ANN WILLOUGHBY | JUDGE’S SELECTION

5 LOWERCASE

“Most of the annual reports I see for nonprofits are indistinguishable from one another,” Willoughby observes, drawing on her extensive experience judging design competitions. “The formulaic use of photography, color, layout and tone are typically designed to underscore the primary message that not too much money was spent on design and production. Often, the emotional impact is lost in an attempt to communicate production restraint. Lawyers Solve Problems, by contrast, was designed to immediately engage the reader in an authentic emotional dialogue.”

Annual reports for nonprofits often have differing agendas from those of corporate businesses. Nonprofits typically find the annual report useful for fund-raising, and that is certainly true for Lawyers Solve Problems. But there are additional purposes that CVLS puts its annual to, according to the report’s designer, Tim Bruce. “The organization uses the annual to recruit lawyers that volunteer their time. The profiles of client cases in this report really help capture the interest of these donors. And within the legal system, judges and others have an opportunity to be exposed to the way CVLS pursues its mission. This builds respect for them in the legal community.” Those same case histories—as well as the compelling artistry Bruce applied here—certainly held Willoughby’s attention.

“The small format, hand-drawn type and scratchboard illustrations caught my eye,” she says. “I read every page because I was captivated by the stories. Tim Bruce created a seamless narrative through his sensitive drawings, stark, black-white-and-pink pages and handwritten text.”

Bruce’s illustrations were conceived in the “can-do spirit” he describes as characteristic of the volunteer organization. “I wanted to reflect [the spirit] in an artistic sense, and one of the ideas that came up was scratchboard—a basic, familiar medium.” His hand-lettering concept emerged from the illustrations; again, he sought to reflect the D.I.Y. spirit of the CVLS. “It’s like the ‘shoestring approach’ to the law that the organization has,” he says. “Energetic lettering reflects the energy CVLS lawyers put into their pro bono work. Besides, lawyers do a lot of handwriting.”

Helping to put the stories of CVLS clients across is powerful portrait photography by Chicago shooter Tony Armour. In its authenticity, Bruce asserts, the portraiture actually creates the value of the testimonials—as attested by the fact that the photography was shot first, “and then we worked backward to design the book so it captured the situations and the spirit of the clients.” “Some people have the impression CVLS clients are down-and-out,” Bruce observes. “But it’s not true—they’re normal working folks, like anyone else. They’re just in the position where one little crisis can tip them over the edge. That’s what CVLS lawyers are there to prevent. I hope as people look at this report, they realize that and get emotionally involved. It’s as good a measure of this book’s design as any.” by Tom Biederbeck