Project Showcase: Integrated Report for Museo Egizio
A world–famous museum overhauls its annual reporting and portrays the progress and setbacks of a historic year.
Normally, March and August are the busiest months of the year for Turin’s Egypt Museum. That wasn’t the case in 2020.
Like many organizations dependent on tourism, Museo Egizio shifted its focus to digital outreach and engagement during the pandemic, and carried on with day–to–day operations (including, impressively, the international transportation of several exhibitions) remotely.
The museum made measurable strides in 2020, and when the time came to compile facts and figures into annual reports for stakeholders, publishers were prepared; fortuitously, plans were already underway to reinvent two major publications—financial and visitation summaries—by consolidating them into one unified report that could holistically capture the “qualitative and quantitative” impact of museum activities. Organizers turned to Accurat for help in creating a new, “Integrated Report” that captured in look and feel the start of a fresh era.
Using brand new metrics that took into account the unusual developments of the year, we designed an Integrated Report that conveys information with strategic stylistic cues, delightful imagery, and of course, dataviz.
Fascinating insights from the year recording (literal) highs and lows are showcased in the report’s second, “Highlights” section, aptly color–coded gold. Important details are rendered in white: a hue that pops on the page in contrast to de–facto black. Additionally, graphics reach beyond normal margins and touch the ends of each page like they would in a poster, lending visualizations a subtle “blockbuster” feel. Looked at together, these pages tell a story of how the museum made innovations in 2020, despite the physical space frequently being off–limits. Online initiatives and social media engagement, for example, bested previous years’ efforts.
Another interesting feature of the Integrated Report is its surprising use of imagery. Previous reports mostly featured pictures of people gathered in galleries and research quarters. Needless to say, recent photos of this ilk weren’t available for in 2020, but Accurat’s designers had a novel idea for how to utilize imagery. We proposed showcasing the museum’s renowned collection with straightforward, close–up photography of precious artifacts, interspersed through the entire 161–page document. The effect is a poignant reminder of the museum’s mission and purpose—not to mention a treat for the eyes, and a draw for readers not usually prone to poring over business reports.
As for the cover design — one might assume that the bold, cobalt shapes are inspired by hieroglyphics. In fact, they’re the creation of Accurat designers, and we originally made them for an organizational chart that shows the ways that resources (e.g. capital) are channeled into short, medium, and long–term activities that directly or indirectly preserve the museum’s collection. The symbology tips its hat to renewed brand values that emphasize the importance of 360° degree perspective.
The release of the report was a momentous occasion, spawning plans to print physical copies for posterity. La Repubblica dedicated several pages to a glowing write–up, in which director Christian Greco is quoted praising the presentation of data: “Possiamo dire che con questo tipo di rendicontazione si può valutare e quantificare la cultura,” or, in English: “With this type of reporting, it is possible to evaluate and quantify culture.”
Download the full Integrated Report here.
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