Ethical Design Co.

A print and digital design agency that cares.

TAL Apparel Sustainability report 2020 cover in full colour.

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TAL Apparel Ltd (est. 1947) is the manufacturing arm of TAL Group, a global company that offers a range of innovative products and services across various stages of the apparel supply chain.

TAL Apparel’s headquarters is located in Hong Kong and operates nine factories in five countries including: Thailand, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Ethiopia. For over 70 years, TAL Apparel has been the pioneer in manufacturing garments.

Content writing & copyediting
Data visualisation
Icon design
Infographic design
Report design
Secondary branding

The brief

We were engaged to work on the line editing, copy editing, proofreading and visual design of TAL Apparel’s fifth, sixth and seventh biennial sustainability reports for the years 2018, 2020, and 2022, respectively.

2017-2018: The brief was to work within TAL’s brand guidelines to create an interactive 78 page PDF report that was clean, modern, and easily accessible to stakeholders.

See the 2018 report here.

2019-2020: Similar to last time, the brief was to design the report within the realms of TAL’s brand guidelines, but also to build on the secondary report branding we established in TAL’s last sustainability report to create a beautiful, professional, and interactive 77 page PDF report that would appeal to stakeholders. The theme the ‘New Normal’ is visually explored throughout and on the cover design with a pattern of colourful face masks.

It was important in the language of the report to highlight honesty and integrity as core values of TAL Apparel; and to demonstrate how the company was tested during the Covid-19 pandemic (especially throughout 2020 – the hardest year the world has faced in some time), and the ways it was able to adapt to the ‘New Normal’ to become a truly sustainable practitioner.

See the 2020 report here.

2021-2022: In the most recent sustainability report, spanning 85 pages, we creatively explored the theme ‘Threading Resilience’ throughout the document. Custom illustrated threads of cotton were incorporated into the design throughout the report, including the illustrated section numbers that were digitally sewn into real TAL garments. TAL has demonstrated resilience and seized opportunities to conduct their business in a more sustainable way in every aspect during the great reset of the pandemic, and this is something we commend them for.

See the 2022 report here.

TAL Apparel sustainability report coverTAL Apparel sustainability report inside spreadsTAL Apparel sustainability report sections

How is this ethical?

TAL Apparel is a pioneering global leader in the garment industry when it comes to a commitment to sustainability practices and product innovation. TAL strives to minimise impact on the environment at every point in the supply chain while positively contributing to the communities in which they operate.

These sustainability reports showcase TAL’s continued effort and impressive leadership in an industry that has a reputation for poor social and environmental practices. TAL is a wonderful example of why big players in the garment industry have absolutely no argument for operating in this unethical way.

EDCo. supports TAL’s triple bottom-line sustainability framework (“People, Planet, Profit”) from a values-based perspective and we look forward to a continued relationship with the company.

Our sustainability strategy

To ensure the Sustainability Report was produced with sustainability in mind we adhered to the strategy outlined below:

  1. Environment: Make sure the document is not too ink-heavy, just in case some people decide to print some pages of the report.
  2. Accessibility: Remain conscious of readers who may not have great eyesight. Choose clean fonts and ensure text isn’t too small. Include alt tags on images within digital PDF so that screen readers can pick up image content.
  3. Social awareness: Ensure all copy, images, and messaging within the report is non-discriminatory and does not marginalise people or groups of people.

Check out Caitlin’s article on how you can green the production of your annual report here.

See for yourself…

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