The Path to Net Zero

The Path to Net Zero

A research report on sustainable retrofit for cultural venues, designed to land with funders, policymakers and operators.

Project Details

Client: Figurative/Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre

Sector: Arts & Culture

Services: Report Design

Year: 2026

The path to net zero - report design

The Path to Net Zero is a research report from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, exploring how blended finance could help cultural venues fund sustainability retrofits. Commissioned through Figurative, we designed the report to Creative PEC’s own brand guidelines, with creative licence to develop a distinctive visual style that brought the research to life.

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Average return on investment found across seven sustainable retrofit projects analysed

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Typical payback period for the retrofit projects studied

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Funders, policymakers and venue operators, all served by one clearly structured report

A financial case that needed to be unmistakable

he Path to Net Zero presents research from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre exploring the financial case for sustainable retrofit projects in cultural venues. The headline finding, a 10.7% average return on investment across seven retrofit projects studied, with most paying back their costs through savings in under ten years, needed to be impossible to miss.

Commissioned through Figurative, the brief called for a report that worked on two levels: rigorous enough to hold up to a finance and policy audience scrutinising the methodology, and clear enough to drive genuine advocacy and behaviour change among venue operators considering whether retrofit investment was worth the risk. We designed the report to put the headline statistics front and centre, using clear data visualisation to make the return on investment case land immediately, while still giving the detailed analysis room to breathe for readers who wanted to go deeper.

The path to net zero - page design
The Path to Net Zero - Arts and Culture Report Design

Rigorous enough to hold up to scrutiny, clear enough to drive genuine advocacy.”

Working within someone else’s brand, with room to be creative

The report needed to follow the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre’s own brand guidelines, since it was their research being presented. Within that framework, we had genuine creative licence around imagery, developing a distinctive cut-out and collage style that gave the report visual energy and warmth without straying from Creative PEC’s established identity. It’s a good example of a particular skill: working confidently and respectfully within someone else’s brand, while still finding room to make the work feel considered and original.

The Path to Net Zero - Case Study Design
The Path to Net Zero - Arts and Culture - Methodology
The Path to Net Zero - Full Report Design

Deliverables

Design Deliverables
  • Data Visualisation
  • Infographics
  • Print and Digital Production
  • Report Design

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