BC Office of Human Rights Commissioner Annual Report
BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC) is an independent office of the Legislature responsible for promoting and protecting human rights in British Columbia. Their mission is to address the real causes of inequality, discrimination and injustice by shifting laws, policies, practices and cultures through education, research, advocacy, inquiry and monitoring. Designing for BCOHRC means supporting systemic change work with clear, trustworthy and accessible communication.
THE CONCEPT
The report’s concept, “Building a culture of human rights,” treats the document as both a record and a teaching tool. I built a modular visual language—icons, shapes and colour fields—that can flex across narratives, data and service-plan content while always pointing back to the idea of systems being built and rebuilt. The typography and layout balance institutional rigour with warmth, making space for stories, quotes and photography so that human experience stays at the centre of the design.
Challenges and Opportunities
This project required organizing a dense, multi-section annual report and multi-year service plan (over 100 pages of narrative, data, infographics, and technical detail) into a layout that feels readable and navigable. In addition, the report needed to work equally well as a printed document and as a fully accessible digital PDF, with correct tagging, reading order and clear hierarchy for assistive technologies. At the same time, the visual system had to be strong enough to unify the content without overwhelming sensitive topics like discrimination, decolonization and poverty.
The Solution
I developed, along with my team at Pace Creative, a coherent design system built around meaningful icon shapes, colour-coding and typographic hierarchy, so readers can quickly recognize key themes and move comfortably between narrative, data and planning sections. A consistent grid with generous whitespace and a family of infographics and diagrams help to translate complex ideas into digestible visuals.
For the digital version, I prepared the final PDF with accessibility in mind, adding proper tagging, headings, alt text and bookmarks in Acrobat. Hence, the report is usable with screen readers and keyboard navigation. The result is a publication that is considered both a physical object and an inclusive interactive experience.
Title: BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner Annual Report
Role: Designer at Pace Creative Design & Marketing Agency
Year: 2021
Tags: Print, Accessibility, Art Direction, Infographics, Icons, illustrations, and texture image effects.
Role: Designer at Pace Creative Design & Marketing Agency
Year: 2021
Tags: Print, Accessibility, Art Direction, Infographics, Icons, illustrations, and texture image effects.
