Second Nature is a leading non-profit organization committed to accelerating climate action in and through higher education. It supports The President’s Climate Leadership Commitments, a framework for campus climate action, with resources for planning, organizing, and implementing sustainable change.

Quackenbush Design worked with Second Nature to design and publish a report on the organization’s first five years of work. Our process included three phases: research, design, and production. Engagement with the client was central throughout.

Phase One: Research

All our work begins with a research phase to define and understand the audience, budget, strategy, communication objectives, and challenges of the project. For Second Nature, we:

• Interviewed all stakeholders.
• Analyzed all collateral and research materials.
• Wrote and presented a design brief to ensure that everyone shared the same objectives for the project

The design brief outlined five key communication goals:

1. Looking Back. Celebrate the accomplishments and growth of Second Nature, and demonstrate the cumulative impact over the past five years.
2. Looking Ahead. Create momentum and embolden the network for the ambitious goals it set for the next five years.
3. Motivating Members. Reignite the enthusiasm of early adopters and motivate them to fulfill their commitments.
4. Recruitment. Inspire new schools to join.
5. Media and Foundation Outreach. Position Second Nature as a transformational force within society deserving of recognition and investment.

There were also strategic objectives for the report:

• Secure federal funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives at higher education institutions.
• Cultivate donors and sponsors and outreach to foundations.
• Build relationships with media contacts. 
• Stand as a lasting piece of Second Nature’s historical record.

Phase Two: Design

In the design phase, we developed three visual concepts for the report that embodied the project objectives as outlined in the design brief. Each concept showed:

1. Format size and document structure.
2. Image and photo treatments.
3. Color palette.
4. Typographic treatments such as headlines, text, captions, running headers and footers, and pull-quotes.

Here is a sample of three concepts we presented.

Phase Three: Production

In the last phase, we managed the final preparation and production of the report including: revisions, print coordination and management, photo preparation and color correction, preparation of all printer-ready files, final proofing, and archiving all digital files. Photos of the printed report are shown below.