkans, Turkey and beyond.

We have been working with EED over the last number of years, to develop a recognisable, flexible visual identity that embodies and represents the organisation across all design assets. Our brief for the design of the EED Annual Report 2022 was to celebrate the tenth anniversary of EED by further developing this identity, setting the tone for all anniversary year collateral.

We worked with the bold, energetic shapes from the EED: 10 Years Supporting Democracy logo, which we designed specifically for this momentous year, to create a multi-layered supporting identity for the Report. This use of shape and pattern guides the reader through the Report, and conveys dynamism, courageousness and celebration, to reflect EED’s work over the last ten years. The Report features numerous narratives, which we wove together through the design, while clearly differentiating between the types of information being communicated. We created original illustrations for the Report, and designed all data to be attractive, accessible and easily understood.

We expanded EED’s colour palette to include a range of colours that reflect EED, and allowed flexibility and contrast in the design of the Report. We included sober, cool colours to underpin the serious nature of EED’s work, and bright, warm colours to represent the positivity of the organisation and the people it supports.

Each year, EED commissions an artist to create the cover image for the Annual Report. The EED Annual Report 2022 features a beautiful piece by Ukrainian artist Olga Shtonda, to acknowledge the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the activists who have mobilised to address the most urgent and complex needs of their fellow citizens. EED’s partners in Ukraine were at the forefront of volunteer movements in 2022.

This year, one of our design challenges was to create a special additional aspect to the Annual Report. We proposed the development of a microsite to be released alongside the printed Report; this was a first for EED. The microsite ensured that the Report could be easily accessed by EED’s broad audience, many of whom live in areas with limited internet signal. We designed the microsite to be engaging, digestible, fully responsive and quick-to-load. It is made up of key information, simple animations and links to audio and video articles; along with access to the full version of the Annual Report. The microsite received excellent feedback from EED and EED's audience.

The EED Annual Report 2022 is celebratory, dynamic, bold and hopeful. It represents and highlights EED and EED’s vital work. The design we established for this anniversary report will carry the organisation into the future.