Because of the high stakes nature of the content, the team at Protect Democracy wanted a memorable cover design that would pack a punch. They had previously distributed dense reports without hiring a designer and had run into accessibility and legibility issues which they wanted to address with this report.
The Playbook is meant to outline the seven fundamental tactics used by authoritarian leaders and movements to pursue and maintain power. To help readers easily digest complex information, I laid out the report in a way that broke content into manageable sections. I also strictly adhered to typographical best practices in an effort to maximize both legibility and readability.
My choice for the cover walked the line between provocative and balanced while supporting the overall feeling of credibility emphasized throughout the report’s design.