Brochures, booklets and leaflets

A unified strategy for the CGIAR

For the first time since it was founded, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has developed a single strategy unifying the research of its different centres and programmes. It’s all described in a 100-page document with the catchy title, A Strategic Results Framework for the CGIAR.

With just a month to go before a critical meeting to approve the framework, Green Ink was asked to develop some marketing materials to promote its central messages. We wrote a 12-page jargon-free brochure and fact sheet, then designed, laid out, printed and delivered both products in time for the meeting. We were delighted to hear that the donor community approved the framework for funding – and that the materials we developed helped secure that decision.
 

 “I have no doubt that the brochure and the 2-pager were indeed useful and were read by many. Ultimately the SRF was approved, so that is a great win for us all.”

Lloyd Le Page, CEO, CGIAR Consortium

Cassava for food security

The 2008 price spikes in major food commodities drove millions of poor consumers in the developing world back into hunger. In response, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) entered a partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to unleash the power of cassava to combat hunger and poverty in Africa.

Green Ink was approached by IITA to develop the project’s inaugural brochure – and to do so in record time, just 1 month from concept to final product, printed and delivered to seven African countries. Despite the rush, the result was a product whose succinct text and spacious design attracted favourable comment.
 

“The guys at Green Ink are fast on these jobs… Thanks for yet another wonderful product; looking forward to the invoice.”

Braima James, Coordinator, UPoCA project, IITA

Better beans for Africa

In 2006, the Pan-African Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) celebrated 10 years of achievements and assessed the challenges that lie ahead.

The Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), which coordinates the alliance, asked Green Ink to capture its work in a short brochure for donors and policy makers. The colourful 8-pager we developed was published in English, French and Portuguese.
 

“Everyone is very happy with this… It reads very well.”

Anne Downes, Communications Coordinator for Africa, CIAT

Innovating for prosperity

Launched in 2001, Bolivia’s Innova project was one of the first to adopt a value chain approach to research and to stress the importance of innovation in closing the gap between research and development. In so doing it benefited thousands of farmers, traders, processors and others engaged in the country’s potato sector, breathed new life into a demoralized national research system, and triggered changes in the way research is planned and conducted whose repercussions are still being felt today. 

The International Potato Center (CIP), which coordinated the project, invited Green Ink to document the project’s approach and achievements. The resulting 16-page brochure, with its lively text and colourful photos, was influential in spreading the Innova approach to other Latin American countries and to Africa and Asia.
 

“The document… reads well and is a good synthesis of the Innova project.”

André Devaux, Coordinator, Andean Potato Project, CIP

Exploring plant diversity

The Generation Challenge Programme of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is part of a global network supplying plant breeders in developing countries with the tools and materials they need to produce better crop varieties for poor farmers. The programme uses a mix of genetic diversity, advanced genomic science and comparative biology to do its work.

One of the new programme’s first needs was a brochure explaining its complex mandate to potential donors and other stakeholders. Green Ink was called in to edit a draft and design the brochure.
 

“It looks good… We are generally happy.”

Kaitlin Lesnick, Information Officer, Generation Programme 

Halving hunger: it can be done

In 2004, Green Ink’s Director Simon Chater was invited to join the UN Millennium Project’s Task Force on Hunger at its final meeting, in Bellagio, Italy, where he was part of the editorial group responsible for the task force’s main report. Simon then worked with Christel Chater, one of Green Ink’s graphic designers, to create a summary of the report as a stand-alone booklet.

The result was Halving Hunger: It Can Be Done – a route map to the first and most fundamental target of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Our printer in India did an excellent job of printing the booklet at a time of year when most printers in the West are closed. Five thousand copies were sent to major cities all over the world in time for launch events in mid-January 2005. The report was so well received that the client immediately ordered a reprint of a further 10,000 copies.

“I'm referring you to Simon Chater, head of Green Ink, in the UK. I'd give him our highest recommendation as not only a top-quality editor, designer and producer but a delightful person to work with as well.”

Lisa Dreier, Coordinator, Hunger Task Force, UN Millennium Project