Amplifying Programs and Services: Employing approximately 68,000 individuals—10% of Boston's Workforce
Client:
Communication via Design
Project:
Longwood Collective FY 2023 Anual Report
Role:
Graphic Design
Sector:
Nonprofits
Target Users
Shareholders, Stakeholders, Employees of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area (LMA)
Tools:
Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Deliverables:
Annual Report (print)
Project Overview
Longwood Collective is a nonprofit organization that brings together the medical, academic, and cultural institutions of Boston’s Longwood Medical and Academic Area (LMA). With approximately 68,000 people working within the area, the organization plays a critical role in shaping a more connected, accessible, sustainable, and resilient community.
Through strategic planning, transportation services, public realm improvements, and emergency preparedness initiatives, Longwood Collective fosters a connected, resilient community that supports innovation, public health, and education.
Project Scope
The 2023 Annual Report marked 50 years of Longwood Collective’s stewardship and collaboration. The challenge was to communicate five decades of impact while making a complex range of programs, initiatives, and data accessible to stakeholders.
Working with Communication via Design, the project focused on the design and visual storytelling of the FY2023 Annual Report, translating organizational information, program highlights, financial information, and historical milestones into a cohesive editorial experience for an audience of member organizations, stakeholders and shareholders, employees and community partners
The report needed to balance several types of content, from leadership communications and program highlights to financial information and a 50-year organizational timeline.
Visual Identity
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Together with Communication via Design, a comprehensive design strategy was developed that visually represented Longwood Collective’s updated brand identity while supporting its strategic communication goals.
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A modular layout represents the diversity and interconnectedness of member institutions. Layered shapes and a dynamic composition convey the complexity and cohesion of the LMA, visually echoing the non-profit’s integrative role. The design ensured that key impact stories and data were easy to navigate, reinforcing the Collective’s transparency and mission-driven vision.
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A 50-year timeline with infographics highlighted the journey of Longwood Collective, reflecting on the organization’s long history of stewardship and the individual strength of member institutions.
Marketing Results
The completed report provided Longwood Collective with a cohesive way to communicate its 50-year history, current impact, and ongoing vision.
Rather than treating the annual report as a collection of organizational information, the design created a narrative around the strength of the collective itself, making the relationships between institutions, programs, and community impact more visible.
The final report was well received by stakeholders and was also featured through Longwood Collective’s website and email marketing, extending the report’s reach beyond its printed format.
The project ultimately strengthened Longwood Collective’s visual communication by giving a complex, multi-institutional organization a clear and engaging platform to demonstrate its collaboration and its continued impact on Boston’s Longwood Medical and Academic Area.
