Kakao is a large South Korean technology company that has a number of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) projects aimed at lowering its environmental impact.
Kakao’s 2023 ESG report makes use of illustration and a horizontally-oriented format to convey a great deal of information.
The illustration is of two kinds: a collection of cartoon characters symbolising the four parts of the report and a set of icons that occur throughout. Both types of illustration are by unnamed artists. The characters serve to add colour and levity to the report (a polar bear taking out the recycling and so on), while the icons help with navigation both in their design and in the way they are coloured to blend with the section colour. The latter draw the eye but are rarely intrusive.
The horizontal format makes for easy reading on a screen, as each page is presented in its entirety, unlike in a vertically-oriented report. So, while each page is full of information, the pages don’t feel especially packed. It also means that charts and tables fit comfortably onto a page, without needing to be squashed to fit a vertical page or extended across pages. The designers deploy two page grids—a 2-column and a 3-column— and these allow for flexibility in presenting the information.
For a report that does not feature a single full-page photograph, it certainly makes an impact.
