Some design samples of ESG proxy disclosures

– Some companies have done a great job designing their ESG proxy disclosures.
– Color, boxes and other graphics – and plenty of white space – all serve a purpose to making disclosure more readable.

A few months ago, DFin put out this booklet with 37-pages of proxy disclosures – four disclosure examples per page – that relate to ESG. It’s a great way to look at what other companies are doing – even if you’re considering design elements for ESG reports and not proxies – and see if any particular style catches your eye. What might work best for your own data.

Which formats, which graphics, seem to pop off the page and easily tell you a story? And just as important, which ones do you skip over without a second thought? You’re conducting your own usability test. A few thoughts:

– Color – For me, varying color schemes tend to draw my eye. Check out BlackRock’s use of orange as a background on page 7. Check out AT&T with its blue background on page 6.
– Boxes – I also love boxed content. American Express on page 4 is gold. Etsy on page 13 might be even better.
– White Space – But probably the biggest positive for me is the ample use of white space, letting the content breath. That’s why I like what Ally Financial has done on page 3. IBM on page 18 is a good example of perhaps trying to do too much, its lacking that white space with all those icons.

Tune in for a complimentary webcast – “Anatomy of a Proxy: Practice Tips from the Experts” – to be held next Wednesday, November 3rd from 2:00-3:00 pm eastern. Only a week away. Please register to catch this program live – or to be able to access the video archive. Over 500 people have already registered.