This case study includes selected and anonymized visuals. Sensitive content has been edited for confidentiality while preserving the design system, structure, and intent.
The report was trying to be one thing for three fundamentally different readers, and succeeding for none of them.
TD Bank's annual cybersecurity report reached 88,000 employees but was not working for any of them. Executives could not scan it for direction. Teams could not extract operational priorities. Frontline employees found it too technical to act on. I redesigned it as a layered information system where each audience could find what they needed without the report failing the others.
I mapped three distinct reader profiles before opening any design software. What does an executive need in the first 30 seconds? What does a team lead need to walk away with? What does a frontline employee need to actually change their behavior? These three questions became the design brief.
I restructured the information architecture to create three distinct entry points within a single publication. Executive summaries surface at chapter openers. Operational frameworks are consistently structured. Employee guidance is written and designed separately to feel human and actionable rather than corporate and abstract.
I built a modular layout system with seven typographic levels, consistent chapter architecture, and a visual language for representing cybersecurity concepts that prioritizes relationships and structure over decoration. Every diagram was evaluated against one question: does this make the concept clearer or just more visual?
I delivered a modular design system alongside the finished publication so future editions could be produced without requiring a redesign. Templates, style guides, and component documentation were part of the final deliverable.
The decision not to simplify the cybersecurity content, but to layer it. A version written entirely for executives would have failed teams. A version written for teams would have failed frontline employees. The architecture had to serve all three without anyone feeling like they were reading the wrong document.
Modular systems take longer to build than one-off layouts. The annual scalability was not visible in the first edition. That upfront cost was the right investment, but it required stakeholder trust that the value would compound over time.
If I were starting again, I would involve team leads in the content hierarchy review earlier. Their feedback in the first edition shaped several structural decisions that I arrived at too late in the process.
I had the opportunity to work with Fatemeh on a mission critical project. Her dedication, speed and collaborative skills were exceptional. She is creative, highly skilled and fantastic at communicating and interpreting complexity. I would recommend her without hesitation and look forward to working with her again.
