Irish Cancer Society Annual Report 2020

2020 was a year like no other. COVID-19 turned everyone’s world upside down for everyone and especially for people affected by cancer.

The reality was that people were getting a cancer diagnosis alone, starting treatment alone and spending weeks in hospital alone without visits from loved ones. We wanted to express this, along with the impact of COVID-19 on the organisation and the transformational changes that the Irish Cancer Society made to continue their services. A series of stories that include patients, volunteers, healthcare providers and fundraisers were woven through the narrative. We collaborated with the illustrator Lydia Hughes to bring the stories to life in a meaningful way that ensured the safety of everyone. 

This annual report also focussed on the launch of their five year strategic plan and they wanted their five key strategic pillars to feature strongly within the report, using the stories to demonstrate their impact.

A grid of the illustrations are used on the cover to demonstrate the breadth of their work and support the theme for the year.

The colour palette is a mix of sombre and bright colours to complement the work of the organisation. This mix of colours are brought into the illustrations along with the international symbol of cancer – the yellow daffodil. The daffodil is a symbol of hope and appears in each illustration to connect with the brand and demonstrate that the Irish Cancer Society is always present.