One of my favorite yearly projects is the annual report I help produce for the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington. In any other time, they are busy at work across the District of Columbia providing meals, healthcare, legal and financial assistance, housing and sheltering, and educational programs, among many other services (59 in all).
My work with the communications team highlights the aforementioned areas of work using stats, personal stories and images of the community they serve. When we first pitched this year’s publication, the theme was set to be a “lighthearted and inspirational” look into their various work.
When the COVID pandemic swept the United States in the winter of 2020, the vital importance of an organization such as this became even more apparent.
I had the great fortune of collaborating on this project with my dear friend Maria Mandle of CreativeCouch Designs, Our process included creating two different concepts, bridged with the same font and color palettes. As a part of my process, I developed an icon key representing the various services, crafting it into a collage that would unfold throughout the report with bright, vivid colors.
Like many things in 2020, my original plans changed on the fly.
Shortly before publication, Pope Francis announced Archbishop Wilton Gregory as cardinal, installing the first African American to that post, and ultimately, the call was made to give more prominence to images of the workers and volunteers on the front lines. I couldn’t have agreed more, making the title of this year’s edition more than fitting.
Rejected design
Final product
For more information on Catholic Charities, visit their website.