Sixty Years of Fighting for Justice, annual report. Creative Direction and Illustration.
Sixty years ago, the Men’s House of Detention in Lower Manhattan was packed with people who had been accused, but not convicted, of crimes. The jail was called “the Tombs,” and its filth, stench, and overcrowding made it unfit for the living. Most of the people behind bars there were not convicted of a crime; they simply could not afford to pay bail.
In 1961, Herb Sturz and Louis Schweitzer founded the Vera Foundation—now the Vera Institute of Justice. They believed that research, evidence, and advocacy could help end the injustice of money bail. Bail bondsmen, who profited from pretrial jailing, doubted that the fledgling organization would be successful.
Today, Vera seeks to transform the role of the prosecutor to one that pursues justice, not jails; to make sure that every immigrant facing deportation has a government-funded lawyer and a fighting chance to stay with their family and in our communities; and ensure that every incarcerated student has the chance to receive a quality college education. Vera once incubated social justice organizations across New York City. Now strives for national policy change across state capitals and in Washington, DC, alongside community partners and government leaders. Read on about their work and impact in the following pages of their annual report 2021.
I worked proposing three different creative directions based on the organization’s approach to their mission and vision in the upcoming years and how that transition develops. My role as a designer was to curate the many components of the design; photography style and talent to work with, illustration type and illustrators to partner with, typography and color selection, layout design, and staff members illustrations.
Photographers in the featured spreads: Christopher Rojas, Todd Cooper, Anjali Pinto, Illustrators in the featured spreads: Mike Centeno
Stock images: Jose Luis Gonzalez for Reuters, Unsplash/NASA Images
Layout designs by: Sara Duell and Gloria Mendoza
Staff illustrations: Gloria Mendoza
