Prevention Collaborative – UNFPA, kNOwVAWdata illustrations project
Prevention Collaborative - UNFPA, kNOwVAWdata illustrations project
Partner: UNFPA kNOwVAWdata
Big results
Big Blue Communications delivered a cohesive illustration system for kNOwVAWdata, a high-profile UNFPA regional initiative implemented across 36 countries in Asia and the Pacific, led by UNFPA in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to strengthen national and regional capacity to measure violence against women. The Big Blue team developed scalable, vector-based illustrations and iconography optimised for animation, presentations, reports, and long-term reuse, enabling consistent application across platforms and formats. The visual approach carefully balanced emotional sensitivity with clarity, supporting nuanced and responsible data storytelling on violence against women. Full stakeholder alignment was achieved across the Prevention Collaborative, UNFPA technical leads.
Story
kNOwVAWdata is a regional initiative led by UNFPA, in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, focused on strengthening how countries across Asia and the Pacific measure and use data on violence against women.
The challenge was to visualise highly sensitive, data-driven content in a way that felt human, respectful, culturally inclusive, and hopeful, while also working seamlessly across animation, training materials, and advocacy tools.
Big Blue Communications partnered closely with the Prevention Collaborative and UNFPA Asia-Pacific to design an illustration system capable of carrying the emotional weight of the subject matter, while remaining flexible, timeless, and scalable for use across multiple formats and countries.
Big Blue Communications partnered closely with the Prevention Collaborative and UNFPA Asia-Pacific to design an illustration system capable of carrying the emotional weight of the subject matter, while remaining flexible, timeless, and scalable for use across multiple formats and countries.
Approach
Big Blue Communications adopted a deeply collaborative approach, grounded in creative exploration. The process prioritised close partnership with key stakeholders while ensuring the illustration system could meet both immediate communication needs and long-term scalability requirements.
The project began with a co-creation and discovery phase, during which Big Blue led illustration conceptualisation workshops with the Prevention Collaborative and UNFPA teams. Existing brand guidelines, logos, and visual systems were reviewed to ensure alignment across organisations. Four distinct illustration styles were explored and tested to assess tone, emotional sensitivity, scalability, and suitability for complex data storytelling.
Following this exploration, a clean and expressive vector illustration style was selected. This style was chosen for its ability to scale seamlessly across multiple formats, support nuanced facial expressions and emotional cues, and remain culturally inclusive by avoiding overly specific cultural markers while still feeling human and relatable. Cultural and regional representation was a core consideration throughout the design process. Characters were developed to reflect communities across South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands, with careful attention paid to skin tones, facial features, age, gender, and religious representation. This ensured the visuals felt regionally inclusive and respectful, without reinforcing stereotypes.
A systems-thinking approach underpinned the final execution. Big Blue developed a complementary custom icon set aligned with the illustration style and designed modular scenes that could be reused, adapted, and expanded across future assets. Consistency was maintained across UNFPA branding, the kNOwVAWdata identity, and Prevention Collaborative visuals, resulting in a flexible and sustainable visual system built for long-term use.
The project began with a co-creation and discovery phase, during which Big Blue led illustration conceptualisation workshops with the Prevention Collaborative and UNFPA teams. Existing brand guidelines, logos, and visual systems were reviewed to ensure alignment across organisations. Four distinct illustration styles were explored and tested to assess tone, emotional sensitivity, scalability, and suitability for complex data storytelling.
Following this exploration, a clean and expressive vector illustration style was selected. This style was chosen for its ability to scale seamlessly across multiple formats, support nuanced facial expressions and emotional cues, and remain culturally inclusive by avoiding overly specific cultural markers while still feeling human and relatable. Cultural and regional representation was a core consideration throughout the design process. Characters were developed to reflect communities across South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands, with careful attention paid to skin tones, facial features, age, gender, and religious representation. This ensured the visuals felt regionally inclusive and respectful, without reinforcing stereotypes.
A systems-thinking approach underpinned the final execution. Big Blue developed a complementary custom icon set aligned with the illustration style and designed modular scenes that could be reused, adapted, and expanded across future assets. Consistency was maintained across UNFPA branding, the kNOwVAWdata identity, and Prevention Collaborative visuals, resulting in a flexible and sustainable visual system built for long-term use.
Results
Big Blue Communications delivered a complete suite of custom illustrations and icons supporting an animated explainer and a broader communications toolkit. Modular scene concepts were developed to depict regional training workshops, community engagement and data collection, regional data mapping and visualisation, and collective action towards positive outcomes.
The visuals were refined through iterative stakeholder feedback, with focused adjustments to emotional tone, compositional clarity for animation, and the age and contextual accuracy of characters. Final assets were fully approved by UNFPA stakeholders and the Prevention Collaborative and formalised for long-term use across platforms.
The visuals were refined through iterative stakeholder feedback, with focused adjustments to emotional tone, compositional clarity for animation, and the age and contextual accuracy of characters. Final assets were fully approved by UNFPA stakeholders and the Prevention Collaborative and formalised for long-term use across platforms.
Visual Direction
The visual direction balances warmth, clarity, and credibility through clean, vector-based illustrations with expressive faces and simplified forms. A harmonised colour palette blends UNFPA brand colours with the kNOwVAWdata identity, ensuring consistency across all assets.
Subtle, intentional facial expressions convey empathy, trust, and hope, while minimalist compositions keep the focus on people and meaningful interactions.
Custom line-based icons were developed to integrate seamlessly with the illustrations, adding clarity without visual clutter. Designed for flexibility, the visual system works effectively across animation, presentations, reports, posters, and digital platforms, making complex data more approachable, human, and respectful of the sensitivity of the subject matter.
Subtle, intentional facial expressions convey empathy, trust, and hope, while minimalist compositions keep the focus on people and meaningful interactions.
Custom line-based icons were developed to integrate seamlessly with the illustrations, adding clarity without visual clutter. Designed for flexibility, the visual system works effectively across animation, presentations, reports, posters, and digital platforms, making complex data more approachable, human, and respectful of the sensitivity of the subject matter.
