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The Progressive Corporation: Annual Report 2020

An Annual Report with a Resilient Streak

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

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The George Gund Foundation: Annual Website 2019

A novel digital strategy that evokes hope and action

The George Gund Foundation: Annual Website 2019

A novel digital strategy that evokes hope and action

For this year’s annual photography commission, The George Gund Foundation selected Deana Lawson to explore themes of maternal health and prenatal care in Cleveland. In response to the theme and subsequent portfolio, N+S designed an annual website that emphasized the key questions raised by the Foundation’s Executive Director David Abbott. At the center of this year’s design is an interactive particle world, which confronts viewers upon landing on the homepage. As you watch, the seemingly random movement of the particles across the frame become intentional—first forming the word hope, then disbanding and organizing again to form the word act. This custom built design evokes various motifs, leaving the ultimate meaning up to individual interrogation and interpretation.

The Work

Each year The George Gund Foundation commissions a photographer to highlight a theme within the Foundation’s giving for its annual report. In response to the theme and subsequent portfolio, N+S redesigns the Foundation’s website annually—a fresh approach to web design for nonprofits that’s yielded increased engagement online since the strategy was proposed in 2018.

For this year’s annual report, the Foundation looked to examine infant mortality and commissioned Deana Lawson to explore themes of maternal health and prenatal care in Cleveland. Deana’s resulting portfolio includes black-and-white and full color photographs of women, their children, and their families as well as service providers and healthcare professionals. The portfolio feels innately authentic, portraying intimate moments through both candid and posed images.

Web browser view of Deana Lawson's photography portfolio for The George Gund Foundation 2019 annual website

Our web design looked to incorporate these images alongside two powerful letters. The first was written by Executive Director David Abbott, which raised important questions about birth and the role of the community—questions which were expounded upon not only be the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also by the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests across the country. The second letter was written by Board Chair Catherine Gund, the first woman Chair of the Foundation. In it, she reflects on the legacy of the women who came before her, the changes they have enacted in their communities, and the pivotal roles they continue to play in today's battle against twin pandemics, COVID-19 and racism.

The Results

This year’s annual design was undeniably impacted by the shifting terrain of 2020. The theme expanded, taking on new questions of what it takes to decide to bring a child into the world amidst growing healthcare, economic, environmental, and political concerns.

Web browser view of nonprofit web design, featuring photograph of two women and quote from Gund Foundation Board Chair letter
Web browser view of Gund annual website, featuring photograph of three children and paragraph from Board Chair letter

The solution is relatively simple, and is centered on a particle world that immediately confronts viewers upon landing on the homepage. This space seems vacuous at first, with particles shifting across the frame seemingly at random. Within a few seconds of landing, however, the movement becomes intentional and the particles arrange themselves into a single word: hope.

The word is barely formed before it breaks apart again, back into randomness for a moment. Then, again, the particles pull together. This time, they form a new word: act.

Web browser view of Gund annual website, with particles forming the word "hope" on homepage and two examples of mobile site

The particle world was custom built to converge and diverge in this pattern. For some, it might evoke motifs of construction and destruction, of life and death, or of health and science. Our goal was only to present a moment of creation—one that is largely chaotic and ambiguous, and that allows for individual interpretation. There is no right way to read the moment or the myriad questions that arise from it.

For inquisitive users, you’ll find that mousing over the animation presents an opportunity for engagement. You can click within the particle world, directing the swirling elements where you like. Though the particles will follow you, they will always look to shift back into their pattern of construction—cycling through hope and act.

Moments of engagement and individualization are found in other elements of the web design as well. Lawson’s photographs shift beneath your mouse as you browse the homepage, inviting you to click. Doing so will open a viewer, allowing you to scroll through the entire portfolio. On subsequent pages, quotations from the Executive Director’s and Board Chair’s annual letters are pulled out at the top of the page and photographs from Lawson’s portfolio are displayed at the bottom of the page. Whenever you land on the page, a different quotation and photographs are presented—providing a unique experience that frames the content differently each time. The individuality of the design emphasizes and echoes the ambiguity of the particle world, asking each visitor to interrogate and interpret their experience independently.

Gund Director quote, "There is no time like the present to make ourselves visible and have our voices heard loud and clear"

Perhaps, despite this purposefully open-ended design solution, there is one universal reading presented by the Foundation this year: There is hope to be had, despite the chaos of the moment, and opportunity to shift that hope into action.

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
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The Progressive Corporation: Annual Report 2019

Thinking Broadly in Annual Report Design

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
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Array of spreads from the Bechtel annual report design

Bechtel: The Bechtel Report

An annual report designed to capture innovation

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
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216.791.7721
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Detailed view of the PROOF book cover design, which features a Michael Caine contact sheet

PROOF: Photography in the Era of the Contact Sheet

Bringing the photographer’s process into focus

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
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Front and back views of various notecards from The George Gund Foundation identity system

The George Gund Foundation: Identity

A brand that builds communities

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
hello@nsideas.com

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The George Gund Foundation: Annual Website

A fresh approach to web design for nonprofits

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
hello@nsideas.com

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Array of business cards showing new brand design and identity for Fairport Wealth

Fairport Wealth: Identity

A brand identity for a company that builds more than just wealth

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
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Artboard 4

CWRU School of Medicine: “Visionaries” Campaign

Envisioning the future of medical education

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
hello@nsideas.com

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The Progressive Corporation: 2018 Annual Report

A print and digital annual report that’s true to its name

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
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White Ulmer logo design with blue line under the letter "U" and the company tagline reading, "Our business begins with you"

Ulmer Attorneys: Identity

A superior rebranding for a superior firm

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
hello@nsideas.com

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Logo design for FRONT International, featuring black and green typeface

FRONT International: Identity

A captivating brand identity for a citywide art triennial

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
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The George Gund Foundation: 2017 Annual Report

An annual report that gets political

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
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Food photography of lobster risotto, art directed by Nesnadny and Schwartz for the Cru Uncorked identity

Cru Uncorked: Website, Menus, and More

Identity materials to savor for this French New American fine dining restaurant

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
hello@nsideas.com

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An array of covers of the 2017 Bechtel annual report design, “Dream Big”

Bechtel: The 2017 Annual Report

An annual report that dared to dream big

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
hello@nsideas.com

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Inside front cover of Changing Minds annual report design for The George Gund Foundation with photograph by Lisa Kessler

The George Gund Foundation: Changing Minds Exhibition

An exhibition that illuminates how Cleveland reenvisioned public education

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
hello@nsideas.com

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Nesnadny + Schwartz is a graphic design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Our creativity is grounded in logic, informed by research, and fed by the fine arts.

N+S

10803 Magnolia Dr,
Cleveland, OH 44106
216.791.7721
hello@nsideas.com

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  • LinkedIn